The start to this football season has been very interesting with a lot of ups and downs. The football team’s record so far is 2-2. Our first game we lost 29-22 to Pioneer who is now sitting at a 3-1 record. Our second game, we handled the young Northfield team 34-0. The Norseman or currently 0-4. Our third game was played on September 1st against the Peru Tigers. Peru was a very strong and powerful team with lots of experience in the backfield. They beat the Kings with a hefty 42-14 score. Last Friday the Kings played the struggling North Miami team at home. We put up 200 rushing yards on their very undersized defense, and held them to less than 100.
In the first game of the season against a strong Pioneer team the Kings may have fallen short, but they kept the game close the whole way, although it was a couple crucial mistakes from the underclassmen that decided the outcome of the game. Pioneer is looking to extend their win column this Friday against an impressive Hammond Central team that is 4-0 and ranked in the state.
The second game against Northfield the Kings were dominant from the start on both sides of the ball. The final score was 34-0. A large part of the success of this game is credited to the defense and how they really gave 100% every play, hence the shutout. Another key factor were our backs and how they fought to get every yard they possibly could, even after having someone attempting to tackle them.
In our third game of the season, we lost to a quality Peru team who is currently undefeated. The Kings were up after one quarter with a score of 8-6. It was the second quarter, however, that really went poorly for the Kings, giving up twenty-one points. In this game for Cass, they gave up a very uncharacteristic 367 total rushing yards. Before this game Cass had beaten Peru seventeen times in a row. This game has always been a good rivalry, although the Tigers got the upper-hand this time.
On September 8, we played North Miami. Cass showed their improving defense by stalling out the Indians’ offense with a three-and-out. Because of this, the Kings capitalized on the opportunity, scoring on both their first and third plays from scrimmage. After this, North Miami had trouble digging themselves out of a hole when Lewis Cass kept pouring the points on. The Indians did, however, manage to score a touchdown and a two point conversion late in the fourth quarter.
In an interview with Coach Clay Mannering about the season so far he said, “Pretty well so far. Lost a close one against Pioneer that we wish we could have back, but there is still lots of season left ahead.” With Cass being in the new TRC (Twin Rivers Conference) opponents will look a lot different this year. Already, the football team has played three different teams in these first four games than last year’s. This conference change will improve the win percentage of the football team, but might make some teams like wrestling have a little harder season. The TRC is notorious for having good wrestling teams. “We have 2 really tough opponents left who were at the top of the conference a year ago being Rochester, Maconaquah, and Southwood. If we can find a way to beat Rochester, then we will have great momentum going through the rest of the season” said Coach Mannering when asked about how he thinks the rest of the season will end up. When asked if coach thinks we can get to three in the conference he said, “I believe that we have enough talent to finish at the top of the conference.”
Our JV team, although being young and consisting of mostly underclassmen, has started off their short season with an amazing 4-0 start. Jed Frey and Luke Sparks are the two sophomores on the team and are a major part of their success. They are both halfbacks and are getting many carries a game, for good reason. When they have the ball, good things happen. They are both at the top of the list when it comes to rushing yards and touchdowns. Many people do not know why they are having so much success. “I would accredit the success to the overall athleticism and bond of the JV squad, along with the strong mentorship of the upperclassmen.” Frey said. One thing that is always hard to achieve when the freshman come up to play with kids older and bigger than them and knowing it is not fair, but they still play like they are still the same age. When asked how Frey thinks they are adjusting, “I think that they are finally loosening up to the higher intensity and the more consistent practices.” Now that the JV will be rounding off the first half of their season and is on the home stretch, Jed said, “I think the JV team will hopefully continue their win streak but would not be surprised if we ended our season with a couple losses on the schedule.”
In conclusion, the start of the varsity season has been average so far. Cass has played some very skilled teams and some teams that did not have much talent and size. Cass has shown how they can put up points while not giving up many scores, but the Kings just have to work on doing them more often and being more consistent. The Kings will be looking for a huge win against an evenly matched Rochester team this Friday. If Cass can get a win here then they will have great momentum going into the second half of the season and the tournament.
