Football team hopes to turn the tide this year

It is no secret that the Bigfork High School football team has been on a losing streak for longer than anyone cares to remember, but that is not stopping the 41 players and seven coaches from giving the upcoming season their all in an attempt to turn things around.

"I think we're on track," said BHS Head Football Coach Todd Emslie. "This is all new to them and I am proud of them for taking it on so well."

Emslie, who is back coaching the team after a five-year hiatus, has had the boys practicing twice a day for the last two weeks in preparation for their Class B debut. While many of BHS' teams have been losing athletes, the football team keeps gaining new ones.

There are just four seniors on the team, only two of which played for the Vikings last year. The team lost 12 seniors to graduation and six juniors did not return to play this year.

"I really like the four guys that are there," Emslie said. "They are great leaders. Three of them will have a huge impact on both sides of the ball."

The two returning seniors are Kenny Patrick and Brandon McDonald, who are both offensive and defensive linemen. Alex Griner, a transfer student from Salt Lake City, is one of the new seniors on the team and he will also be on the line on both sides of the ball. The other senior is Derek Minemyer, who has been a standout on the BHS soccer team the past three years, but decided to switch to football for his final year in high school. Minemyer will use his soccer skills to fill the position of kicker, and will also serve as a wide receiver and defensive back.

"To me, special teams are a huge part of a football game that are often overlooked," Emslie said. "(Derek's' going to have some success and not just in kicking. He's at receiver because he's fast and he has good hands. Defensively, his cover skills are really good and I attribute that to his soccer experience. His spacing is really good."

The team gained three new athletes as a result of the Class B shift who usually play golf in the fall, but in Class B it is played in the spring. They are juniors Ben Sandry, who will play tight end, wide receiver and safety and Steven Schuster and Ryan Gembala, who will both play fullback and linebacker.

The team has picked up several other newcomers who are either new to BHS or have chosen not to play football since middle school, but all of them have some experience on a football team. There are also nine freshmen out for the team.

"They're young," Emslie said of his team. "The future is looking good. We just need to keep kids in Bigfork and keep the middle school team having fun."

Coupled with a new coaching staff, new opponents and a new game plan, the Vikings have their work cut out for them.

"As simple as the offense looks, it's a mental strain," Emslie said. "They're coming, though. Now we just need some games to measure where we are. I think I know what we need to work on, but we need some Friday nights to test everything out."

The Vikings will get to do just that at 7 p.m. tomorrow, Sept. 4 on their home turf when they host Loyola.

All eyes are on Emslie and his boys as Bigfork waits for their team to break their streak of misfortune, and while many say it should be easy in Class B, Emslie is just focused on the team's overall improvement.

"We may not win a game," he said. "I don't see that happening, though. I think you can lose and still have fun and build confidence in what you are doing. I've been in this place before where we only won one game and we still had a good time."

Though winning isn't everything, it is still a goal of the Vikings, especially those who have been on the team the last three years in which they have not won a game.

"We're on target," Emslie said. "We are a high school team. We're going to make some mistakes on Friday nights. This team will have to learn to win."

That will come, Emslie said, after they get a taste of victory.

"You get to that point where you've won a few games and all of a sudden your practices become a lot more meaningful," he said.

Assistant coach Jim Epperly agreed.

"That just comes with intensity, confidence, energy and positivity," Epperly said. "You have to coach them into having confidence and teach them to win."

Epperly is one of five assistant coaches helping Emslie this season. Saia Misa has returned from last year to coach and John Little, Fred Sterhan and Ed Buttery were on the coaching staff in previous years. Jake Hill, a 2002 BHS graduate, who played football for the Vikings and then went on to play at Montana Tech, is also assisting.

"The staff is awesome," Emslie said. "They're all seasoned coaches with the exception of Jake, and he played college ball and he's doing a great job of coaching the boys."

Even though the Vikings are a young team, they have some things working for them. One of those things is size, which Bigfork has been lacking in recent years. There are 13 boys on the team that weigh in at 200 pounds and up and 15 of this year's Vikings are at or over the 6 foot mark.

Junior Christian Ker will be providing some consistency as he returns to quarterback for his second season.

"He is a great leader on the field," Emslie said of his decision of using Ker as his starting quarterback. "You can see it in the way the other players respond to him."

Junior Travis Knoll has returned to play running back and defensive back. Last season he was second only to Garrett Pewe, who graduated, in rushing and receiving yards and scored two touchdowns, making him the second highest scorer behind Cheyne Valentine, who also graduated.

Another player Emslie is expecting to make a big impact is sophomore Ian Lorang, who was a leader on last year's froshmore team.

"I don't think he leaves the field ever," Emslie said. "He's on every team. Ian to me is mister reliable. I don't have to worry about what he's doing ever. He could do anything."

Emslie has decided to again form a froshmore team this season with some of those kids sharing playing time on varsity as well. The froshmore team will open their season on the road at 4:30 p.m. next Tuesday, Sept. 8 in St. Ignatius.