Following a fourth straight year of making the playoffs, the Winside football team has been moving some players around this past off-season along with a larger number of freshmen joining the program.
A total of 21 players will make up Winside Wildcat football which is up three from last year. Broken down, there are four seniors, four juniors, four sophomores and nine freshmen.
Mike Naeve will be starting his fifth year leading Winside football.
Coach Naeve said there are some kids filling in positions due to graduation and moving other players around.
“Some defensive ends, offensive line got a few spots there that needed to be filled in, tight ends,” said Naeve. “We had a running back graduate, so we have one filling in there and our corner.
Dylan Woodall and James Gubbels will assist coach Naeve.
Winside football has been going back to basics and working on fundamentals. The Wildcats are trying to put pieces of the puzzle together for their best opportunity to be successful.
The Wildcats are coming off a 3-6 season which included their fourth straight playoff appearance.
Along with summer weights and conditioning, the Winside football team attended the Wayne State eight-man team camp.
“I thought we had a good showing there,” Naeve added. “First time with some younger kids and everything else. Some kids stepping into positions that they might have been in before. As a staff, I think we were kind of pleased at the end of camp.”
Seniors are Dane Behmer, Korbin Carlson, Cam Bilstein and Mace Magwire.
A second year starter at quarterback will be junior Jayden Aschoff while Caleb Offner will be make a transition from tight end to a guard on offense and defensive end to defensive tackle on defense as well Matt Gubbels and Aden Sellin playing big roles on both sides of the ball.
School began on Aug. 22 for Winside.
“So, just getting into a normal routine will be beneficial for us,” Naeve mentioned. “Kids going to school, having film, going and having practice. Just a normal routine I think will be very beneficial for the kids.”
The Winside football team will open their season hosting Archangels Catholic (Humphrey St. Francis) on Friday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m.
