Roth shows up to give Cats another target

It was just a couple years ago that a transfer from Nampa, Idaho, became the new kid in town in Columbia Falls.

Just a few days shy of his 16th birthday, Isaiah Roth didn’t know quite what to expect, but his nerves settled soon enough thanks to a fellow sophomore-to-be.

“Mason Peters,” Roth said this week, as his Wildcats prepared for a Friday home game against Northwest A foe Libby. “I got along with him pretty quick. He took me under his wing pretty fast.”

Peters, the Wildcats’ quarterback turned receiver/safety, remembered it well. He was grouped with the new guy to sell those discount cards that almost every parent overbuys and underuses.

“Right before fall camp,” Peters said. “I’d never seen him before. But we spent a lot of time after that out throwing together.”

Columbia Falls is 2-0 going into Friday’s game, and trying to build on the momentum of a strong 2020 season, when the Wildcats were the lone Northwest squad to make the State A playoff grid.

Helping them along was Roth, then a 155-pound scat-back who averaged a robust 6.3 yards a carry and 12.7 yards a catch. He scored seven touchdowns in 2020; he has five so far this fall.

“He’s a great little back,” veteran Columbia Falls coach Jaxon Schweikert said. “He was All-State last year, and was (Northwest) A return specialist of the year.

“I think he led all running backs in receptions and yards. We don’t just hand the ball off to him. He has great hands. We’ll line him up at receiver four or five times a game.”

When Schweikert first noticed Roth he sized him up as a defensive back, and saw him excel.

“He showed that he could play, right off,” he said. “Where he stood out instantly was cornerback. You have to have good hips. And we were looking at him, and he’s not really built (he’s now 5-9, 170) like a corner. And he says, ‘Well, I like to play corner. But I love to play running back.’“

That was that. Throwing sessions, formal or informal, filled up the days.

“During Covid it was hard to go throw because we didn’t have our camps,” Peters remembered. “He was one of those guys that would show up every single time we got together.”

Since 2020 the Wildcats have retooled their front lines and Cody Schweikert has supplanted Peters at QB; Columbia Falls has continued to win and Peters had a touchdown catch in a 42-6 win over Ronan last week.

“Things are going really good right now,” Peters said.

“I think it’s worked out pretty good,” added Roth. “At first I was nervous, but Cody has come in and proven he deserves to start.”

Where does it end? The Northwest A is filled with talent, and Roth is getting letters from colleges, from the Cincinnati Bearcats down to Division III. Schweikert said he’s heard from nearly every Frontier Conference team.

Libby, with its run-first and run-second philosophy, should provide a tough test. Schweikert compares Logger running back Cy Stevenson favorably with Dawson Young, who graduated this spring with over 3,000 rushing yards. Ryder Davis triggers the Libby offense.

Conversely, the Wildcats spread the field and spread the touches, but rest assured Roth will get his.

“The kid everybody likes,” Schweikert said of the back. “He runs great routes and he’s great in the open field. You give that kid some space and he can scoot.”