(Oakland) After an 8-2 campaign in 2020 the Riverside football team won’t be able to sneak up on anyone this season.
The Bulldogs turned the corner in the 3rd year under head coach Darrell Frain. Frain admits it’s unchartered water in the program’s recent history and not necessarily a spot they are comfortable being in. “You want to make sure the kids are all on the same page and not looking past anybody and thinking they don’t have to work as hard. As coaches we had to put them in their place. We have a lot of things to get better on and people are giving us a little more credit than maybe we need right now. We are just trying to take it day by day and get better.”
In other words, they are walking a fine line between confidence and staying hungry. “I’m always looking to have that underdog approach to try and get better and better. I think our kids do have confidence. I think they look back at last year and see the success we had last year, but you have to keep an even keel. I think they think they are really good and sometimes you win games because you think you are good. I’m hoping we can keep it all even keel.”
The biggest question mark would be the offensive line where all five starters last year were seniors. They won’t be as big this year, but they do have some quality pieces to work with. “We don’t really have size, but we do have potential. We have some pretty good athletes that have to step in. I’m kind of fearful when we get those really big teams up front, but we’ll figure out a way to deal with that when we get there. All the linemen we have a pretty inexperience so a lot of kids have to step up.”
The good news is the guys that will be touching the football the most are proven commodities. “Austin Kremkoskwi and Rhett Bentley are our big returners as a quarterback and running back. They just have to lead us. There is frustration sometimes because of blocking right now, but we have a few kids that can catch the ball and Austin can get it to them. So that can cover up some deficiencies. I believe Rhett Bentley is probably one of the hardest runners in our district. If we give them any kind of blocking hopefully those two can lead us to some wins along the way.”
Kremkoski had a record setting junior season with 1,575 passing yards and 22 touchdowns. Bentley rushed for 1,023 yards and eight scores. Riverside’s first opponent is Red Oak.
Riverside coach Darrell Frain:
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