New Eagle head football coach Logan Willard is excited about this opportunity given to him to turn the fortunes of the program around, and his excitement is already rubbing off on his team.
“Our strength is that our upperclassmen have game experience that can help mold our talented underclassmen,” stated Willard. “We are also a quick team. We look forward to using that to our advantage. On the flip side, our weakness is that we are a young team with guys who are having to mature quickly because of low numbers.”
As with everyone else in this state, he lists his key to the season as his student-athletes staying healthy. “With our low numbers, we’ve got to do everything we can to keep guys on the field,” said Willard. “We are young, and we will make mistakes, and how we overcome those and learn from them will ultimately determine our season outcome.”
There are only four seniors on the team, but they have already been through the fires and should be hungry for success in their final football campaign. Those include Jake Darland, Aidan Vrba, Nick Huntley and Thaddeous Cook. Darland has the most experience as quarterback, passing the pigskin for 309 yards a year ago. He also made 20 solo tackles on defense. Huntley was his favorite target, catching the ball for 267 yards while making 25 solo stops on the defensive side.
There are nine juniors this year, with some of them having played varsity since their freshman year. One of the most experienced of that group is Roberto Calles, who toted the ball for 353 yards out of the backfield and also made 21 solo tackles to show his defensive prowess. Others on the roster are Blake Morgan, Andrew Dencklau, Sean Orozco, Isaac Olson, Tyler Hansen, Chris Williams, Peyton Larsen and Victor Rodriquez.
The sophomores represent the biggest class on the team, with 13 players this year. “This group is filled with natural talent,” said the head coach. “They will all play significant roles at the varsity level. They’ve got a little experience under their belts already, so we are expecting them to step up and perform.” Those include Kaden Pritchard, Cody Gearhart, Cayden Schultz, Tate Richardson, John Pamperin, Korey Anderson, Jack Mendoza, Dustin Dawson, Trenton Sorenson, Damon Richter, Zach Pamperin, Jayden Gump and Eric Gonzalez.
Willard expects his freshmen, even though there’s only four, to get lots of action at the varsity level. “They are a talented group,” he said. The first-year high school football players include Drake Canavan, Jake Jeske, Brayton Carr and Connor Christopher.
Willard is assisted this year by Eric Darland, Lanny Parrot, Mackenzie Sisson, Dalton Draeger, Eric Kist, Aaron Schafer and Andy Ettinger, with Jake Groth and Scott Bedford as volunteer assistants. Managers are Jayda Scott, Celeste Figueroa and Alexa Jeske, with Shonda Schafer behind the video camera. “We have a very competitive district this season,” concluded Willard. “We look forward to competing against some of the best teams in the area.”
