The Tigers lost a lot of horses from last year’s 9-3 season, losing the likes of Levi Cassavaugh, Tanner Ridge, Dylan McIntyre, Creed Wilcox, and Jase Latham. But they will gain a big freshman class which went undefeated each of its two years. They will try to mesh with returners such as Tyler New, Elias Alarcon, Landon Wilmes, Grant McIntyre, and others. They will have 26 out for football this year.
Tyler New returns as the starting quarterback for this year, but they will have plenty of other options at that position. Brayden Stevens, Hayden Sanders, and Wyatt Hill can also play. One possibility at runningback will be Landon Wilmes, who has a nose for the holes that his line will open up. Another possibility will be Cole Ruby. Bo Collins and Grant McIntyre will give the Tigers a lot of size at the receiver slot, which will make it difficult for enemy teams to match up with.
The biggest hole will be at the line, where the Tigers will have to fill a lot of holes. Elias Alarcon returns, but everything else is an open question. One possible piece of the puzzle will be Carter Chapman, who hit a big growth spurt during his freshman year; during baseball season last spring, he finally figured out how to harness his body, and he has been working hard during summer. Coach Jon Adwell has been pushing Kolton Smith a lot in practice. Other people who could see action on the line include Franklynn Taute, Toryn Privett, Ethan Lininger, and Karson Briner.
Last year, the Tigers were within six points of an undefeated season, losing by two points to Albany and losing by two points twice to North Andrew. The game with North Andrew turned out to be the State Championship game as the Cardinals beat Archie and LeBlond handily to win the title. Worth County got quality wins over the likes of South Holt, Platte Valley, and state runner-up LeBlond along with King City.
The Tigers will know right away if they will be any good or not after the first game of the year, as Platte Valley will come looking for revenge after the Tigers erased a 14 point deficit in Barnard to get a playoff win. They will rekindle their long-time rivalry with Mound City; coach Jon Adwell was on the squad that got Worth County’s first ever eight man win, 18-12 over the Panthers after Worth County made a goal line stand at the end to preserve the win.
After that will come the conference schedule. On paper, North Andrew has fallen off drastically after most of their horses from last year’s run graduated, leaving only Linville, their star quarterback. But Adwell said they have looked very respectable during summer with a new coach at the helm and could surprise people. Stanberry returns a quality runningback and a quarterback this year; if Shane Hilton can build a team around those two, they could do a lot of damage down the stretch. Although their record didn’t show it, Pattonsburg made a lot of strides last year and returns their quarterback, Gage Iddings, and two of their receivers; a freshman, Wyatt Maize, could break in as another pass catching option. Albany will have some big shoes to fill with the departure of Kemper Cline, but his brother, Chase, will take over. Princeton and King City will be a mirror image of Worth County, with a lot of promising young players seeking to make an impact. Other teams to watch include South Holt, which returns everybody, and Archie.
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