State snub fuels Clark Fork football in 2019

Picture a football team that went 6-3 and undefeated in conference for its first league title in over a decade.

Picture a four-game winning streak, a slew of 20-point wins, a dynamic defense and an electric sophomore quarterback who accounted for 28 touchdowns in an MVP-winning season.

Picture this same team not only dragging a program out of mediocrity, but also giving a tiny, rural community hope in their football team’s future.

Now picture that team being shut out of the Idaho 1A Division II football playoffs, all because of what amounted to be a simple miscommunication between conference commissioners.

This is what has lingered in the minds of Clark Fork football players and coaches since last October.

“It’s been a few years since we’ve been in the state playoffs, but we were so close that I think it makes those guys hungry enough to finish what we started last year,” Clark Fork head coach Brian Arthun said.

The Wampus Cats won’t be blindsided by the same state seeding snafu.

Instead of being combined into the eight-team White Star League with two bids, Clark Fork is back to the old four-team North Star League — well, not quite, since Kootenai’s football program folded at the eleventh hour.

Nevertheless: Clark Fork will have one fewer league opponent in its way towards winning the league’s lone state playoff bid for the first time in over a decade.

“I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” Senior middle linebacker/running back Josh Constantin said. “Ever since I was a freshman, I saw how the seniors acted around smaller kids and saw how they took responsibility of them. I couldn’t wait to be in that spot. I am so pumped for this year.”

At the start of the 2018 season, winning the school’s first district title since 2005 seemed like a long shot.

First there was the season-opening loss to Lewis County, a team that would only win one more game that season.

Then first-time quarterback Toben Pincher went down with an injury, making a thin roster even thinner.

Another lost season seemed inevitable.

Enter Cameron Garcia, the dual-threat quarterback and play-making corner threw, scrambled and took picks to the house in his breakout sophomore season.

“It ended up being a blessing in disguise because [Garcia] had a really great year,” Arthun said. “He stepped up as a leader as a sophomore by taking over the reins at quarterback. I’ve noticed he’s very vocal with the guys, he’s very positive and he’s a guy who all the other guys look up to and respect. I feel like he’s going to have a really good year as his second year in the system.”

While the Wampus Cats won’t have the same early trials, they certainly won’t surprise anyone. Being a known commodity is a double-edged sword: Although Arthun said last year’s success has made the team realize its their potential, now North Star League teams have an idea of how to scheme against both Garcia’s arm and his legs.

“They probably know what’s going to come, so I’ve got to switch my game up, be careful on the field and play the game I love the best,” Garcia said.

Personnel-wise, the Wampus Cats return several all-league-caliber players throughout the roster.

Four-year varsity starter Charlie Abbott will be a leader on both ends at center and nose tackle. Physical, quick senior Josh Constantin will be switching to middle linebacker and running back.

But wide receiver Nate Hernandez might be poised for the biggest breakout year of them all; with his speed, hands and frame, the senior might benefit the most from the Wampus Cats’ switch to a more spread-out offense.

“We have some big holes to fill, but I think that with the guys that we have back, we should be able to put a lot of points on the board,” Arthun said. “We’re going to go to a more wide-open, spread offense and we’ve got a few receivers who should get downfield and make plays. I’m excited about that offensively.”

“We’ve got a lot of speed on our team,” Garcia concurred. “I’m going to hit my receivers early, exploit mismatches and get some points on the board.”

Establishing consistency on offense will be one of the many keys for Clark Fork’s season. Last season, the Wampus Cats were 4-0 when they crossed the 40-point threshold — a common occurrence in eight-man football — but were 2-3 when they didn’t. Yet a combination of a new offense and a more experienced team should alleviate these concerns.

For all the returning talent the Wampus Cats have, they will have to replace Theo Icardo’s production at running back and middle linebacker. While Constantin has the physical and mental traits to step in and excel as Icardo’s replacement, the team needs multiple people to step up on defense in order to make it to state.

Then again, few things in the tumultuous, whirlwind that is eight-man football are cut-and-dry — especially in the North Star League.

While Arthun believes Clark Fork is in a good spot to repeat as district champions on paper, he admits the league is going to be in for another wild, unpredictable year.

“Wallace’s numbers are down and they weren’t very good last year, but with them they’re a big school, so you’ll never know what you’re going to get from them,” Arthun said. “Lakeside is kind of a dark horse because they had a lot of great athletes in basketball who didn’t play football last year. They could be somebody that can come up and surprise somebody. The biggest competition will be Mullan. They won’t have big numbers, but they have quite a few returning all-league players.”

Fittingly, the Wampus Cats will travel to Mullan to open the season in a game where both the coaches and players want to set the tone for the season.

“Hopefully if we go up there and squeak out a win, that’ll go a long ways,” Arthun said. ”Having a team like that right off the bat motivates these kids because we haven’t lost to Mullan in a while and we don’t want to lose to Mullan this year either.”

Clark Fork’s road to the 1A Division II State playoffs begins at Mullan High School on Aug. 30. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m.