Vandals announce football captains for season

MOSCOW - Seven players will represent the Idaho Vandals as their football captains this fall.

After a team vote, four were chosen on defense and three on offense. Defensively, seniors Quinton Bradley and Broc Westlake are joined by juniors Tueni Lupeamanu and Russell Siavii. On offense, the top vote-earners were seniors Dallas Sandberg and Elijhaa Penny, and sophomore Matt Linehan.

"I'm really excited about it," said coach Paul Petrino, who for the first time had the players vote for their captains. "I'm excited there were a lot of other players that got a lot of votes, too. I think we're going to have great leadership this year."

Bradley is a defensive end from San Antonio, Texas (Roosevelt High) and has been a mainstay on the defense throughout his career. He started all 11 games last year and was the Vandals' sixth-leading tackler with 52 stops (37 solo and 15 assists) as well as 9? tackles for loss (two sacks). His best single-game effort was 10 solo tackles at Georgia Southern last season. He has 93 career tackles, 16 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks to go with five quarterback hurries and five fumble recoveries.

"He's played a lot of football," Petrino said. "He really worked hard in the offseason. He really invested himself in the weight room - got bigger, got faster, got stronger. He became a way harder worker. He's going to be a great leader."

Westlake is the Vandals' middle linebacker and a native of Sparks, Nev. (Reed High). He came to Idaho after spending one season at Sierra College. He had 41 total tackles in 2014 and 26 in 2013. His career best is eight tackles last season against South Alabama.

"He is the quarterback of the defense," Petrino said. "He tells everybody what to do; where to line up. He's just a great leader."

Lupeamanu is a junior tackle from Herriman, Utah (Herriman High) where he played quarterback and linebacker, and punted. After arriving at Idaho, he went to defense full time and had an immediate impact. He defined himself last spring and over the summer as a relentless worker.

"He had an unbelievable fall camp," Petrino said. "To be honest, he's been a leader since he was a freshman. He has a great work ethic. Guys follow him."

Siavii is a safety and followed in his older brother's footsteps in becoming a Vandal after graduating from Leilehua High School at Wahaiwa, Hawaii. In 16 games between his freshman and sophomore years, he had 52 total tackles and two interceptions. He made dramatic strides since 2014.

"Russell runs the back end," Petrino said. "He has really improved in the last year. He made himself bigger and stronger."

Penny, who came to Idaho after two years at Cerritos College, is a graduate of Norwalk High School at Lakewood, Calif.. He carried the ball 139 times for 589 yards last year with games of 90-plus in three of the Vandals' four final games last year.

"He's kind of a quiet leader," Petrino said. "He just plays hard, runs hard. His best way of leading is breaking tackles."

Helping pave the way for him is Dallas Sandberg, a graduate of Bradshaw Mountain High School at Prescott Valley, Ariz. He's overcome injury to develop into one of Idaho's top offensive linemen since earning playing time as a redshirt freshman in 2012.

"Dallas is the leader of the offensive line," Petrino said. "He helps those guys understand what they're doing; makes sure they're all where they need to be. Dallas is a great leader - maybe one of the best leaders on the team."

Linehan, the Vandals' quarterback from Orchard Lake, Mich. (St. Mary's High), had one of the best freshman seasons in school history. He had four games of more than 300 yards and finished with 2,540 yards after completing 58.3 percent of his passes.

"As a quarterback," Petrino said, "you need to be a great leader. He's taken over that role and done a great job of leading."

The Vandals open the 2014 campaign at home against Ohio University on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Kibbie Dome.