The College of Idaho is bringing its football program back to life, and for all the right reasons. Following the lead of similar schools, such as Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, the CofI administrators see the value of adding the sport to its mix of offerings for prospective student athletes. The program will enrich campus life at the rural school as well, just as it does in small college towns throughout the Northwest.

Obviously the CofI won’t have a chance to renew its series with Boise State. The last time the teams faced each other was in 1971, with Boise State edging the Coyotes 28-21.  CofI’s final season was 1978. The most famous football alum is the legendary R.C. Owens.

Lacrosse ball or Supermoon? Rare occasions align at BK this week.

BK will host two lacrosse matches this week, and for the first time the teams will compete in the school’s sports stadium.  The boys team — who could not have picked a more challenging opponent for this event–  will attempt to upset the the highly favored and league-leading Centennial Patriots  on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. The girls squad hosts Skyview on Thursday at 6:00 p.m.

The idea to utilize the stadium and its amenities such as concession stands, bleachers, restrooms, etc.,  on an occasional basis for lacrosse is not new; however, the positive acceptance of the concept by individuals who decide what occurs in the stadium is a distinct departure from past thinking.  The timing coincides with the boys lacrosse team honoring BK’s football tradition in a special way this season.

Girls program includes 44 players and owns four State Championships.

It won’t be the first time that Bishop Kelly’s lacrosse teams have played in a football stadium. In fact, both BK lacrosse teams earned State Championship titles in 2011 playing in Eagle High’s “Thunder Stadium,” which is primarily designed for football.

In recent years nearly $700,000 in donations from the entire BK community have been pumped into the BK stadium facility, which is mainly used for  home football games and  track meets.  In addition, some other  non-sports activities and sports camps have been held there.

Boys program has 56 players and owns two State Championships.

This week’s games are “special events” and  do not indicate a permanent change in venue for the lacrosse teams.  In fact, due to the efforts of the school’s maintenance and facilities personnel, the BK lacrosse field is considered one of the best in the Boise Valley by coaches and players. The recent addition of a larger electronic scoreboard and enhanced PA system,  provided by parent donations, has made the lacrosse field even more attractive this season.

There are 120 teams in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, and 110 of them have avoided the “QB jinx” of the NFL. With the exception of 10 teams, all these schools have had a quarterback from their program play the quarterback position in the NFL for at least one snap during a regular season game. 

This list has been prepared by the research team at BKfootball.com (yes, the same braintrust that selected the first ever All-Time All-Idaho Football Team). If there are errors please let us know at midknightmedia@gmail.com.

NOTES: The QBs on this list were chosen by random preference, most schools have multiple…Wyoming Cowboy Jim Kiick threw some passes for Miami, but that doesn’t count….Wyoming was close with Casey Bramlett, but no snaps…Ball State was close in 2009 with Nate Davis, and Kent State was close in 1999 with Nate’s older brother Jose Davis…Arizona is surprisingly weak on NFL QBs…Hawaii is a stretch, but June Jones did throw 14 passes there before transferring to Portland State…2012 Mr. Irrelevent Tyler Harnish could break the streak for Northern Illinois.

Can Kellen break the BSU NFL QB jinx?

Sometimes a hot summer day in Boise demands a refreshing dip in the Boise River. It’s the same now as it was 40 years ago, when the boys from Meadow Drive would head to the trestle for a refreshing leap into the water. On one of those days, in the summer of 1972, a Super8 Movie camera captured these youngsters enjoying a early version of “bridge jumping.”

The trestle area on the Boise River became a favorite haunt for BK footballers in the 1970s and early 1980s, especially during two-a-day practices in August. This  footage was filmed in 1972 by a former Knight gridder and features jumps by a BK quarterback, a Harvard student in town to visit cousins, and two Borah grads from the neighborhood.  In modern times (40 years later!) these guys are a Boise banking executive; a Boston investment analyst; a Hollywood screenwriter;  a Virginia college professor; and a well-known Idaho bluegrass musician.

