Chiefs ready for transition to Class A football
RONAN CHIEFS player Noah Cheff strips the ball from a Whitehall receiver during the 2016 Class-B state playoff game against Whitehall. With the new realignment of classifications Ronan will now move to Class A. (photo by Jason Blasco/Lake County Leader)
The Ronan Chiefs will be in a transitional year moving up from Class B to Class A football.
Chiefs’ coach Matt Detwiler is welcoming the renewed Ronan-Polson rivalry as his team prepares to get back to camp on Aug. 11.
“We’ve been lifting in the weight room and so many guys are spread out with baseball and family vacations,” Detwiler said. “We have a couple of players that are on family vacations and they just haven’t been on the field very much. That is why we put a lot of emphasis on the weight room. It’s a huge proponent.”
Last year, Detwiler asked his team ‘what is their legacy going to be?’
“The foundation of our program is now built for the house,” Detwiler said. “Now it is time to build our mansion and we want Ronan to make the playoffs every single year. I don’t care if that is a year we are down on talent or someone transferred before the start of the school year because the seniors of 2016 left behind a legacy. This is now the bar and the standard that has to be met every year.”
Detwiler had a discussion with Kevin Kenelty about changing the town’s mentality.
“We made it to the playoffs and that is just the starting place,” Detwiler said. “I want the starting place to be week nine during the playoffs and the ( playoffs to be the beginning of our season. We aren’t bragging about making the playoffs. It is just expected.”
Detwiler said he felt his team will adapt to moving up in classifications.
“Everything is a little different now,” Detwiler said. “ I don’t know if the Polson-Ronan rivalry will be right back to where it was. It’s a weird rivalry because the Polson-Ronan kids play Legion together and Senior Babe Ruth together. If you beat Polson, it is worth a year’s worth of bragging rights because it’s not like you don’t see them again until next season. You will see the Polson kids at the Lake and the grocery store, and it’s just a constant reminder of the game.”
Detwiler said he is ready for Aug 11, which is day No. 1 of football camp.
“I am really excited and ready to go (for football season),” Detwiler said. “I know there are a lot of guys that have full-time jobs and I haven’t seen them around. They’ve told me ‘they are ready to go,’ and the kids are excited. I am so interested to see how many kids will come with the success we had last year.”
Detwiler said he felt hosting a playoff game will be “huge” to increase the numbers at camp.
“We are hosting a playoff game and that is huge,” Detwiler said. “Kids that were on the borderline about playing may have seen what we did last year and want a piece of that. We usually have 30 or 40. I don’t know as far as numbers if it will stay the same or it will drop but we will see come August.”