FOOTBALL: Peru and Maconaquah 2024 previews

Peru and Maconaquah rose through the Three Rivers Conference’s football ranks last season. The Bengal Tigers won their first TRC title since joining the league in 2015 and fashioned an unbeaten regular season overall while Maconaquah had a solid third-place finish in the league.

The Bengal Tigers (9-1 overall 8-0 TRC last season) are in rebuilding mode following heavy graduation losses.

“I do think our kids are a little bit chippy right now,” Peru coach Chris Makowksi said. “They understand everyone thinks you lost 17 seniors, and that we were a one-hit wonder last year and we don’t have what it takes to sustain a successful program. My group this year has put in a lot of time in the offseason. We’re hoping that it pays off.”

The Braves (7-4, 6-2) return a strong core of players on both sides of the ball, but they have a new coach. Maconaquah promoted assistant Michael Fenters to replace Tyler Campbell, who left to become Ben Davis’ offensive coordinator.

“It’s going well,” Fenters said. “I think Coach Campbell had kind of established a winning culture. Maconaquah before he came here had some random ups and downs, but historically we’re talking about a program that wasn’t over .500 [often]. By bringing the Air Raid to the TRC, which is heavily inundated with wing-based offenses and wing-T principles, he gave our kids here at Maconaquah an identity and made us successful.”

One big change for both Peru and Maconaquah is the sectional realignment. Both moved from Sectional 28, which had parochial powers Bishop Chatard and Guerin Catholic, to Sectional 27, which has all public schools.

The following are looks at the two teams.

MACONAQUAH

Fenters said he was happy to stick with the Air Raid offense, which saw the Braves pass for 3,231 yards and 40 touchdowns last season.

“It fits our athletes,”…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/football-peru-maconaquah-2024-previews-221600654.html

Author : Kokomo Tribune, Ind.

Publish date : 2024-08-23 22:16:00

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