This one goes out to you empty nesters.
To you, father of four with no kids at home. To you, oma of seven with no playdates scheduled this month.
This one goes out to all the former Bingham County prep sports activists from Aberdeen to Shelley and all points between.
Once you were a deeply connected, emotionally invested, criminally liable prep football fanatic.
You wept when the Blackfoot Broncos made it to state back in 2009.
Fumed when a phantom holding call ruined Shelley’s homecoming in 1997.
Burned a Salmon jersey on a Firth bonfire back in 2003.
But that’s all over. Your salad days of cheering for your kids and the paperboy are all behind you.
Because your kids are gone. By extension, the grandkids are gone too. They don’t come by because you smell like “old people” — which the Oxford Dictionary defines as a mix of Pine Sol and defeat.
It’s a lonely business, being put out to pasture. But there you are, outstanding in your field with eyes closed and ears open, listening for the glue truck.
But take heart, aging misanthropes and hopeful nihilists.
Take heart, and maybe a liver — you’re gonna need it.
Because while your kids and grandkids abandoned you, there’s no excuse for you to abandon the world.
Specifically the prep football world. The world you loved so much back when you had skin (and ingrate genetics) in the game.
Tickets, popcorn and three hours of unscripted entertainment for you and your favorite conspirator, all for $15 American — half that if you freshen up with Pine Sol pregame.
To catch you up, here’s what you missed:
Blackfoot Broncos (2-0, 2-0)
Blackfoot is looking so good through its first two weeks, coach Josh Stewart gave them a week off.
Include that off week and your hometown Blackfoot Broncos are off to an undefeated start through their first three weeks. That’s good, because the High Country Conference is now an eight-team superconference.
That means all but two of the nine games on the Blackfoot schedule count for something, and Blackfoot’s wins over Shelley (8-7) and Century (41-13) have the Broncos tied with Skyline and Hillcrest atop the conference.
Blackfoot is at Twin Falls (0-3) this week.
Shelley Russets (1-2, 1-1)
The Russets sent a message in Week 1 against Blackfoot. That message read “En garde, worthy foe and adversary. Respect and honor and woe be unto you.”
Shelley indeed gave Blackfoot all the woe could handle, falling 8-7 to the Broncos in a 90-degree season-opening defensive slugfest for the ages.
Both buoyed and disgruntled by that opener, Shelley scored a 24-14 road win at Idaho Falls the following week, and were straight throckwoddled by Sugar-Salem 41-donut in Week 3.
Shelley is at Hillcrest (2-0, 1-0) this week.
Snake River Panthers (0-3, 0-0)
Good news, Snake River is unbeaten in conference play. Bad news, Snake River hasn’t played any conference games.
Snake opened 2026 with three straight losses — at West Side (29-7), at home against Sugar-Salem (35-0) and at Kimberly (38-17).
Good news is the conference season is all stacked at the end of the season and doesn’t start until Oct. 9. Bad news is Weiser, South Fremont and Teton are on the docket, and Wolverines (2-1), Cougars (2-1) and Timberwolves (0-2) can all smell blood.
Firth Cougars (0-2, 0-0)
Like the Panthers, the Firth Cougars are winless. Like the Panthers, they were annihilated by West Side (35-7). Unlike the Panthers, Firth bounced back with a courageous fight in a 22-21 road loss at Bear Lake.
Firth gets Soda Springs (0-2) and Malad (1-2) the next two weeks, followed by the Nuclear Conference four-week finisher.
Aberdeen Tigers (1-2, 0-0)
If you cheer for the Tigers, chances are you haven’t left early this season.
A 14-8 win over Salmon in the opener is the only win of the season, followed by a 7-6 loss to American Falls and a 29-22 OT loss to Declo, also at home.
The state semifinalists get another shot at win No. 2 this week with a conference game at Marsh Valley (0-2).