The Lewis Cass Kings look to head to Pioneer this Friday to pound the Panthers for their game opener on August 18 at “The Pit.” The Kings are looking to “ Rule On, and Reign Down” into this year’s competition. I had a chance to ask the head coach of the Kings, Clayton Mannering, what he thinks will be a big difference from last year’s season to this year’s season. He had this to say,“ From a football standpoint the biggest difference on the field will be the offensive and defensive lines.  We return most of our skill players, but we graduated all four defensive linemen, and three of our top offensive linemen.  How quickly we can replace them will affect our win/loss record early on.”

Four year-starter and starting quarterback, L.J Hillis, is ecstatic for this year’s season. In an interview with L.J he said, “ It’s exciting and sad at the same time, because this is my favorite time of the year, but it’s my last time spending it with my friends and teammates.”

Not only are the Kings filling the positions of last year’s players, but they are also welcoming two new alumni to Lewis Cass for this year’s team.  The first coach is Kyle O’Brien; he graduated in 2006, and will be the defensive coordinator for the Kings. The Kings also added Tyler (T) Plank in the Spring. Coach Plank will also be teaching an Ag class at Cass.”Both are really good coaches, and will do an outstanding job this year.” Clayton Mannering said.

Lewis Cass left the Hoosier Conference last summer and entered into the TRC or the Three Rivers Conference. When head coach ,Clayton Mannering, was asked how he feels with his team going into this new season, he said, “ The TRC is a much better fit for us than the Hoosier Conference, which was really a mash-up of two conferences when the old MIC broke up in 2015.  Travel time is much better in the TRC which doesn’t affect football much, but will make a big difference for sports that play mid-week games.  More importantly though is the size disparity.  We were 450 students less than the biggest school in the Hoosier.  We’re still the seventh biggest school in the TRC, but the difference between us and the biggest (Peru) is only about 250 students.  That makes a huge difference for sports that require a big roster.  The TRC will be a great fit for us.”

The Kings are looking forward to a strong season this year hoping to come out with a conference championship and hopefully a sectional championship for the Kings. The Kings will face off against Northfield (Non-Conference) at Cass on August 25. If you see any of the players, coaches, or staff on the team wish them luck as they tackle the competition this season for the Kings.