West Side looks for stranglehold in conference standings in visit to Aberdeen

ABERDEEN — The South East Idaho Conference owns what is currently the 3A classification. District 5 teams have won the last eight state championships in the 2A-turned-3A class, and last year, three of the conference’s six teams qualified for the state tournament.

There is so much parity within what has been one of the state’s most dominant conferences that, with just two weeks remaining in the regular season, four of its five teams could still win the conference crown.

But that could change Friday, when the West Side Pirates (5-1, 2-0) visit the Aberdeen Tigers (4-2, 1-1). With a win this week, the Pirates would all but lock up a conference title.

The two conference foes met in last year’s state semifinals, with the eventual champion Pirates snatching an impressive 29-0 victory.

However, things are a bit different this year, with West Side seeing last year’s 3A Player of the Year Crew Sage graduate. His brother, Drake Sage, has picked up that mantle, though. The junior is averaging well over 100 rushing yards per game, and leads the team in touchdowns.

Aberdeen relies heavily on its running game as well, asking senior quarterback Lupe Ortiz to take the onus on that front.

Ortiz, who was named an All-State First-Teamer last year, is having another excellent campaign, averaging over 100 yards rushing and, like Sage, leading his team in touchdowns.

West Side has won the head-to-head matchup with Aberdeen nine straight times, including playoff showdowns each of the last two seasons. The last time the Tigers bested the Pirates was in 2017.

If West Side can continue that recent run of success, they would remain undefeated in conference play — the only team with that brag — heading into its season finale at Malad (3-3, 1-1) next week.

If Aberdeen can return to the win column in this budding rivalry, they would improve to 2-1 in conference with only Soda Springs (1-6, 0-3) remaining on their schedule.

The 3A South East Idaho Conference ended the 2024 regular season with West Side, Declo and Aberdeen carrying matching 4-1 conference records.

Declo (4-3, 2-1) is in Malad this week, looking to keep the possibility of a repeat three-way tie alive. But the Hornets, who have already lost to West Side and beaten Aberdeen, will need the Tigers to win for that to happen.