Throughout the years, Treasure Valley high schools have been fortunate to have lacrosse as a sport. Even Owyhee, the valley’s newest high school, will have a team this spring.

Rocky has been fortunate not only to have a team but to also find success on the field.

Coach Carson Plant, the offensive coordinator at Rocky (and also a 2017 alumni) who played at Florida Southern (NCAA DII) and coaches at True Idaho lacrosse club, said of the title: “It felt great, especially having graduated from Rocky. We lost the state championship game my senior year, so having a big senior class was good to have them experience the other side of it and being on the coaching staff, was a fun change of scenery for me as well.”

Eric Anderson, the defensive coordinator at Rocky, played at Onondaga College (NJCAA), won the 2018 national championship. And as a Rocky alumni, winning the state title meant something extra to him as well. Knowing he has a large effect on the philosophy of how the defense is ran made it feel even sweeter.

Along with already losing 16 seniors from this spring prior who helped win a state title, there will also be some players lost to Owyhee in the springtime.  These losses leave a large hole for Rocky, which younger players are rising to the occasion and filling, while returning varsity players will be taking leadership roles.

According to Plant, one of the reasons for Rocky’s successful state title run was due to such an experienced team.

“They had a high lacrosse IQ as a group,” Plant said. “That made my job pretty fun being able to implement some pretty high level, offensive concepts that we were able to execute very well.”

Plant is look forward to seeing how the remaining players will respond without all the veteran leadership.

“It’s been interesting watching returning varsity guys fill those leadership roles and guide those younger guys into the varsity spots,” Plant said.

Anderson is also looking forward to the budding rivalry with Owyhee.

“We lost a lot of seniors, but we have a group of anxious kids that are ready to get out there, and step into leadership soles and continue that tradition moving forward,” Anderson said. “Our coaching styles have remained mostly the same. Each kid is different, so different approaches when you’re coaching kids individually.”

Ultimately, with Owyhee forming a lacrosse team in the spring, this should lead to younger players stepping up to fill roles on the team, while also having the opportunity for this team to gain comradery among all returning and new players.