It's 6:30 a.m. on a Friday at the Sunrise Inn on 12th Avenue, and the Nampa High football team's offensive and defensive lines are loading up their plates with things such as pancakes, eggs, hash browns, bacon and biscuits and gravy.

Quarterback Quaid Morris is having a banana and oatmeal.

There's a stark contrast between the line and its quarterback - weight being the obvious one.

Morris is 175 pounds, while Nampa's offensive linemen average 246 pounds.

Scott Wooldridge has made the Friday morning breakfast an in-season tradition since he stepped into Nampa's head coaching position three years ago.

The idea is to reward the under-recognized linemen for their hard work and get them up and moving for game day.

It also gives Morris and the line that protects him an opportunity to bond away from the football field.

"You have to bind those guys together as a group," said Wooldridge, who is also the offensive line coach. "Food is the best way with those guys."

Behind a powerful offensive line, Nampa finished the 2007 regular season as the top rushing team in the 4A Southern Idaho Conference with 2,218 yards. The Bulldogs averaged 91 passing yards and 230 rushing yards per game on their way to an appearance in the 4A state title game.

Though Wooldridge expects the Bulldogs to have a more balanced attack with the return of Morris for his senior season, they'll have to do so with a relatively inexperienced line. Nampa opens the season at 7 p.m. Friday at 5A Twin Falls, a team it beat 34-20 last year.

Nampa lost three of its starters from a year ago, including second-team All-Idaho left guard Zeke Craig, left tackle Joe Elsberry, an honorable mention pick in the 4A SIC, and center Billy Gardner.

Stepping into those starting roles on the line will be a trio of juniors - Mike Boyd (5-11, 258) at left tackle, James Dwello (5-4, 200) at center and Tim Olmsted (6-3, 250) at left guard. It will be the first full season of varsity football for all three.

"We have a really good D-line that we go against every day, so I think we're doing pretty good," Olmsted said. "We're new. We've got a lot of things to learn. We've got a long ways to go, but we're doing good."

Nampa's returning starters are a pair of seniors - Ethan Watt (6-0, 250) at right guard and Chris O'Hare (6-0, 270) at right tackle. Senior Mike Hadley (5-8, 180) will serve as a backup.

With nearly all of his offensive weapons back from last year's conference championship team, Wooldridge knows the Bulldogs' success hinges on the strength of his line.

"I'd say about 90 percent hinges on them," Wooldridge said. "Without them, Quaid (Morris) can't do what he does and the running backs can't do what they do."

Maybe the other 10 percent hinges on that hot breakfast Friday morning.

Rachel Roberts: 377-6422

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