Future banking exec Nick awaits his turn while Rod, who now holds a PhD in Economics, jumps off the trestle.

Boise’s amenities have always attracted active people looking for a recreational opportunity — or a chance to take on a  new physical challenge.  The foothills of the Boise Front,  neighborhoods, parks, greenbelt,  bike trails, and golf courses….eventually all these things merge into one, and a river runs through it.

And that’s where these BK boys went to go “bridge jumping” back in ’72.

The 2012 lacrosse helmets borrow from BK football history of the late 1970s.

New Season New Look

The two-time state champion BK boys lacrosse program has a new look for the 2012 season, and it has a distinct influence from BK football of the late 1970′s. The lacrosse team, coming off a state title in 2011, decided to pay respect to another helmet-clad BK sports team and chose the “Knighthead” look from an earlier era.

The result is striking, as the vendor devised a modern treatment of the 35+ year old symbol.

“We’re always looking to do something new, different, and fun with our program,” said Head Coach Blake Gaudet, who is entering his 6th season at the helm. “This was a great way to honor the past and incorporate a cool look into our own style. The players and coaches like it, and I know the alumni and our head football coach will like it.”

Why the Knighthead?

Honoring the Old School - (Standing L-R) Brandon Helgeson, Dom Fery, Josh Poole, Andrew Spangler, Andrew Kiehn, Cole Oliver. (Kneeling) Cory Brady, Shea Seigert

Former BK head football coach Ken Krahn introduced the Knighthead emblem on team helmets, and they were worn for three seasons, 1976 through 1978.  The 1977 team’s perfect 10-0 regular season record was the first time in BK history that a football team had more than nine wins.  And then the 1978 team repeated with 10 wins as well, assuring the Knighthead design of iconic status in BK history.

“Innovation in design is part of the lacrosse culture,” added BK assistant Jeff Brunelle, who had the idea to stylize the Knighthead after seeing it on an old BK football helmet.  “The old time BK athletes of the past deserve to be honored with a ‘retro’ look, so consider this our homage to the old school. I know one guy who was 20-3 in games he started wearing the Knighthead design on his football helmet back then, so it is a proven winner.”

The Way of Lacrosse

Lacrosse continues to attract more BK student-athletes than any other sport at the participation-heavy school. Once again in 2012 the girls and boys programs have nearly 100 full-time engaged players as they prepare for a full schedule of  nearly 20 games on each schedule.  Both teams traveled out of state for preseason tournaments, the girls to Salt Lake for four games and the boys to Las Vegas for a number of JV and varsity contests.  The girls program has won the State Championship a total of four times; 2006; 2009; 2010; and 2011. The boys own State Championships from 2002 and 2011.

BK finally gets a 7-footer, but he's made out of bronze.

Please join the fun as Bishop Kelly High School celebrates the end of a seven-year capital campaign with the official opening of its new space.  The expansion includes a public atrium area with statues, meeting areas and offices for faculty and social areas for students.

Your presence is requested as the school dedicates its new Student Commons and E.L. Wiegand Convocation Atrium and celebrate our Bishop Kelly Community. Hope to see you there!

Mass at 9:30 a.m. at the Carley Center, Dedication at 11 a.m. sharp. Lunch and tours following event. Click here to learn more.

Now she’s back on the hardwood as a member of the University of Chicago Maroons — a team that is currently 23-0 and ranked #2 in the NCAA D3 poll.

Muguira is typical of BK’s female elite student-athletes. She graduated among the top in her class; she made a big impact on the local prep sports scene; and she attracted the attention of college recruiters. She chose Ivy League, the University of Pennsylvania, and put basketball aside for a while. But soon she was part of the Penn program, serving in a team manager role while traveling with the team and occasionally balling a little bit at practice.

Muguira #3 in the center of the action.

Her sophomore year in college brought change, the transfer to the University of Chicago — and a significant role on the school’s basketball squad. Muguira’s team plays Brandeis today in its final road game and you can watch it live here. 

Hughes #10 and Muguira #3 still running the floor at the college level.

