(Griswold) The Griswold Tigers have 20 players out for football at the start of fall practices.
Coach Chase Wallace admits the top priority is safety, “First things first is making sure we are safe. We are really trying to follow the guidelines put out by the IHSAA. Trying to ensure that we stay healthy and get through the whole season. With college programs already cancelling it’s definitely on the player’s minds and it’s on my mind too, so we are just trying to stay focused and prepare for the season.”
There’s plenty of competition for starting positions. “We have spots that are open and guys that are fighting for spots. We have several guys rotating into different positions. You never know, someone could step up out of nowhere and fill roles.”
Griswold has perennially been among the top ten rushing teams in the state, but will feature a different offense this year. “We added more passing. Coach Andy Everett’s offense was really heavy run first. We still want to run the ball for sure, but balance it out a little more than past years. So far it is looking pretty good.”
Lane Mueller and Sam Olson are a couple of the top returning senior leaders. Coach Wallace lists Cale Swain as another very athletic piece to the team. “We are putting a lot of pressure on Lane this year to step in and fill that leadership role. He and Sam Olson have done a great job so far pushing the younger guys. Sam got hurt last year early in the season so we are really hoping he can stay healthy because he’s impressed us so far. Cale Swain had a great season as a freshman last year and we are hoping he can build on that. He’s a very athletic kid. All the players are motivated and they are ready to do whatever it takes to get back in the win column. We are all sick of losing.”
