Carroll’s football team has put up 23 wins over the last two seasons. That number holds another significance as well. It’s the number they have to replace, after the squad graduated 23 seniors from last year’s team that swept its Hoosier Heartland Conference slate and took an unbeaten record into the postseason.
Now, the three-time defending sectional champions test the strength of their program. Fourth-year coach Blake Betzner said he’s confident that a lot of players who have yet to play Friday night varsity football are ready to take that step.
“One of my big things when I came in at 1A football, I didn’t want to wait for a good group, we wanted to build a program,” Betzner said.
“We feel confident we’ve got a lot of those guys who are ready to play and we’ll hit the ground running.”
Betzner said the 2024 Cougars have the skill players and linemen who are ready to play. The squad of 47 is down some from last season, but still has its bases covered. The team should have the same strengths but also a little more flexibility in the passing game.
“We bring back our starting quarterback. This will be his third year as a starter so we’re excited about him being back to do that,” Betzner said. “We have a lot of team speed this year. We’ll be multi-dimensional. We’ll be able to throw the ball more, probably.”
Line play is a strength. Returning are a pair of seniors who were named Junior All-State, Levi Watkins and Coy Lytle. Watkins (6-foot-1, 280 pounds) mans the center spot. Junior Travis Tinsman (6-3, 270) is at right guard, junior Kingston Ayres (5-10, 280) is at right tackle, Lytle (6-0, 200) is at left guard, and senior Dylan Wiles (6-0, 210) is the left tackle. Juniors Dom Reneau (6-2, 280) and Ayden Handy (5-11, 220) and senior James Forbes (6-2, 180) will also rotate in on the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/football-carroll-cougars-2024-preview-094700297.html
Author : Kokomo Tribune, Ind.
Publish date : 2024-08-22 09:47:00
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