One more before hitting the road to find new Vandals

Not long after the Idaho Vandals (4-7, 2-5 Big Sky) wrap up their football season Saturday at Northern Arizona (4-7, 2-5), the Vandal coaches will hit the recruiting trail.

What will they be looking for?

Mostly offensive players.

At quarterback, Idaho will lose senior and two-year starter Mason Petrino, son of coach Paul Petrino.

Junior Colton Richardson, from Lewison High, has seen some action each of the past three seasons, though injuries have limited him the last two years. Nikhil Nayar, a redshirt freshmen, has also seen some action this year.

“We’ll probably take two (quarterbacks),” Paul Petrino said earlier this week, in his weekly meeting with area media. “Probably a guy that can compete to play right away, and a guy that can come in as a youngster.”

Two other freshmen QBs are on the roster who are redshirting this season — Carter Friesz, from Coeur d’Alene High, and Nate Cisco.

“Every year you’ve got to get people at each position to keep the competition going,” Petrino said. “But some places we have a lot more depth, like at running back. We’ve got a lot of guys coming back.”

The top three rushers are all underclassmen — redshirt freshman Aundre Carter, redshirt sophomore Roshaun Johnson and true freshman Nick Romano.

“We definitely have to get some more O-linemen (since three in this year’s rotation are seniors), and we’ve got to get a couple guys in the secondary.”

Petrino praised the improved play of the secondary from last year to this year, led by Lloyd Hightower, Sedrick Thomas, Tyrese Dedmon and Christian Nash.

“From last year to this year, the secodary’s played way better,” Petrino said.

But Hightower and Thomas are seniors. Dedmon is a junior, Nash a redshirt freshman. Petrino said Nash and David Eppinger, a true freshman, could be good players for a long time at Idaho.