ANITA – Last season saw a couple of things happen to the CAM football team that they had not seen in a while.
The first thing that happened was the team was under new management, so to speak, as Nick Kauffman took the whistle from Barry Bower, and became the new head coach. Another thing that happened was that the team failed to win at least seven games for the first time in seven years, as they finished the season with a 4-4 mark.
With a year under his belt and with his team having a year of experience, Coach Kauffman and the Cougars look to make strides on the football field when it comes time for the first kickoff of the season.
Those efforts will be that much more difficult since the team lost some key pieces from last year’s team. Gone, and probably the biggest hole to fill is first-team all-district selection Collin Bower. Opposing teams always had to know where he was on the field, whether it was when he lined up at his usual tight-end position, if he was lined up behind the center in the wildcat formation. Besides Bower, the team also graduated Landon Calhoun, Caden Will, Bryce Zimmerline, and Hudson Christensen.
The team brings back more players than they graduated last season and are led by what some might call the most important position on the field, the quarterback. Junior Zach Kauffman will once again be under center and his efforts last year earned him second team all-district honors.
Kauffman led an offense that was tilted lightly toward the pass, with him passing for 1,168 yards, going 80-for-135 and 19 touchdowns vs. 10 interceptions.
Other second team all-district picks that return are Kayden Winther, Carson McKee, Will Rouse, Kason Calhoun and Brentyn Hoover. In just the few weeks the team has been practicing, Coach Kauffman has liked what he has seen from his team so far this very young season.
Winther is the leading rusher returning, with 322 yards on 54 carries (6.0 yards per carry) and five touchdowns a year ago. The run game picked up 954 total yards.
Winther also had 330 yards receiving on 27 catches and four touchdowns, while McKee added 178 yards on 11 catches and five touchdowns.
Defensviely, Calhoun has 62 total tackles, the most returning, while Rouse added eight tackles for loss; he and Hoover each had two quarterback sacks.
“We have had some very good practices so far this year. The boys have brought a positive attitude and lots of energy this year,” he said. “We will be much more experienced and mature this year. We should have five returning starters on offense and six on defense.”
The main thing the team hopes to improve on over last season is one that they can control, for the most part, and that is injuries. At many times during the season, the team was without key players, in key games, and that took a toll on their record. If they can stay healthy, and with the mix of experienced players they look to field, the team looks to get back to their winnings ways this year.
“Last season was challenging in that we had injuries to key personnel throughout the season. We had a different starting lineup almost every week of the season. We were always shuffling people around instead of simply getting better,” the coach said. “This year we hope to avoid the number of injuries we had and that should allow us to work on improving throughout the season. We will have six seniors this year that will all start on at least one side of the ball. Their experience and leadership will be a key to our success.”
In adhering to the old adage of “If it isn’t broke, don’t fixe it”, Coach Kauffman is not planning on any major changes. Not that they would have that much time to do anything big anyways, as the season will start this Friday night with a road scrimmage at Lenox.
“Friday night we will take on Lenox. This is really just a controlled practice with a different team, instead of beating up on ourselves. Our goals Friday are lining up correctly, getting in position, footwork, attitude, effort, etc. The execution side of things isn’t usually very clean in a scrimmage, but that is a good gauge of how ready you are for week one,” Coach Kauffman said. “We’re excited to get started and see what things look like for this season. Things have been looking very good in practice, so hopefully that continues against a solid Lenox team.”