Corbin, in his infinite wisdom, decided to write about the upcoming fall sports. I said OK. Here's some banter...
Pike Valley FootballCorbin: Due to the lack leadership last year forced our 2006 team to end with a 1-8 record. This was also because of the very young athletes we had playing on the field. We only had 6 seniors and only 3 of them played both ways. This left gaps to fill as we relied on the younger classmen to step in and do the best they could. Due to this year in the dumps has allowed the younger kids for more experience to be better when it is their time to shine. There are very many young athletic kids comming back to hopefulyy experience a better season for 2007.Eric: Yeah, expectations after the fantastic 2005 season may have been a bit high. Nonetheless, the Panthers looked to the youth to make some plays. It just never happened. But sometimes that can turn into a good thing. Now your young guys have a year under them and they'll be hungry to bounce back. You've still got some athletic seniors ( Ian Peters will be a big part of the defense and offense) and you're young guys aren't so young anymore.
Corbin: All though the 2005 season was spectacular i think it hurt us in the following year. Not saying that i wish that season never happened but that was a very talented class. As a few of us were allowed to play with them i think we had it in the back of our minds that the following season was going to be as easy. (Not trying to sound arrogant but that year was special.) We had a lot of heart and leadership and kids that would do anything to win. That's why it is sometimes hard to posess a good team because you could have the most talented athletes with no heart and get beat by a team with mediocre athletes who love the game. We did have athletes in 2006 but we lacked in heart.
Republic CountyEric: Corbin doesn't have quite the insight to the Buffs, so he's going to sit this one out. The Buffs matched Pike Valley's 1-8 record, picking up their win over Ell-Saline in the season finale. Similar to PV, the Buffs relied on young players to step up, and many did. QB Gary Roberts posted not one but TWO 300-yard games in 06, and has had a great summer so far at camps. Trevor Kuhlman will be the leading reciever coming back after leading the team in recieving yards. He also lead the team in INT's on D. The Oline will have to find some replacements, and there's that minor detail of the running game, were Colby Ferris averaged 110 yards a game.Defensivly, well, the stoppers need to to step up. It got ugly at times last year and for this team to go forward, it must start with the defense. 3 and outs, fumbles, turnovers will be at a premium this year. Dline play will be critical as well, as teams like Russell and Beloit had their way with the Buffs.
Have a thought? Leave us a comment!
Feature racing Wednesday in McCool, NE.
