A Glance at 4 SIAC High School Football Teams
Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 12:59AM The past four days at work, I have gone to four different practices of Evansville schools. What did I learn at each visit? I will start in the order that I saw the teams.
Mater Dei: It is hard to know what to expect from MD each year, because head coach Mike Goebel does a great job of keeping expectations low, and downplays any and all success. I completely buy into that philosophy, even though I always make fun of him about it. I have told him that I could find soundbytes from him 8 years ago, and play them on the air, and they would fit.
All of that being said, it does seem that the Wildcats will have to work hard to turn in another great season. The Cats lost 30 seniors, and have just 2 returning starters from last season. Their up and coming quarterback Andrew Martin was involved in a car wreck, and will miss some games. I hope Martin is ok. I have heard a lot of great things about his skill. He is just a sophomore. The Cats are always disciplined, tough nosed, and extremely well coached. Even with the lack of experience, I would never count out Coach Goebel.
Central: There is one reason that the Bears have really become a consistently strong team in the city: head coach Andy Owen. When Andy joined his father’s staff, he implemented a dynamic offense. Since then, the Bears have are 30-14 over the past four seasons. Owen is entering his third year as head coach. I love covering Central. The Owen family is so great, and they have some great kids at that school. Jaleel Fox will be one of the top tailbacks in the city. I enjoyed spending some time with him on Tuesday. He has a great combination of power and speed. He should get a lot of touches, and be tough on opposing defenses. Central has some great athletes. They should have another great season.
North: Mike Wilson is a dream coach for soundbytes. He is the opposite of Mike Goebel. Wilson never holds anything back, and always tells it like it is, without sugarcoating it. A quick story: back in the mid-90s, the Huskies were loaded, and they had expectations of going to the Dome. There were 3 tough teams in the 5A sectional that year, Reitz, Harrison, and Castle. So the blind sectional draw comes out, and North gets the worst draw possible. The Huskies would have to face all three of those opponents in a row. I go over to North to interview Coach Wilson, and he gives me a Hall of Fame soundbyte. “Good grief Lance, why don’t they put Notre Dame or Purdue in our sectional, heck, we might as well play the Colts too. That’s unbelievable. *sigh” It’s so rare for a coach to be so forthright, and I appreciate that about Wilson.
He was similar on Tuesday night when I asked about this year’s team. “Oh Lance, that’s a great question, I don’t know what to expect from this team. We have so many doggone new faces, but I love their work ethic.” North has the tallest quarterback that I can remember covering. 6”6” Matt Strohmeier will be under center. He grew 4 inches in the off-season!! He is a senior this year and will get his first shot at being the signal caller. I can’t wait to see how he does. Cameron Clements will be the tailback for North. Coach Wilson told me his number one priority is stopping the run.
Bosse: Out of the four practices, the Bulldogs definitely were the most upbeat about their season. They all had great attitudes. The dogs always fight to get enough numbers out to compete with the bigger city schools. Bosse has over 40 guys in pads right now. Joe Frazier is back at quarterback. He is a four year starter. Head Coach Andrew Weinzapfel told me how nice it is not to have to worry about the lack of experience at qb. Frazer was just a great kid to talk to. He really gave me some nice answers, and was genuinely excited about his teammates and the 2009 season. I will be rooting for him.
Behind Frazier is Josh Pendleton. He had 1800 yards as a tailback a year ago. He is a fast little guy that is hard to tackle. He is the younger brother of former North standout Dion Pendleton. I would love to see the Bulldogs have a great season! They are due for some success.
Reader Comments (1)
Go Bulldogs!!! They werent to terrible in 2001 I think. They are due to say the least!