(Oakland) Riverside ended the 2019 football season with a bang by beating SW Valley 45-0. The Bulldogs hope that’s a sign of better things to come in 2020.
Riverside football coach Darrell Frain has an upbeat outlook in regards to how things have gone in practice thus far. “Pretty well. We have typical aches and pains and are a little beat up, but for the most part we’ve progressed pretty much like I want to. I am excited about where we are at.”
The team has made positive strides in the last two years under coach Frain, but last season had only two wins to show for it. They are optimistic this could be the year it all comes together. “In the past we’ve progressed and got better and better as the season went on, but we need to have a better start this year.”
The team’s potential success hinges largely on the offensive line. “Everyone we have pretty much has been here since they were sophomores and now they are seasons. They are going to try and dictate how good we are. Eddie Vlcek. He is probably the most physical lineman we’ve had by a lot. Kaiden Hendricks is another good lineman. Most of these guys are going to double up and play on our defensive line. Eli Ryun, Wyatt Hough, those four have all led a lot.” Frain notes the gains of the linemen have been both physical and mental.
The team brings back quite a bit in the skill positions. “Last year we counted on Austin Kremkoski at quarterback as a sophomore. He’s back this year as a junior. We are going to count on him a lot. He throws the ball pretty well and runs pretty well for us also. We are moving receiver Rhett Bentley to running back and will count on him a lot there. We don’t have a lot of depth there so that kind of scares me. Hopefully he can do the job. Brogan Allensworth and Drake Woods are two of our leading receivers coming back. Brogan led the district in receiving last year and Drake’s just that kid that does everything right that you love as a coach.”
Their Week 1 opponent is a fast Red Oak squad. “They look pretty good on the outside and have a little more speed than us maybe. They have two good, aggressive linemen.” Frain adds, “We have to be prepared to go and take care of our own business. If we do that hopefully we have a chance and it comes out well for us.”
Austin Kremkoski led the team last year in passing yards with 1,476 and he ran for 506. Brogan Allensworth caught 31 passes for 580 yards while Drake Woods had 13 caches for 174 yards. Rhett Bentley caught 13 balls for 239 yards and now shifts to the backfield to take over for Mason Bivens. Bentley and Eddie Vlcek each posted 45 tackles last season. Vlcek made 13.5 tackles for loss and was an all-state selection.
