Indians put pads on, prepare for battle

By MICKEY ALVARADO

The 2010-2011 high school varsity football season opens on Friday, Aug. 27, for Tecumseh High School.

This year the Indians will travel to play non-conference foe Monroe Jefferson for their first game. Last year, Tecumseh lost the contest 21-8 to start the season.

Head coach Jason Mensing said he’s pleased with how committed his players are in preparing for contact but pre-season injuries have already begun to slow the team down.

“Our intensity’s been really good in practice,” said Mensing. “We’ve got a lot of injuries right now. So, probably our primary concern right now is overcoming some of that adversity with injuries.”

The injuries to the returning starters happened during non-contact situations in practice and over the course of the summertime break. Matt Napieralski rushed for 900 yards last year but will be on the sideline most of this season. He broke his leg during an early football practice.

“He planted and cut in an open field and it broke,” said Mensing. “It was a non-contact injury, we weren’t even in pads yet and just running through some plays...It was a real shot to all of us when that happened because we love Matt so much.”

Starting at the quarterback position will be junior Brad Vannatter, who saw time behind the offensive line last year. He scored the first TD of the season.

“We put a lot of pressure on him in the off-season to compete for that job and not just have it handed to him because he was the starter last year, and he’s done a great job,” said Mensing.

The Indians will have to have protection up front for the small-framed QB even though he’s able to quickly cut away from an opponent’s rush. Mensing said he has plenty of size up front to guard him.

“We’ve got a lot of big boys, that’s for sure,” said Mensing.

Returning up front to offer protection is 6’6”, 260-pound senior, Zach Benschoter. The coach said he put forth outstanding effort during football camp and has a ton of potential.

Senior Caleb Hughes (6’6”, 280-pounds) was the Indians’ starting center last year but he’s a bit banged up already. Mensing’s had senior Matt Neitman step in as a replacement and he’s done a fine job, according to the coach. So, the one who gets to start the games will have to earn it.

Senior Travis Hyder (6’7”, 225-pounds) is fighting with junior Tyler Brian for a lineman position. Mensing said that while Brian has a small build he’s the fastest player on the team.

“He’s playing offensive line because he’s got great get off and mentality,” said Mensing.

Senior Jeremy Heistand returns as a left tackle after starting all nine games last year. The two returning guards are seniors Gavin Burstall and Caleb Armstrong. They both started every game last year.

Tecumseh will continue barreling down the field as opposed to going to the air for gained yardage.

“The reality is this is the best fit for us,” said Mensing. “We’ve got big strong kids that have worked hard in the weight room, that we believe are physical in their mind set and want to play physical football. We play some schools with tremendous skill athletes. It’s to our advantage to play that way. We make no apologies for it and we’re proud to play that way.”

Tecumseh needs to make big improvements on its defense, especially in pass protection. The Indians were outscored 355-229 last year and finished 2-7 overall.

“That’s where we’ve got to show tremendous improvement,” said Mensing. “We know we haven’t performed at the level we need to defensively. We just keep working and grinding and trying to find the solution.”

Some of the defensive players named by the coach who are looking up to the test are juniors Jared Powell and Ronnie Bechtel and seniors Armstrong, Tom Carney and Tyler Hill.

“The minor scheme adjustments we made so we could play a little slower, bigger bodies on the line of scrimmage. Again, we think that kind of fits what we’ve got, some big strong kids who play hard.”

Another thing the team has plenty off, according to Mensing, is heart. He isn’t worried at all about that. Keeping the kids healthy is his main concern.

“I feel really good about where we’re at,” he said. “The big question mark is we’ve got to stay healthy. But as far as how hard our kids have worked it’s been the best camp we’ve had.”