It’s a key season opener as Bonneville hosts Skyline in conference matchup

District 6 Game of the Week

Skyline at Bonneville, Friday, 7 p.m.

IDAHO FALLS – The new and expanded 5A District 5-6 Conference fully gets underway this week as teams begin jockeying for playoff positioning in the eight-team conference.

Jockeying for the playoffs?

Yes, even in Week 1. MaxPreps and its rankings are always watching.

Host Bonneville looks for a better start to the season than a year ago when the Bees opened 0-3.

They ended up facing Skyline at the end of the regular season and then again in the opening round of the state playoffs.

The Grizzlies won those two matchups to eventually advance to the state semifinals where they lost 21-20 to eventual champion Bishop Kelly.

Can Bonneville break through with a win over Skyline?

Bees coach Shane Stephenson said he expects the offense to be improved with eight core players returning. Defensively, he said the line may be the strength of the team heading into the season.

Skyline, which was ranked No. 3 in this week’s state media poll behind Bishop Kelly and Hillcrest, has a solid defensive unit returning and has some offensive weapons in QB John Giannini and TE Dax Clinger.

As for the early-season conference battle, Blackfoot, which was voted No. 1 by conference coaches, already has a win after beating Shelley 8-7 last week.

The Broncos host conference newcomer Century on Friday, while Shelley is at Idaho Falls. Defending conference champion Hillcrest is at newcomer Pocatello.