Thunder Ridge Titans seek new standard as season opens Thursday
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — The Thunder Ridge Titans football team is set to open its season Thursday at the ICCU Dome, aiming to build a new standard after finishing last year with a two-seven record.
The Titans will begin their campaign against the Bear River Bears as part of the Rocky Mountain Rumble.
Head Coach Michael Berger is entering his fifth year leading the program with one of the largest senior classes of his tenure. After a long offseason, players and coaches believe the veteran group can reshape the direction of the team.
During the summer, Ridge attended a team camp at Montana State, where Berger saw a level of fire and competitiveness that players say has continued into preseason practices.
Head Coach Berger emphasized that his primary goal for the season is maintaining a competitive performance every week rather than focusing strictly on win-loss totals.
“I think we just gotta be competitive every game. And I'm not even gonna put a win loss column to it,” Berger said. “I just want it to be a competitive product every single week. I was, of course I to win games, but there is times last year where the score looked like a blowout and it just didn't feel good. It wasn't a reflection of the work that the kid's been putting in; I just want us to be proud of what we're playing out there and be competitive each and every week.”
Defensive End Drew Crystal noted that the roster learned from last year's struggles that success requires complete commitment across the entire lineup.
“Everybody's got to believe it can't be five or six kids. It's got to be the whole team,” Crystal said. “It's just you can't be an individual. You got to be a team. Like, if you're just. If you're going to be yourself, you go play tennis or something, like, you got to be a team here.”
Senior quarterback Ryder Portman, who brings four years of varsity experience, has worked to step up as a vocal leader while encouraging his teammates to maximize their effort throughout the nine-game schedule.
"That's been my hardest thing. I'm not a very talkative person……But I have to be as the quarterback," Portman said. “My biggest thing is I want to help change. Like effort. We've always been like a non low effort school. I just want to change that. Like just give your all you have nine game, you have a confirmed nine games and that's without injury. Like just give it all. That's like the biggest thing is just effort.”
The Titans open their season Thursday against Bear River at the ICCU Dome to kick off the Rocky Mountain Rumble.
