Staff writer
After a 10-1 season in 2010 and the loss of seven seniors, the Centre Cougars are looking to rebuild their team.
With just 20 students out for football, coaches Kelly Steiner and Tad Remy have their work cut out for them.
The six returning letter-winners are seniors Shane Methvin, Trevor Hageberg, and Kordell Harding; juniors Kendall Harding and Houston Svoboda; and sophomore Kyle Methvin.
According to Steiner, Hageberg and the Methvin brothers will be key competitors. He said Hageberg worked hard this summer and has dropped some weight but added strength.
Zach Calvert is the other senior on the team.
Steiner expects juniors Svoboda and Justin Deines to do more for the team this year. Other juniors are Jerami Slayden and Dylan Svitak.
Ty Simons, Chad Mueller, Braden Pagenkopf, Karl Riffel, and Tanner Peterson are sophomore team members.
Joining the squad for the first time are Mark Vinduska, Caleb Kristek, Connor Montgomery, Justin Bina, and Dakota Stimpson.
“We’re going to be kind of young this year,” Steiner said. “We graduated a good class and they will have to be replaced. I do like how hard our kids have been working. We’re just going to have to get their feet wet.”
Looking at the league overall, Steiner expects Little River, Hope, and Waverly to field leading teams this year.
Steiner is in his sixth year as head football coach. The first game of the season is Sept. 2 at Peabody.