MOUNT IDA -- Although in his first year at the helm of the Mount Ida football program, head coach Zach Wuichet is no stranger to the Lions or their fans.
Wuichet joined the Lions' coaching staff in 2015, and he led the junior Lions to a 8-1 season and conference title last year. While there is often some conflict with the installation of a new coach, that has not been a problem at Mount Ida after Michael White retired from coaching after 14 years.
"We're not changing anything," Wuichet said, which helped keep conflict down. "And Mike didn't go anywhere. He's got obviously a lot harder job now, but he's still involved. Of course his nephew is a ninth grader, and his son is a fourth grader, so their both in our football program right now. So it hasn't been that different. I still call him daily."
Offense
Sticking with the split-back veer that has become a mainstay for the Lions program, Wuichet is having to water-down the playbook somewhat after a massive 14-player senior class graduated in the spring.
"It's going to be a blander form of it," he said. "Playing so many inexperienced players, we won't have as wide of a playbook, but we're going to stay with the base concept. Of course, if we were to change playbooks, we're changing from the third grade on because our peewee program, everybody runs the same playbook from third grade up."
One of the major offensive tools returning is senior running back Hunter Davis (5-6, 160). Davis averaged 5 yards per carry for 200 yards and five touchdowns last season, including scores against Bearden and Hector in the playoffs. He spent extra time in the weight room during the offseason, and with a 4.8 speed, he will be the team's workhorse.
"He'll be the go-to back on offense," Wuichet said.
Joining Davis in the backfield will be junior John Hoeksema (6-1, 180). The emerging running back lined up at reciever last season after moving to the district from Texas.
"He didn't have a lot of football experience, so he was slow getting going, especially learning [what] we do," Wuichet explained. "He ran the spread back in Texas, so he emerged as a more of a wide receiver-type kid, but we don't throw the ball. So he learned that was a waste of time, so he learned how to run the ball."
Junior Austin Cooper (5-6, 155) will line up to lead the offense at quarterback. He comes into the year with the most quarterbacking experience, having played the position some in junior high, so Wuichet hopes to mould him into a strong leader on the field.
Junior tackle Hunter Humphries (6-4, 330) will anchor the line as the largest player on the team. He was on the field for about 50 percent of the team's snaps last season, but he was limited in the weight room during the offseason after tearing his ACL last November.
The remainder of the line was still up for grabs earlier this month with seven or eight sophomores looking to fill the line.
Sophomores Baylor Bates (5-8, 150) and A.J. Perez (5-5, 140) showed speed last year in junior high as the team's leading rushers. The pair will likely line up as slot backs, allowing the Lions to utilize them as extra running backs.
"Baylor was a standout running back in junior high," Wuichet said. "I will probably run five or six running backs in a game. That's just our style. We had this same scenario three years ago in junior high where Hunter Davis was a focal point, but we didn't have five guys behind him, so he took quite a beating all year. We'll need to keep him fresh."
Defense
The defensive line remained in flux through the end of summer workouts, but Wuichet anticipated many of the offensive linemen playing both ways.
Davis and Hoeksema will solidify the middle of the backfield as inside linebackers. Davis tallied 68 stops last season, including six for a loss while Hoeksema piled up 18 while doubling in the secondary and at linebacker.
Sophomore Gavin Summitt (5-9, 170) will also take the field at linebacker along with classmate Connor Sigman (5-10, 160).
Cooper will help to control the secondary as an experienced safety, but with a young team, Wuichet anticipates that the top defenders will rise to the top once the team starts to see some adversity.
Special Teams
Junior Mason Ballard (6-3, 250) will likely take over kicking duties after spending two years playing basketball.
"He's coming back as a junior," Wuichet explained. "He didn't play the last two years. He was our kicker then."
Sophomore Nate Sommerkorn (6-0, 220) could also double as a kicker.
"Both of those are offensive linemen, too," Wuichet said. "So it's hard to get them the work in kicking. I need them over there drilling."
Cooper or one of the running backs will line up deep for the punts as the offensive unit will remain on the field.
Opponents
No stranger to the Class 2A state tournament, having won the 2016 state title and finishing as runner-up in 2017, Wuichet said that he thinks last year was the most impressive season for the since he arrived.
"If you look back at the last three years, last year would probably have been the biggest accomplishment," he said. "By the end of the year, we had 15 kids dressed out due to injuries. And to be able to make it to the semifinals with 15 kids, that would probably be our biggest accomplishment. But it's been fun. [We've] missed a lot of deer hunting and family time."
Wuichet said that over the last three years, the team has gotten essentially an extra season and a half of experience, so he hopes that will help translate into this season.
Mount Ida opens its season against Magazine, which returns its quarterback and two running backs from last season.
"They actually beat us by about 40 points two years ago in junior high with these two running backs up there they're bringing back," Wuichet said. "They play about like us. They want to play physical with those two kids and make you tackle, and they're hard to tackle."
The Lions will then host Jessieville before traveling to Magnet Cove to wrap up the non-conference season. They then open the 2A-7 conference at Mineral Springs, who is one of the teams that will likely be in the mix for the conference title.
After taking on Murfreesboro at home and Spring Hill on the road, which have been competitive games, the Lions go into "Murderer's Row."
"Foreman, Dierks and Gurdon right now are one, two and four in the preseason rankings," Wuichet said.
Dierks will be the team's final road game before the season finale at Lafayette County with Foreman and Gurdon both at home.
"We don't want to end the playoff streak," Wuichet continued. "That's for sure. I think four wins gives us a chance. I think five wins get us in, so we just need to play well those right games to get in there.
"It might earn us a trip to Junction City, but I'd rather go to Junction City than go deer hunting that weekend."
Sports on 08/30/2019