Andale must replace 15 total starters this season.
Coach: Gary O’Hair (95-16 in nine years at Andale; 165-49 in 20 years overall)
2010 Recap: 9-2 Overall (5-0 overall in league). Andale won its league yet again last season with its only regular season loss coming in Week Three to Rose Hill. The Indians won their opening round playoff game against Wellington, but lost in the next round to Class 4A Runner-Up Holton.
Returning Starters: Offense 3, Defense 3
Returning Lettermen: 21
2011 Outlook:
Offense:
Andale lost a total of four First-Team All-League offensive players from last season. No loss will be felt more than the loss of League Offensive MVP Jake Hattabaugh.
Jake Beckman and Trent Horsch are both returning defensive starters, but will see time at running back in an effort to replace Hattabaugh’s production.
Andrew Bergkamp will continue to factor in the offense as he returns to tight end. Bergkamp and his six-foot-six, 205-pound frame will have a new quarterback this season.
Senior Clay Kear and junior Jake May both have the potential to take over the reins of the Andale offense this season. May is a bit bigger than Kear as he is listed at 165 pounds to Kear’s 140.
The offensive line returns two starters in senior Taylor Harp and junior Daniel Carney.
Two-way players will rule the day for Andale this year. Senior linemen Ethan Jones, Garrett Krebhiel and Kyle Banz along with sophomore linemen Michael Maus and Ben Walther all could compete for time on both offensive and defensive lines.
The receiving corps will be manned by seniors Luke Elpers and Derek Mobley.
Defense:
Andale felt the pain of graduation equally on defense as four First-Team All-League players moved on to college. One of those players was AVCTL Division IV Defensive MVP Allen Trent.
The linebacking corps will be the strength of the Andale defense as two starters return there. Beckman and Jake Brand are both back as a senior and junior.
Horsch and his five-foot-11, 190-pound frame will also see time at linebacker as he moves off of the defensive line.
In the secondary, Ungles, Elpers and Mobley along with Jaxon Burwell and Joe Eck will be the senior candidates for an all new unit. Juniors Tyler Bugner, Levi Eck and Jake May also will vie for time on the field in the secondary.
The defensive line will also have many new faces that will start with the familiar two-way faces of Jones, Krebhiel, Banz along with sophomores Maus and Walther.
Junior Ben Seiler and sophomore Trevor Middlemaus will factor in at the defensive end positions.
Odds and Ends:
Andale lost a wealth of varsity experience last season, but this year’s crop of players is not an unseasoned one. “We have 20 seniors and almost all of them are in their fourth year of football for Andale,” Coach Gary O’Hair said. “Most of them have been waiting for their turn to play varsity and know this is their year to prove themselves.”…Andale opens on Sept. 3 at home against league rival Wellington…Andale hits a tough part of its schedule in the early part of the season with Rose Hill and Collegiate on the road in Weeks three and four.
How will the Indians stack up in the AVCTL Division IV this season? Check out the league prediction blog.