The season finale is back home in Chicago, then the postseason. A member of the BK team in 2007 that played for the 4A Idaho State Championship, Muguira is no stranger to post-season tournaments. Among her teammates on that squad were Meghan Hughes, a senior guard at College of Idaho, and Chelsea Bokan, who just finished her junior season on the Regis University soccer team.

Hyder added to his honors by being named to the Frontier Conference Academic All-Conference team, which recognizes performance in the classroom combined with athletic achievement. For Hyder, a Biology major,  it was the second time being named to the academic squad.

Brock Hyder eliminates #6 from the play, clearing the way for the ballcarrier.

Those Heffner Kids: This crew will need new Colts swag with the hiring of Chuck Pagano in Indianaplis. Shown here are L-R: Tami, Tim, Tom, Tina, Terry.

It should be noted that Tad Miller had a try-out with the New York Jets following his incredible career at Boise State, and Zach Thiry got a look in Philadelphia. And Cody Hawkins did pilot Team USA to a World Title following a record-setting career at Colorado. But BKfootball.com used an elaborate  rating system to determine that being the wife of a Head Coach in the National Football League is slightly above all over Alumknight performance. If  you have an opposing viewpoint, please send your thoughts to  midknightmedia@gmail.com for our review and consideration.

Chuck Pagano: Tough enough to be a Heffner brother-in-law, tough enough to tell Ray Lewis what to do.

Although she wasn’t actually a member of the football team at BK, Tina was an important part of the program’s success. And her three brothers were all outstanding during their days on the gridiron, including Tom ’82, Terry ’86, and Tim ’95.   The athletic achievements in the Heffner family weren’t limited to the boys, as Tina and her sister Tami ’78 were both involved in athletics at BK as well, including multiple seasons on the school cheer leading squad. And it was on those many Friday nights in the  fall that Tina, working on the sidelines for dozens of football games throughout the Snake River Valley as part of the cheer squad, established her personal credentials in the BK football program.  The NFL was but a distant thought.

Congratulations to all the Paganos and Heffners. Go Colts!

Former Bishop Kelly linebacker and current Boise Mayor Dave Bieter will be roasted at Catholic Charities of ldaho’s Sixth Annual Loaves and Fishes Gala Feb. 4, at the Stueckle Sky Center, Boise State University. The team of roasters includes Father Thomas Faucher, pastor of St. Mary Parish; John Bieter ’80, the mayor’s brother and a professor in the BSU History Department; Mary Bieter ’76, the mayor’s sister and foreign language teacher at Bishop Kelly High School; and Michael Kennedy, Coeur d’Alene City Councilor and former CCI board member.

“We are thrilled that Mayor Bieter has accepted our invitation to roast him at Loaves and Fishes,” said CCI Executive Director Landis Rossi. “Mayor Bieter and his family, as active and supportive members of our Catholic community, exemplify the values of Catholic Social Teaching by putting faith into action through acommitment to help those in need in Boise and throughout the state.”

Chuck Tacke

The evening’s program also will include presentation of the 2012 Marie D. Hoff Social Justice Award to Chuck Tacke, popular and longtime teacher and coach at Bishop Kelly High School. Named for CCl’s founding executive director, the award recognizes an individual, group or organization that“passionately seeks to engage people in transforming social structures that perpetuate injustice and poverty,which, in turn, threaten family life and community well-being.”

Two of the L&F co-founders John and Andy Brunelle

The concept for the Loaves and Fishes event was the brainchild of Andy Brunelle ’78, who teamed up co-founders John Brunelle ’79, Marc Johnson, and Father Faucher to establish the unique political banquet in 2006. Rep. Mike Simpson, Gov. Butch Otter, and Bishop Michael Driscoll have been among the headliners in past years. The 2011 event was attended by 275 CCI supporters and raised more than $100,000.

To purchase tickets or for further information contact CCl’s Director of Development & Communications,Myfanwy (ma-VON-wee) DeVoe at 350-7484, or e-mail info@cciaho.org. Information is also available at CCl’s Web site, www. ccidaho. org