Enders signs on the dotted line to play football at CofI

Weiser High School quarterback Andrew Enders is now a ‘Yote.

 Family, friends, coaches, and others watched as he made it official on Monday by signing a letter of intent to play football at the College of Idaho in Caldwell. He is the first Weiser football player to commit to CofI after the school resurrected its football program in 2014, following a 35-year hiatus.

 “I just want to thank everyone for coming today; my family, coaches, and friends,” he said, addressing a small crowd that gathered in the WHS foyer. 

 Enders transferred to Weiser High School from Nyssa last fall, leading the Wolverines (10-2, 4-1) on a championship run in 2022 that ended with a semi-final loss in Homedale and a Class 3A third-place state finish. 

 He completed 88 passes on 138 attempts for 1,402 yards on the season, adding 392 yards on the ground, averaging 4.8 yards on 81 carries, according to maxpreps.com. 

 The Coyotes are part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), competing within the Frontier Conference, which includes Carroll College (Helena, Mont.), Montana Tech (Butte), Montana Western (Dillon), Rocky Mountain College (Billings, Mont.), Southern Oregon (Ashland), Eastern Oregon (La Grande), and MSU-Northern (Havre, Mont.). The team finished 8-2 overall in 2022.

 Enders made the 2022 SRV All-Conference team as an honorable mention QB, but was recruited by the Yotes for his overall athletic skill.

 “Right now, they are super heavy on quarterbacks,” he said. “So, they told me just come as an ‘athlete’ and see where I fit in best.”

 Recruited by a handful of other schools, Enders chose CofI, in part, because he wanted to remain in the area.

 “I just wanted to stay close to my family so I can be part of my siblings’ games and just be around,” he said. “And they have a really good academic program, which is a big deal for me. I’m really excited about it, and I’m excited to be part of the football program.”

 He also chose CofI because it offers a course of study that is in line with his future career goals in business. Enders, who maintains a 4.0, received both an athletic and academic scholarship. He will major in digital marketing and media, and has chosen business finance as one of three required minors. 

 “At the College of Idaho, you have to have a major and three minors,” Enders’ mother, Nikki, explained. “He loves business. He’s owned businesses since he was just little.”

 Dad, Kenneth, said his son owned his first Christmas tree business at the age of five and has sold trees every season since. The last three years, he has also sold fireworks and has raised and sold beef.

 “Of course, we helped him get started, but he has been selling Christmas trees for 13 years,” Nikki said. “He started with 30 trees and this year he had 180. He loves business and has always owned businesses.”

 “I’ve always been interested in business and I just always felt like I wanted to fill a need,” Enders said. “I’m always trying to seek new and different opportunities where I can, help other people and make money, and spread the love of Jesus. That’s what I do.”

 Later in the day, WHS baseball players Dylan Turrentine signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Big Bend Community College in Washington. Look for that story in next week’s issue.