Borah High School

Borah was the dominant football program in the state for the school's first quarter century, winning the Southern Idaho Conference and the A.P. writers' poll (introduced in 1963)[13] in 15 of the first 21 seasons, as well as two of the first three official titles in the playoff system. Ed Troxel, a former head coach at the College of Idaho, was 76–8–2 (.895) in the school's first nine seasons, with eight unofficial state titles and a runner-up. After an undefeated season in 1966, he left to become an assistant at the University of Idaho in Moscow and assistant coach Delane "De" Pankratz succeeded him as head coach for the next two decades.

Pankratz' first five seasons as head coach brought five more state titles with only two defeats, to intra-city rival Capital in 1967 and 1971, separated by 34 consecutive victories.[14] The 1971 team rebounded from the loss and won eight straight,[15] with a final 27–12 victory on Thanksgiving over Punahou in Honolulu to finish 11–1.[16][17] The Lions went undefeated in 1975,[18][19] and in 1978,[20][21] the last before the playoff system. Borah was the state runner-up in 1972,[22][23] 1974,[24] and 1976.[25]

In November 1979, an eight-team playoff was introduced for the state's largest schools in Class A-1 (5A since 2001); Borah shut out Lewiston 42–0 in the semifinals[26] and archrival Boise 38–0 in the final to grab the first official A-1 state title in football, and finished with a record of 11–1.[27]

Both Borah and Boise returned to the finals in 1980, but with a different outcome as Boise won 7–0 with an early touchdown and a game-ending goal line stand. Borah finished at 9–3, with two losses to Boise and one to Capital.[28] In November 1981, undefeated Borah regained the state title with a 30–13 win over Boise,[29][30] in the Lions' closest game of the year (17 points). The Lions (12–0, with two shutouts) were unchallenged all season, winning by an average score of 37–9,[31] earning a national top-20 ranking in multiple publications. Through 2018, it is Borah's most recent state title in football.[32][33]

Additional state championships that academic year were won by the Borah varsity basketball team and track & field team (the second of four straight), for a rare triple state title for the class of 1982. The Borah baseball team won the state title in 1981, but lost their opener 1–0 at the state tourney in 1982.[34]

Pankratz was the head football coach at Borah for twenty seasons (1967–86) and compiled a record of 186–36 (.838).[35] He was succeeded by Wil Overgaard in May 1987, the head coach at nearby Bishop Kelly for three seasons and a graduate of rival Capital. He had been an assistant for six years under Pankratz at Borah (1978–83) and a three-year starter at tackle at Idaho (1974–76) under Troxel.[36][37][38][39] Overgaard was the head coach for seven seasons (1987–93), then left for an administrative position in Weiser.[40]

Darren Corpus, a Borah alumnus from the class of 1980, was hired as head coach in 2011. A longtime coach at feeder school West Junior High, he was the starting fullback on the 1978 and 1979 state champion teams and played college football at Boise State.[26][27][35] In his first season, he led the Lions to their first winning season in a decade. The next year, the Lions went 7–2 in the regular season and tied for the 2012 SIC title. It was the most wins for the Lions since 1995 and their first state playoff berth since 2001.[41][42]

In 2020 Borah won its Idaho-record thirteenth state title in basketball under coach Jeremy Dennis, the previous assistant to coach Cary Cada. Dennis also led Borah to a state title in 2019. Cada was a historic coach at Borah, winning four state titles overall, including back to back titles in 2004 and 2005 and again in 2012 and 2013. The Lions have won consecutive titles with different head coaches in the mid-1960s, and five titles under Kirk Williams in the 1980s and 1990s.[43][44]

The boys' track team has won four consecutive titles on three separate occasions, with different head coaches: 1960–63 (Ed Troxel), 1981–84 (Rich Dickson), and 2004–07 (Chester Grey).[45] The girls' team also won four consecutive titles (2005–08) with Grey as head coach.[46]

Boys

• Football (2): fall 1979,[27] 1981[29] (official with introduction of playoffs, fall 1979)[32]
  • (unofficial poll titles - 10) - fall 1963,[13] 1965,[47] 1966,[48] 1967,[49] 1968,[50] 1969,[51] 1970,[52] 1971,[53] 1975,[18][54] 1978[20]
  • (pre-poll conference titles - 5) - fall 1958,[55][56] 1959(co),[57] 1960, 1961, 1962 - (poll introduced in 1963)[13][47]
• Cross Country (2): fall 1979, 2003[58] (introduced in 1964)
• Soccer (1): fall 2010[59] (introduced in 2000)
• Basketball (13): 1965,[60] 1966, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1993, 1994, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2019 [43][44] 2013,[61] 2019, 2020
• Wrestling (2): 1959, 1961[62]
• Baseball (3): 1976, 1981, 2005[63] (records not kept by IHSAA,[64] state tourney introduced in 1971)
• Track (16): 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1969, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007[45]
• Golf (7): 1961, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1977, 1978, 1980[65]

Girls

• Cross Country (4): fall 1984, 1988, 1989, 2003[58] (introduced in 1974)
• Basketball (4): 1979, 1997, 1999, 2001[66] (introduced in 1976)
• Track (6): 1977, 1985, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008[46] (introduced in 1971)

Combined

• Tennis (9): 1967, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1987[67] (introduced in 1963, combined until 2008)