Page 24 Fall Football Preview • Thursday , August 29 , 2024 sailor . mnsun . com
Jefferson
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High School in 1984 . The Minnesota Football Coaches Association honored it with its Distinguished Service Award in 2023 . Carlson asked Bachman to join the staff as a defensive coordinator in the spring of 2021 .
The Jaguars will have several new faces leading after graduating quarterback Tyson Schultz , running back Jonathan Weber , and receivers Daniel King , Tevin Eske , Cormac Radford and Ethan Kleis .
Kennedy
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Ladu Loro . Storm , Wurst , Lajeunesse-Wood and Loro are captains .
Storm wrestled for Kennedy last winter , compiling a 23-19 record at 285 pounds . He was runner-up in the Tri-Metro Conference Championships and fourth place in Section 5AA .
Storm didn ’ t wrestle much this summer , but the rigors of the in-season wrestling schedule helped him build stamina and athleticism in general .
Storm ’ s twin brother
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something together from 30 years ago . Coach Rob is excited . He gets everybody going no matter what you ’ re doing , what you ’ re playing or what you did , he makes you want to work hard for him .”
Brayboy said that extends to Foster , “ who you
The Jaguars went 4-0 to win the subdistrict , while Cooper was 3-1 , Apple Valley was 2-2 , Tartan was 1-3 , and St . Louis Park was 0-4 .
can tell just cares so much about every one of us . It could be the simplest walkthrough or something more ,” which carries over to the teammates connecting on a deeper level than simply classmates or acquaintances . Most of the teammates have played together for more than a couple of years , going back to second and third grade for some of them .
New quarterback Maxwell Erb is a 6-foot , 180-pound senior who was listed as quarterback and linebacker last season and was under center for one play in the season-opener at New Prague .
The team will have entirely new offensive and defensive lines as a result , not just as graduation turnover .
“ We ’ re working on forming those bonds on both sides , learning to work together ,” Bachman said as all of the juniors who saw significant time on defense last season will once again firm up that side of the ball . “ Time will tell how many guys will go both ways .
“ The preference is we have zero guys going both ways , but you never know .”
Last season , the Jaguars had both starting cornerbacks out .
“ Multiplicity is important to understand what others are doing ; just in case we have an injury , someone can step into that position ,” Bachman said .
Look for the Jaguars to
Christian Storm is out for football in what William said is their first opportunity to play together on the same team .
Christian is a receiver and hopes to leap from junior varsity to varsity .
Lajeunesse-Wood is excited about the season based on their success at the Mankato camp . “ We have really high expectations for this team to go far ,” he said heading into his third season with the program .
The bonding aspects at the camp were something new for the teammates . “ It was like we were all family for a few days , eating every meal together , going to games , sleeping in the same rooms , showering , everything ,” Lajeunesse-Wood said .
Look for sophomore running back Joshua Amadi and sophomore Imanol Borges from Venezuela , who traveled to Kennedy last season . Williams expects to see Borges at multiple spots on the field .
Johnson will have an allnew set of receivers this season . He ’ s put in extra time in training , adding weight and refining his ability to manage a game and make the throws needed to win games .
“ It ’ s a tight-knit group ,” Olson said .
Helfman added , “ If we are willing to go through the pain of working out together , we will be able to do it out on the field together ; ultimately , it will make us closer .”
Eichten added that bonding activities , such as 7-on- 7 scrimmages and camps , continue to develop a bond that only comes through operate a new offense geared up for an option style , which will get the ball outside and utilize their advantages at the skilled positions .
“ Definitely a younger team that last year had a lot of optimism and was a very quick team ,” Feller said .
The 7-on-7 scrimmages helped them learn the play calling with the defense in front of them .
“ Everyone was just kind of lost at the start of the spring , but now having that little bit got us up to speed ,” Erb said .
The players put on new Guardian caps , which fit
A receiver learned just how much Johnson ’ s gained in strength after breaking a finger trying to make a catch during the first week of practice .
Matt Hamilton moves to defensive coordinator after serving as the defensive line coach .
“ He brings more excitement and energy to the defense ,” Williams said . “ Scheme-wise , we are going to be more adaptable to the kids we have .”
Assistant coach Mark DeLeon will work with the receivers after moving from Academy Force . Dan Koehler will coach the first-year
doing the tough work together .
“ We ’ ve spent a lot of time around each other outside of practice , and hopefully that translates to the field ,” Eichten said .
Olson added : “ We ’ re a bunch of brothers . It sounds cheesy , but that is what it is .”
“ I ’ ve known Mason since middle school , and when you know someone that team during his first opportunity in high school .
Looking back on a 2-6 record , Kennedy held fourth-quarter leads against Minneapolis Washburn and Minneapolis Southwest , which ultimately resulted in losses of 23-19 and 20-13 , respectively .
“ That changes our record to . 500 , and if we can do that , we ’ ll be a better football team ,” Williams said .
Williams added that the team also lost 20-13 to St . Paul Central in the season opener at Bloomington Stadium . “ Central is going to be a matchup again , but if we could ’ ve had those
well , it ’ s easy to get excited about them ,” Brayboy said . It doesn ’ t matter if I ’ m 10 yards out of the play ; I know if Mason ’ s making a play . I ’ m happy for him and excited for the team . We get excited for everyone on the team .”
Coming off a two-win season ( including a section win ), Eichten knows this group is capable of a big improvement with an offense
over helmets to offer another layer of protection . They also practiced nearly exclusively on the grass field above the turf field to go easy on the joints and limit the soft tissue damage that can happen on the turf .
“ It ’ s just one less week of running on turf , and it ’ s easier for their legs to keep fresher for the end of the season ,” Bachman said . “ Our grounds are phenomenal . They top-dressed , seeded , and fertilized this year , and we got all that rain . Oh yeah , this has been phenomenal .” In addition to volunteering to work at a water stop on the Wounded Warriors event and helping organize youth football camps , the captains and coaches decided to switch up the conditioning portion of practice on Aug . 16 .
Bachman asked the captains for ideas on how they could help the custodians around the school . Easy . Pick up trash . “ We left some trash out after practice the other day , so after practice today , we are going to go around and pick up trash around school ,” Schold said .
three wins , that would have changed the trajectory of our season .”
Those collective losses were within 10 collective points .
Lajeunesse-Wood said he took the close losses personally and is using close games and mistakes as motivation to do an extra rep this summer or catch extra balls from Johnson .
“ We could ’ ve had a . 500 season if we had that extra little push , so I try to strive to get that ,” he said . “ It ’ s the little stuff .”
Kennedy scrimmages at Burnsville High School on Saturday morning , Aug . 24 .
that adapts to the situation .
“ A lot of it is timing and being more organized and tempo-oriented ,” Eichten said as a receiver when asked about the passing game with a new quarterback . “ We know we will have a big season . It goes back to iron sharpening iron , challenging each other in practice and we are making each other better every day .”