Bigfork is ready for some football

By JORDAN DAWSON / Bigfork Eagle

"We are the team we've always wanted to be. The time to get it done is now," Bigfork High School football head coach Bruce Corbett told his players last week at a morning practice.

This year's team has 46 players on it, which is nearly triple the size of last year's team.

"I think we have so many more players this year because of the coaches' dedication to Bigfork football and the guys that were out here last year and their dedication to the program," said junior Kenny Patrick.

The Vikings are coming back after a rocky season last year in which they did not win any games. The small numbers were largely to blame for the losing season. Not only were the players not given many opportunities to rest during the games, but the coaches were not able to work with the players on the sidelines.

"This year I feel like the community is more supportive of us and believes that we can win," said sophomore Jerry Rose. "We are a lot closer as a team than we were last year. I think that losing all of our games last year brought us closer together. We are playing like we have 20 guys on the field and we play as hard as we did last year, even though we have enough to switch in and out so we can have breaks."

With the increase in players on the team the squad has many players that have not played football for head coach Bruce Corbett, who was new to the program last year. Many of the boys had played for BHS under the previous coach, but chose to sit out last year.

"No one here will argue with the fact that it's like we're starting a brand new football program," Corbett said. "The previous program here was play oriented. We focus on our players. We work on fundamentals because that's what we need to make the plays successful."

Part of that new found speed comes from Garrett Pewe, Phil Sandry, Prescott Mitchell and Kyle Hall, who are all new to the team this year but are upperclassmen at BHS who are on the track team.

"They give us maturity and tremendous speed," Corbett said.

The experienced players are impressed with the quality of the new players as well.

"The new people are doing well," Patrick said. "They have the willingness to win. They are dedicated."

Sophomore Christian Ker is taking over as the starting quarterback for the Vikings this year.

"He has a world of potential because he is your classic Peyton Manning quarterback in his style and his delivery," Corbett said.

Last year, Carson Sneed held the position, but he has been moved to half-back and safety.

"He is a natural leader," Corbett said of Sneed. "For some reason the kids gravitate towards him. As a quarterback he was able to help in one dimension. So with Carson and Christian going neck and neck for that position we decided to move him because we wanted him to be able to help us on both sides of the ball."

This year Corbett has decided to keep the team as one squad rather than splitting it up into freshmen, junior varsity and varsity teams. Everyone will get to play in varsity games, underclassmen will play in junior varsity games and freshmen and sophomores will play in freshmen games.

The experienced players are showing promise this year already. Sophomore returners Travis Knoll, Kenji Sagani, Rose, Anthony Curtis and Ker have all been showing improvement and leadership, according to Corbett.

"We've been very impressed by the development of last year's freshmen players," Corbett said. "They have bought into our program and really made a huge impact."

Corbett and his assistant coaches have been spending the last couple of weeks running drills with the team and focusing on the basics.

"There's no doubt that we're athletically stronger," Corbett said. "In the backfield we're much faster. The big question is 'can we get it done out there?' They've done everything we've asked of them, but when we get out there and start competing that's going to be the sign. I know we have the fastest backfield in the league. We are still working on strength and speed up front."

Corbett's coaching staff is made up of mostly familiar faces. James La fountaine and Zack Ruper are both returning as BHS coaches. La fountaine coaches the widereceivers and defensive backs. Rupe is the defensive line coach. Mark Tudahl, Saiea Mesa and Doug Mahlum have moved up this year from coaching the Bigfork Middle School football team. Tudahl is the outside line backer and full back coach. Mesa is the line backer and Running back coach. Mahlum is the nose tackle, line backer and running back coach. New to the program is Nels Hanson, who coaches the quarterbacks and helps out with the defense.

"The coaches have been great this year," Patrick said. "They are really dedicated and they want us to win. They take time off work for us and we really appreciate that. They're not scarred to let us know when we make a mistake. I really appreciate that because it makes us better when game time comes."

Corbett said that he has been working with his coaches to make sure that they are teaching the players during every play. It is his hope that they all keep improving as teachers this season, and it seems as though that process has already started to show to the players.

"I really like the coaches this year," Rose said. "They know how to coach us individually, not just as a team. That's Coach Corbett's job. The assistants get down and work with us. They don't just stand back and yell at us. They get in and show us."

The Vikings have their first game tomorrow, Sept. 5, in Hamilton at 7 p.m. BHS opened their season last year against Hamilton as well.

"We expect to win our first game because we do have the experience and we do have the numbers," Rose said. "We should've won last year, but we were too fatigued by the end of the game, but this year we have the numbers to be able to switch in and out."

Corbett agrees that the Vikings could take their first win in over a year tomorrow.

"I believe that we can beat Hamilton," Corbett said. "But a team has to learn to win. That's the most difficult part. It's hard to teach a team to win. On paper we're as good as them. We're learning to be more physical. We're working on conditioning. We will be the best conditioned team on the field this season. We're very pleased with the growth in numbers and the support of the community, especially the Booster Club and Gridiron Club. Our ultimate goal is to become a football program. We are nowhere near that. We're only going to become bigger and stronger. We already have plans for the spring. It's a work in progress."