Fall is here, bringing all the excitement of football season, no matter if you are watching your hometown team on Friday nights or your favorite teams on the weekend. The Lewis Cass Kings are less than two weeks away from their first game after a short summer of preparations. The team consists of only three seniors, and fourteen juniors, overall this year’s squad is a younger, less varsity-experienced team.
This year’s seniors include: left guard Brody David Hillis, fullback Gavin Smith, and wide receiver Julian Davidson. The seniors were all asked what they are excited about for their final season. Brody Hillis’s response was, “I’m excited about seeing if our team has improved on our weak points from last year, for example, our defense. It will be an even greater challenge because we lost a lot of seniors who contributed greatly last year.” Gavin Smith responded, “I’m excited to see our team compete, and interested to see how our team will handle adversity. This will be a great year if we can limit mistakes and play hard every single play.” Julian Davidson said, “I’m excited to see how we can compete against teams that we struggled against last year. This year will be a good year if we can limit the turnovers. I’m most excited about seeing how the defense will be this year. We really struggled last year on the defensive side of the ball. I can’t wait to see how the offense does this year, especially since we lost many key players last season.” Hillis was asked how he would lead the inexperienced offensive line, as he is the only returning lineman who started last year. Brody said, “I think I just have to be open to any questions that the other linemen have and give constructive criticism.” Next Smith was asked how he felt about his pre-season position change from half back to running back. His response was, “I feel good about it. It’s definitely a challenge trying to learn the offense from a different perspective, but I’m adjusting to it quickly.” Julian Davidson was asked about his injury last season and how he would lead the younger receivers. Davidson said, “I’m at the 9-month mark from post-surgery. So far, I haven’t had any problems with my knee this year. I feel like I am fully recovered, but I don’t have a full bend yet. I’m very close, though.” Davidson also said, “I am gonna teach them the mental part of wide receiver. It’s not always gonna go as you expect. I am also going to teach them how to be patient. Really gonna help them learn the routes and understand how to run them.” As they approach their final season, Brody Hillis, Gavin Smith, and Julian Davidson are determined to lead their team through adversity, mentor younger players, and build on last year’s lessons for a successful season.
Coach Clay Mannering was asked about the summer and the upcoming season and responded by saying, “We had a less-successful summer than we had last year in terms of overall weight room numbers and commitment, but the strongest guys on the team are stronger than any we’ve had in my six years at Cass. I also think we had a great camp at DePauw, and the guys who were there laid a great foundation for the season.” Mannering also said, “It’s always hard to say how the season is going to go, but I want to see a team that rises to the occasion and not only competes in every game, but can get over the hump in the close games. I also hope to see some leadership emerge on the team throughout the year. There are several kids who have the capability to lead, but we’re still waiting to see who will step up. That’s always one of the fun things about coaching high school football – seeing people grow from underclassmen into good players and leaders.”
Both the seniors and coach’s responses relay the same message: can the Kings overcome adversity as a young team, compete, and win close games? The final scrimmage is this Friday against Logansport, and then in week one, the Kings travel to Royal Center to face the Pioneer Panthers.
