“30 Days, 30 Questions” No. 22

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Sports Line continued its “30 Days, 30 Questions” campaign Thursday night with question No. 22.

“Can Hillcrest compete at the 5A level?”

The Knights make the jump from 4A this year, and they bring with them a new coach in Dwight Richins. Richins brings with him a track record of success at Shelley. However, Hillcrest loses 20 players from last year’s squad, including eight who played on the offensive and defensive line.

The Knight do return Caden Neuerburg, though. He’s one of the premier running backs in eastern Idaho. If Neuerburg can get some good blocking up front and outside on the edges, he should be poised for another big year in Ammon.

Hillcrest doesn’t play a conference game until week five when they at Madison in Rexburg, The Knights then finish the season with four of their five games inside the conference. Hillcrest beat Skyline, Madison and Idaho Falls in that order in the first three weeks of last season.

Barring any injuries, we could see Hillcrest get hot and go deep into the playoffs in 2012.