Fresh off another state championship, Rigby has four players sign to play in college

RIGBY – College signing day continues to be an annual event for the Rigby football team.

Three Trojans – Parker Graham, Gauge Larsen and Kasyn Thomas each signed with colleges during a ceremony on Wednesday afternoon. A fourth player, Jerzey Duenes, signed his paperwork to attend Montana Tech on Tuesday, but was out of town during the ceremony.

“If you want to play college football and be prepared to play college football, then I think there’s no better place than where we are,” coach Armando Gonzalez said. “Our kids have a unique advantage … We just try to teach and develop and when you do that the results take care of themselves.”

The team’s success of winning four state titles in the past six seasons has caught the attention of college recruiters.

Parker signed with Idaho State, Larsen signed with Eastern Washington and Thomas signed with Pacific University. Duenes is headed to Montana Tech.

Thomas said Pacific had shown interest since he was an underclassman at Highland. He’s played at Rigby the past two seasons.

He visited the campus, which is near Portland, Ore., in November. Thomas said there were a couple of other schools he considered, but he felt he had an opportunity to contribute immediately as a slot receiver. Finally signing on Wednesday was a relief, he said.

“I was scared that I wasn’t going to play football again,” Thomas said. “(Other players) got their offers earlier than I did so I was trying to find a way to get to a program and it was a relief when they called and I was offered about three months ago.”

“I always wanted to play college football,” Graham said, adding that he wanted to stay close to home and Idaho State was the perfect fit.

Other schools showed interest, Graham said, but he wasn’t highly recruited.

“I just put my head down and started grinding,” he said.

Graham, a safety, was offered after attending a camp at ISU.

“I liked all the coaches, I liked (head coach) Cody Hawkins … I like what he’s got going on down there. In December I decided to commit.”

Larsen said he went to a couple of Junior Days but “nothing too serious.”

Eastern Washington, famous for its red turf, continued to keep in touch and Larsen visited the campus last summer and eventually committed.

“It’s like a family there,” he said.

Gonzalez said that standout lineman Feki Pouha, the 6A State Player of the Year, is currently on a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mission, but expects to explore college options when he returns.