August 24, 2018 By Chris Varney
Grinnell High School Football will enter a new era tonight when the Tigers take the field against the Golden Hawks of Wellman Mid Prairie. 7:30 pm kickoff, coverage on 1410 KGRN and myiowainfo.com.
Brian Sauser takes over as the Tigers Head Coach and will bring an uptempo, no-huddle offense to Grinnell. Senior Drew Coffman will get the start at QB — he only completed 8 passes a year ago but was also injured about half of the season. He also will be asked to play a completely different type of system. Last year in the wing T, Coffman would be a dropback, pocket passer looking downfield. This year, the passing game will be shorter and quicker. He must release the ball in only a few seconds and timing with his receivers will be crucial.
Sauser says that WR might be the best position on the team. Drew’s brother Owen Coffman has looked strong in practice, using his size to go up and get a lot of balls. Cole McGriff could see some time at QB but will start tonight as a Slot WR. Warren Ware and A.J. Wilkins will vie for another starting spot on the outside and Montezuma transfer Parker Johnson will be in the mix as well.
Wyatt Hunter gets the start at RB with Gavin McFarland close behind him. Jarrett Lender and Wyatt Dillon will also see time in the backfield. Matayas Durr has improved tremendously at TE according to Sauser.
On the offensive line, look for RT Dodge Sauser — the coach’s son — to lock down the right side. Sauser has impressed others in camps this summer and the Des Moines Regsiter named him as a sleeper player to watch this season.
The defense will be run by co-coordinators Tony Stenberg and Mike Baker and will run a basic 3-4 style. Shawn Jackson could see significant time at Nose Guard and has lost a lot of weight to get into playing shape. Dillion has emerged as the defensive leader and will be an outside linebacker that is expected to make plays. Tackling is the biggest thing on defense according to Sauser — they must show more improvement from last year in the tackling department.
Grinnell could start as many as 12 sophomores tonight so the Tigers will be extremely young and inexperienced to start the season. Grinnell only returns 3 total starters from last year’s squad so there are a lot of unknowns this year. But there is a lot of excitement as well.
Wellman Mid-Prairie went 3-6 last year and Head Coach Pete Kavanaugh is a Grinnell guy — he quarterbacked the Tigers to a 10-2 season back in 1991, advancing all the way to the state semifinals. The Golden Hawks lose their leading rusher and starting QB from last season but return Junior Brad Tornow who did some time at QB last year and WR Justin Schwartz who had 38 receptions for 434 yards a year ago.
Interview with Coach Kavanaugh