If it can be said that March comes in like a lion, you might be able to say the same thing about the schedule for this year’s Lansing football team.
Most will certainly question whether the scarlet-clad Lions will be able to weather the storm of those first three weeks, during which they play the three teams that many consider to be the kings of the Kaw Valley League jungle. Lansing senior halfback/linebacker Spencer Blew posed a different question, though, for Mill Valley, Turner, and Basehor-Linwood:
“How tough will it be for them?” Blew said. “That’s the question.”
Indeed, the Lions still have the same swagger they had in 2008, when they were the last undefeated team in 5A after winning their first eight games. Last year ended in disappointment, though, when a season-opening win was followed by seven losses in the final eight games, and this year’s much-larger senior class is determined not to let it go that way again.
“We’re pushing the team twice as hard...” senior quarterback Tyler Terron said of the increased number of seniors. “We’ve got more leadership on the team, that’s for sure.”
“They’re pretty determined that they want to be successful,” Bill Pekarek, in his 10th year as Lansing head coach, said of the seniors. “And the junior class right behind them has almost 30 guys. There’s a lot of talent in those two classes. We come off of a year that wasn’t so good last year, and I think everybody’s focused about wanting to be better.”
In order to do so, Lansing must improve defensively on stopping the run, because it didn’t take long in ’09 for opponents to figure out their weakness. Their last four KVL opponents averaged only 8.5 passes per game, all Lion losses.
Pekarek will base the defense out of a 5-2 set, and he will focus on fundamentals to be more effective.
The offense will mix multiple schemes out of different formations as they combine adjustments they’ve made through the years, including an injury-riddled season last year. Some of those adjustments actually added explosiveness, personified by Litton Van Der Werff, who began as the third-string quarterback before being pressed into action and completing 58 percent of his passes for 825 yards and 10 TDs. Van Der Werff now gives the Lions another option at QB with Terron, who missed his junior season after tearing his ACL in the red/white scrimmage last year.
The offense will be without senior running back Dillon Scanlon, however, as he recovers from concussions. The offensive line could be thin as well, but depth abounds at the skill positions. Blew, who averaged 4.7 yards per carry in ’09, returns as the leading rusher, while Parker Gibson returns as an all-around playmaker. Gibson intercepted six passes in ’08, and last year he made 84 tackles, had more than 1,000 receiving yards for 15 TDs, and averaged about 34 yards per punt for good measure. Many of those numbers were racked up in the final game against Mill Valley, but Gibson said he’s glad this year’s schedule will have such tough teams early.
“I think it’s actually better for us because we’re always fired up for the first couple games of the season...” Gibson said. “Hopefully we can just keep the tempo going the whole time this season.”
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If it can be said that March comes in like a lion, you might be able to say the same thing about the schedule for this year’s Lansing football team.
Most will certainly question whether the scarlet-clad Lions will be able to weather the storm of those first three weeks, during which they play the three teams that many consider to be the kings of the Kaw Valley League jungle. Lansing senior halfback/linebacker Spencer Blew posed a different question, though, for Mill Valley, Turner, and Basehor-Linwood:
“How tough will it be for them?” Blew said. “That’s the question.”
Indeed, the Lions still have the same swagger they had in 2008, when they were the last undefeated team in 5A after winning their first eight games. Last year ended in disappointment, though, when a season-opening win was followed by seven losses in the final eight games, and this year’s much-larger senior class is determined not to let it go that way again.
“We’re pushing the team twice as hard...” senior quarterback Tyler Terron said of the increased number of seniors. “We’ve got more leadership on the team, that’s for sure.”
“They’re pretty determined that they want to be successful,” Bill Pekarek, in his 10th year as Lansing head coach, said of the seniors. “And the junior class right behind them has almost 30 guys. There’s a lot of talent in those two classes. We come off of a year that wasn’t so good last year, and I think everybody’s focused about wanting to be better.”
In order to do so, Lansing must improve defensively on stopping the run, because it didn’t take long in ’09 for opponents to figure out their weakness. Their last four KVL opponents averaged only 8.5 passes per game, all Lion losses.
Pekarek will base the defense out of a 5-2 set, and he will focus on fundamentals to be more effective.
The offense will mix multiple schemes out of different formations as they combine adjustments they’ve made through the years, including an injury-riddled season last year. Some of those adjustments actually added explosiveness, personified by Litton Van Der Werff, who began as the third-string quarterback before being pressed into action and completing 58 percent of his passes for 825 yards and 10 TDs. Van Der Werff now gives the Lions another option at QB with Terron, who missed his junior season after tearing his ACL in the red/white scrimmage last year.
The offense will be without senior running back Dillon Scanlon, however, as he recovers from concussions. The offensive line could be thin as well, but depth abounds at the skill positions. Blew, who averaged 4.7 yards per carry in ’09, returns as the leading rusher, while Parker Gibson returns as an all-around playmaker. Gibson intercepted six passes in ’08, and last year he made 84 tackles, had more than 1,000 receiving yards for 15 TDs, and averaged about 34 yards per punt for good measure. Many of those numbers were racked up in the final game against Mill Valley, but Gibson said he’s glad this year’s schedule will have such tough teams early.
“I think it’s actually better for us because we’re always fired up for the first couple games of the season...” Gibson said. “Hopefully we can just keep the tempo going the whole time this season.”
