Boise State QB commit earns prestigious invite; season ticket renewal rate jumps

The first player to commit to Boise State’s 2022 recruiting class will compete on a national stage this summer.

Quarterback Katin Houser earned an invitation to the Elite 11 Finals on Sunday after the annual showcase for many of the top high school quarterbacks in the country held its final regional event of the summer at St. John Bosco in Bellflower, California — where Houser split time as the starter this spring.

This year’s finals are scheduled for June 30 through July 3 in Los Angeles. Houser is one of 16 quarterbacks who have received an invite so far, and all of them are ranked in the top 55 nationally at their position by 247Sports.com.

Houser, who also competed in an Elite 11 regional event in 2019, verbally committed to Boise State in April. He and four-star in-state tight end Colston Loveland (Gooding High) visited the Broncos’ campus over the weekend. They posed for a photo together, dressed in Boise State uniforms, and Houser posed a question on Twitter: “Future teammate?”

Houser transferred to St. John Bosco in 2019, following his sophomore season at Liberty High in Henderson, Nevada. He missed his sophomore season because of an injury, and his junior season was postponed last fall because of COVID-19.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder split time this spring with sophomore Pierce Clarkson, but Houser still threw for 592 yards and seven touchdowns and completed 68% of his passes. He was bumped up to a four-star recruit by 247Sports.com following the season, and he’s ranked as the No. 16 quarterback in the 2022 class by the national recruiting website.

That extra star came with more attention from Power 5 programs, including Michigan State, which offered Houser a scholarship almost a month after he committed to Boise State. He’s scheduled to make an official visit to East Lansing, Michigan, on June 25.

Junior Hank Bachmeier and redshirt senior Jack Sears are competing to be the Broncos’ starting quarterback this season. Bachmeier has opened the past two seasons as the starter and has an 11-2 record. Sears transferred from USC last year and racked up four touchdowns in his first start against Air Force, but he suffered a head injury the following week against BYU and missed the rest of the season.

Boise State also signed quarterbacks in each of its past two recruiting classes: Cade Fennegan in 2020 and Taylen Green this year.

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Season ticket renewals trend upward

Boise State Athletic Director Jeramiah Dickey said football season ticket renewal rates had plateaued before announcing in May that Albertsons Stadium and the Broncos’ other venues will be open for full capacity crowds in 2021-22.

But the numbers have taken a jump since then.

Dickey posted on Twitter last week that since the announcement, renewal rates have risen to 93%. No information on new sales was available Monday.

Season ticket sales dropped 7.9% in 2019 to 16,580. It was the fifth time in seven seasons that sales declined. They dropped again last year because of COVID-19. The Broncos opened last season in front of an empty stadium because of the virus, and only about 1,100 fans were cleared to attend two home games: a win over Colorado State and a loss to BYU.

Boise State set a program record with 24,109 season tickets in 2012.

NNU advances in D-II national tourney

The Northwest Nazarene baseball team kept its hopes of winning a Division II national championship alive Monday with a 9-3 win in an elimination game against No. 4 Trevecca Nazarene in Cary, North Carolina.

The No. 8 Nighthawks will get a day off before facing either No. 1 Central Missouri or No. 5 Tampa in another elimination game at 4 p.m. MT on Wednesday. NNU opened the tournament Saturday with a 9-3 loss to Central Missouri.

NNU trailed Trevecca Nazarene until the Nighthawks took a commanding lead with seven runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Former Boise State player Grant Kerry gave NNU its first lead of the game with a two-run double down the left-field line. Isaac Hines added a two-run single, and Colton Moore gave the Nighthawks an 8-3 lead with a two-run double of his own. Ryan Dearing capped the big inning with an RBI triple, which gave NNU its 9-3 lead.

Pitcher Kyle Ethridge got the start for NNU and gave up seven hits while striking out eight batters. Former Meridian High standout Blake McFadden got the win after taking over in the seventh and surrendering one hit over the final three innings.

Notes: Boise State has announced its fans color schemes for the 2021 football season. Fans are encouraged to wear white for the home opener Sept. 10 against UTEP, orange when the Broncos take on Nevada on Oct. 2 and all black Nov. 12 against Wyoming. The remaining home games, including Sept. 18 against Oklahoma State, will feature an all-blue color scheme.

Fans are also encouraged to wear white for the Broncos’ season opener Sept. 2 at UCF, orange at Utah State (Sept. 25) and BYU (Oct. 9), and blue at Colorado State (Oct. 30), Fresno State (Nov. 6) and San Diego State (Nov. 26).