Bowler/Gresham high schools’ successful first season playing eight-player football ended on a down note at the WIAA jamboree last season.
After giving up three fourth-quarter touchdowns to lose to Oakfield, 47-46, the Cats (6-4, 3-3 Great 8-North Conference) want another shot at the postseason.
“That’s our goal to get back there again to represent Bowler/Gresham,” coach Ralph Smith said. “That was our goal last year, to make it to the jamboree. We met our goal, and our guys want to go back again; they left one on the field there.”
Smith’s plan to get back is simple: stick with what worked.
“We’re staying with the old bread and butter stuff,” Smith said. “You know, power football. Nothing too fancy.”
Leading that charge, as they did a year ago for the Cats, will be senior running backs Zachary Olson and Cody Montez, who combined for over 2,000 yards a season ago.
“I’ve got all my running backs back,” Smith said. “Zach was one of the leading rushers in eight-player football last year. He had over 1,500 yards, over 20 touchdowns. Cody Montez is coming back. I think he had over 800 yards rushing. My backfield is solid.”
Olson was a first-team All-Great 8-North running back last season. Montez was an honorable mention.
Though first-team all-conference center Jay Onesti graduated, Smith is hoping there won’t be any dropoff going to junior center Cody Thiex, who played some center last season because of injuries.
Thiex will be flanked by fellow juniors Jared Rickert and Jarred Boswell.
“(They are) three guys that are just great, dependable, good kids. Good athletes that have done a really great job for me,” Smith said.
Also back is senior quarterback Thomas Kazik, senior tight end Joe Serrano and, eventually, senior tight end Chase Nueske, who will miss time early because of offseason surgery.
As a group, the upperclassmen have impressed their coach.
“We’re young yet. We have got some young guys coming in this year, but I’ve been really impressed with the seniors and juniors,” Smith said. “They haven’t missed a beat. They’re right on track. They left off right where we ended the season last year. I’m really impressed with them.”
On defense, the Cats are primarily concerned with replacing graduated senior defensive end Brandon Miller.
“We’re pretty solid,” Smith said of the group. “A few concerns at the defensive end. Losing Brandon Miller, he was a big key on the outside, taking away the outside run. I think we can find the right combination to fill his shoes.”
Bowler/Gresham was third in the Great 8-North Conference, which adds Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas Academy, playing its first year of eight-player football. Elkhart-Lake/Glenbeulah moves to the Great 8-South Conference this year.
“Hopefully we can stay healthy. That’s the main thing,” Smith said. “We don’t have a lot of depth right now. We have a lot of young kids learning the system. We need to stay healthy.”
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