Football coaches optimistic, but cautious in Minnesota

New faces in new places have coaches mum on expectations for upcoming season.

By
Aug 25, 2010, 1:43pm
The 2010 Minnesota high school football season kicked off with practice opening on Monday, August 16. With the start of the new season there are new opportunities resulting in a renewed sense of energy and enthusiasm for coaches and players across the state. Despite this hope and optimism, coaches are taking a cautiously optimistic approach in their expectations this season.

They know what needs to be done to have a successful season. They know what players they expect to lead them.
They also know they must find those hidden gems who emerge to help round out a team and lead it to success.

They just don't know who those players are — yet. And thus, they are not saying much when discussing season outlooks this fall.

Take Mankato West coach Mark Esch. The Scarlet are coming off an 11-1 season last year, with the only loss coming at the hands of eventual Class 4A state champion Totino-Grace (Fridley) in the semifinals of the 2009 state tournament, 35-0. The team returns a talented group of All-State honorable-mention players, including quarterback Philip Nelson, wide receiver Nick Kaus, linebacker Drew Weber and linebacker Adam Athey, as well as the talented Tyler Henderson, who is a 6-2, 180-pound two-way threat (WR/FS). Not to mention, Esch was the 2010 Big 9 Conference Coach of the Year and has built the Scarlet into a perennial state power.

Still, Esch isn't saying much at the start of the season. The keys to success, he says, include line play and the fact that they must stay healthy. Despite this tempered outlook, look for the Scarlet to be among the state's top-ranked 4A teams when rankings are released.

That cautious sense of optimism is more understandable with a coach like Matt Gegenheimer, who is in his fourth year as head coach at Prior Lake. The Lakers were 3-6 last year in the Missota Conference. This year, the Lakers, who are now combined with students from the nearby town of Savage, have been moved to the Lake Conference — considered the toughest big-school conference in the state.

Gegenheimer says the biggest area of concern this season is adapting to conference change in order to be competitive each and every week this season. The Lakers have a number of key players, and skilled players at that, returning and are hoping for big things.

Among the group for the Lakers is 6-2, 290-pound Karmichael Dunbar, a fearsome defensive tackle who is the son of Minnesota Vikings coach Karl Dunbar. Another key player is 2010 captain and 2009 All-Conference wide receiver Matt Arends. Tyler Maxwell will be the team's key running back and another captain and the offensive line will be anchored by 2009 all-conference honorable mention selection Paul Schons, a 6-2, 290-pound center. The offensive line could be a strength of the team. In addition to Schons, Luke Gaudette (6-0, 285) and Nick Brant (6-0, 260) return. The defense returns seven starters, including Dunbar. The other returnees are Cory Pietig (DE), Mike Mello (LB), Mason Lytle (SS), Chris Sticha (OLB), Jake Deavers (LB) and Matt Dysthe (DB).

Among the key newcomers looking to make their mark at the varsity level are juniors Jack Kaier, a running back, Taylor Case, a wide receiver and Alex Burton (LB) and Jon Franklin (DB).

For the first time, the varsity football team from Prior Lake will include players from Prior Lake and Savage. These combined teams experienced success in their younger years, and hope to find the same success at the high school level.

Every year, many of the same teams are brought into the conversation of top teams, and rightfully so, these perennial powers prove year after year that they will find success. So, when people talk about the best teams, it's no surprise that Eden Prairie, Wayzata (Plymouth), Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul), Minnetonka (Minnetonka) and Totino Grace are among those teams in the conversation.

In a key season opener, 5A power Minnetonka will face defending state champion Totino Grace, a 4A power.

This is also the first post-Seantrel Henderson season in Minnesota. For the past three years, the former Cretin-Derham Hall lineman, who is now playing at the University of Miami, has been the center of football talk. And rightfully so, Henderson was the biggest and best talent to come out of the state in recent memory.

However, with Henderson graduating, it's time for new players and new names to grab the headlines. Among those playmakers could be quarterback Tyler Finnes of Andover and Eric Kline of Blaine. Or it could be running back Reggie Gandy of DeLaSalle (Minneapolis), which perennially has one of the most explosive offenses in the state, or it could be Ezekiel Okeleye of East Ridge (Woodbury), who hopes to help the second-year Raptors program improve.

Others will hold down the trenches and create room for playmakers, such as offensive linemen Tommy Olson of Mahtomedi and Nick Jacobs of Delano, among others. Or, it could be the highlight-reel plays of Osseo's Jameer Jackson, a returning All-State wide receiver.

Looking to stop these playmakers is a plethora of defensive standouts. One is White Bear Lake's Donny Longendyke, who is also one of the best heavyweight wrestlers in the country.

These teams and players are a big reason why there is hope and optimism across the state. Even if it is cautious optimism, It's a fresh start and a new year.

Action begins Friday, Sept. 3.