(Griswold) The Griswold Tiger football team has one big thing on their mind this season. The Tigers intend to pick up their first win since 2018.
Coach Chase Wallace reports things are going a lot more smoothly in his second season at the helm. “We talk about how many we’ve lost in a row and how that’s in the past and it’s time to change it right now. I definitely think we were further along now than we were last year which is a great sign to see.”
They’ve already achieved one of his big priorities which was to increase participation. The Tigers operate with a roster size of 26. They have a number of returning starters. “Cale Swain will be back from last year. He kind of was our do it all last year. He had the most receiving yards on the team and he ran the ball for us. We kind of move him all over and use him anywhere where we can take advantage of the defense.”
They also return their entire offensive line. “Which will be a huge help. We are kind of asking more of them this year in what we want them to do and how aggressive we want them to play on both sides of the ball. Brayden Stirek, Joey Jenum, Zander Luft, and then Cash Turner didn’t play much varsity last year, but he’s going to be taking over at center for us so we actually have about four guys we can rotate in there on both side of the ball so we hope to keep them more fresh and ready to go so they can give us their all for all four quarters.”
Alex Hartman will see action in the backfield and Kamron Brownlee is at quarterback. Three freshmen could be starters right away. Zane Johnson is a freshman that will be rotating with Hartman at fullback and Nick Jenum projects to see a lot of time at receiver. Payton Cook will be in the mix as a defensive back.
Wallace say they opened up the offense compared to past years and will continue to do so. “Last year we really focused on trying to throw the pass game in. At times it worked and at times it didn’t. The timing to me feels a lot better this year just with extra reps and knowing the offense from last year. I’ve seen a growth. We’re still going to look to pass the ball more than we have in the past, but I’d like a good mix.”
Wallace is encouraged by the effort he’s seen in practice. They lost some vocal leaders from last year, but says they’ve had guys step up.
