Snow looks to build from 2nd-place finishes

EPHRAIM — The best record in the state over the last four years in college football?

Not BYU, not Utah — it belongs to Snow College.

Led by fourth-year head man Steve Coburn, the Badgers have compiled a 33-3 record since 2006.

Snow College has played for the national junior college championship in each of the past two seasons, but will this be the year Coburn and the Badgers get over the hump and get their second national championship in school history?

Snow College enters the 2009 campaign preseason ranked fourth in the NJCAA, and with several key players returning.

The 2009 version of Snow College football will be led by quarterback Quinn Mecham, who hasn't lost a game since his junior year in high school. He threw for 1,851 yards and 25 touchdowns last season as a freshman.

Mecham will be aided by two other returning starters in running back Tyson Church and offensive lineman Devin Tavana.

Church, a 5-foot-8 sophomore from North Sanpete High School, burst onto the college scene a year ago, compiling 1,227 combined rushing and receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in 2008.

Defensively, Snow returns three starters including linebackers Tyler Osborne and Chad Wilson. Osborne, a sophomore from Weber High School, will man the middle linebacker spot where he accumulated 62 tackles — including five for a loss. Wilson, from Layton High School, piled up 71 tackles and four quarterback sacks in 2008.

In addition, Snow also welcomes the return of 2006 starting cornerback Gavin Jones back from a two-year mission. Jones, a 6-foot-3 long-armed defender from Orem High School, gives the Badgers a potential lock-down corner and return man.

In all, Snow returns four starters on offense and three on defense from a team that was 11-1 in 2008.

The Badgers have won 23 consecutive home games and are the three-time Western States Football League defending champions.

It is clear, however, the Badgers will count on some new faces to contribute right away and know that past success will not determine future results.

"We are still building here," Coburn said. "We want to be better this year than we ever have before. We have a long road ahead of us to accomplish that task."