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Despite injury, Bison ready for running of Bulldogs
McCOOK, Neb. — One McCook Bison takes a break and several more step in to make life difficult for any visiting team entering Weiland Field.
Gering Bulldogs will face this dilemma at Weiland Field on Friday around 7 p.m.
“This is what kids here dream about,” McCook coach Jeff Gross said about the home opener. “There’s nothing like Friday nights at Weiland Field.”
Gross also announced that all-state quarterback-linebacker Zach Schlager has been “getting better” since suffering a hip pointer just before halftime at Aurora last Friday.
Yet considering all the depth and options on Class B’s No. 2-rated team, why take any early risks with McCook’s No. 1 uniform number?
“He (Schlager) is pretty doubtful,” Gross said Wednesday afternoon. “We want him to play when he’s healthy. He’s walking and moving around but was really sore on Saturday. We hope he plays against Sidney (next week).”
Until then, the Bison will rumble on as sophomore Cameryn Berry likely makes his first varsity start at quarterback.
Berry started the second half vs. Aurora and eventually led McCook to 17 fourth-quarter points which finished a 38-8 win over those then-No. 6 Huskies.
“We have complete confidence in Cam,” Gross declared as an echo to what Bison players were saying after Friday’s big road win.
Believe it or not, the Gering Bulldogs (0-1) are bringing more confidence and a No. 32 that matches many all-time football greats (O.J. Simpson, Jim Brown, Franco Harris, etc.).
Of course, that “32” represents Gering’s losing streak after a 48-7 opener at Grand Island Northwest last Friday.
The Bulldogs have not prevailed since beating those GINW Vikings in 2014.
No matter. Both coaches know numbers become nothing at kickoff.
“I know our guys sure don’t want to rest on any laurels,” Gross proclaimed while noting how numerous Bison players had spent 90 minutes to nearly three hours this week studying film on their “own time.”
“We made a lot of mistakes last week we want to clean up,” he added. “The two biggest being open-field tackling and communication on the offensive line. We need to improve as far as picking up blitzes.”
Gering didn’t touch the quarterback too often last week as Northwest tallied 41 first-half points. No fewer than five of the nine Viking pass completions before halftime resulted in touchdowns.
“If we can fix a couple of things, we’ll play a lot better,” Gering coach Todd Eckart remarked on starherald.com. “We can get the running game going, and we can play better on defense.”
Gross has been impressed with Bulldog running backs Jacob Rocheleau and 5’6” 170-pounder Garrett Conn.
“And they have their starting quarterback (senior Tyler Pszanka) returning,” he added. “They are a little bigger and a little stronger. They look like a better football team (than last year).”
Gering will likely run the football more than Aurora, which fired up 50 passes against the Bison last week.
It should be another good test for a Bison defense making some adjustments without Schlager.
“Paxton Terry can handle middle linebacker. And Gavyn Klein is a senior who’s ready to go. He’s our next linebacker,” Gross observed. “Trae Koetter can step up at safety since Berry won’t be there for every play. That also gives give Seth Dugger more of a chance. And we have (sophomore) Landon Towne at outside linebacker.”
In other words, the Bison will be ready for Friday Night lights at Weiland.
Late-summer sunshine will still be blazing around kickoff yetdon’t expect anyone wearing red and black to be taking a warm siesta.
“They’ll be ready.We know how important it is to show improvement from week one to week two,” Gross concluded.