2013 High School Football Previews

ARLEE

With a roster of just 14 players, third-year coach Mike Rogers will rely on a young team to carry through 2013. The Warriors will be led by his son, Riley, at quarterback. Rogers will be helped on offense by running back Alex Bertholt and wideout Patrick BigSam.

“These kids have played a lot of football together,” Mike Rogers said. “… They understand the game of football. They’re a good group of kids. They’re a smart group of kids.”

Logan Potts, the lone senior for the Warriors, will lead a young line. Rogers hopes that experience will guide his young team.

“It’s been awhile since this team was in the playoffs,” Rogers said. “If you can get these young kids to get a taste of the playoffs, it will [mean] big things for next year.”

While a playoff berth is a goal, Rogers admitted that 2013 is primarily a building year for the Warriors.

“It’s tough to get a young kid to come out and lead,” he said. “So hopefully we can get some of our younger kids to do that, and if we can that will make things a lot easier on our one senior.”

Rogers hopes that some leadership will help his team improve on 2012’s 4-5 record.

CHARLO

Rebounding from a loss in a Class C 8-man state quarterfinal game, Charlo will face champion Superior in its season opener. Coach Mike Krahn will have to replace playmaker Tra Ludeman, and he hopes to do so with running backs Jacen Petersen and Tyler Delaney, both of whom were all-state selections in 2012.

“I think we might be a little higher run-oriented [than last year],” Krahn said.

Delaney’s little brother Michael will replace Ludeman under center. Krahn said he could have a breakout season in 2013.

“He’s looking pretty good, but experience-wise, we don’t want to put any pressure on him,” Krahn said. “Teams will start keying on those two guys at running back and he’ll find a lot of space to run the ball.”

On defense, Krahn expects to have the most trouble replacing what he lost in the secondary. Maverick Nelson, weighing in at 225, is the biggest starter on either side of the ball for the Vikings. Krahn said size is another serious concern.

All in all, the Vikings hope to have a chance at winning the Class C Western Division when the end of the season rolls around. Krahn thinks this is a possibility, but he admitted that as many as five teams could enter the season with that same expectation.

“It really comes down to attrition and who stays healthy,” he said.

MISSION

Junior Raymond Matt will handle the majority of the offense at running back for the young Bulldogs. Third-year coach Rich Ferris is yet to identify a quarterback for his inexperienced team. He plans to rely heavily on Matt and senior wideouts Jarred Brown and Ryce Hegwood.

The line on both sides of the ball will be the youngest in the valley, Ferris said, with just one junior (Niqolas Gillingham). Sophomore Emilio Bravo will be the other Bulldog standout in the trenches.

“We lost a couple people from the offensive line so we’re hoping to get some early gel from them,” Ferris said.

Despite returning eight defensive starters, Ferris will be looking for leadership from his small team.

“I’m not sure who’s going to step up,” Ferris said. “It’s up to them to sort themselves out and find out who’s going to lead our team.”

He expects Brown and Hegwood to stand out at defensive back, while Matt will lead the linebacker corps.

Mission will be the first team in the Mission Valley to open up its season when they travel to Eureka on the 30th.

POLSON

Coming off a loss to Beaverhead County in the Class A state semifinals, Polson’s gridiron gang will face the Beavers in the first game of the 2013 campaign. The Pirates will be short three Montana Shrine Game participants: linemen Riley Sampson and Eric Williamson and safety Will Davey, who will play at Montana Tech this fall.

Thirteenth-year coach Scott Wilson does return starting quarterback Andrew Weltz for his senior year. The offense will rely on Weltz’s arm and receiver Cedrick Smith. Tight ends Brady Hislop and Dylan McCrumb will also play a role in the offense. The running back positions are wide open after Wilson’s team graduated five ball carriers from last year’s squad.

Expect the Pirates to throw the ball a good deal more than they did in 2012.

On defense, Wilson must replace his entire linebacker corps. He hopes to start multiple seniors on the defensive line as well as in the secondary. He expects to play quite a few seniors, though.

“We’re not going to be young,” Wilson said. “We’re going to be inexperienced.”

While the Pirates have won the Class A Northwest Conference four of the past five years, Wilson said this year’s goal is just to make it into the postseason.

“You can’t win state if you don’t make the playoffs,” he said.

RONAN

Coach Jim Benn will field the most experienced Ronan team he has in his six-year career as head coach for the Chiefs. His son, Connor, will quarterback the offense, which Benn said will be much more balanced than in years past when the Chiefs were known to be a strictly running team.

Much of the balance on offense will go through junior receiver Bryce Cullen. Cullen, a speedy 6-2 receiver, will be one of the more athletic players in the Mission Valley.

“We’d be silly not to use a weapon like him,” Benn said.

T.J. Webb will anchor a sizable and experienced line.

“Kids are pretty much playing their natural positions,” Benn said. “We have good size and good quickness. We have a good balance of kids.”

Despite having to replace all-state back Carston Baertsch, Benn hopes the running game will be maintained by seniors Ron Cullis and Brennan Andrews.

Cullis and Andrews will anchor the linebacker corps while the younger Benn and Cullen will play defensive back. Both sections of the defense return every starter. Webb and big-man Lucas Gerhardt will highlight the line.

Benn’s biggest obstacle to overcome was the 2012 season’s injuries. He lost quite a few starters to the injury bug. The Chiefs finished 2-6.

“We took our lumps because we were young and inexperienced last year,” he said.

New defensive coordinator Ryan Wells will install an even-front defense that will give the Chiefs a new look on the other side of the ball. Benn hopes that the mix of experience and new strategy will be enough for Ronan to earn a playoff spot in 2013.

“After what we went through last year, we’re just going to take things one week at a time,” he said. “… We’d like to take one of those playoff spots and see where we can go from there.”