By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
As the football season draws near, so will the first opportunity for some new Huskies to take to the field.
These Hamilton Heights newcomers will get their chance due to last year’s Husky team being so senior-dominated. As a result, Heights coach Mitch Street has kept his team at home for most of the summer, with the exception of a couple of scrimmages.
“We scrimmaged twice this summer, both in a jamboree style format,” said Street. “We have so many newcomers that I thought it was important that we work on ourselves as much as possible.”
All one has to do is look at the raw numbers to understand just how senior-dominated the previous season’s Huskies team was. Three different quarterbacks threw for 1212 yards. The senior rushing crew gained 1462 yards and scored all 11 running touchdowns.
The senior receivers had 73 catches and found the end zone 13 times. And on defense? The top seven total tacklers were seniors.
So is there anyone returning for Heights. Yes, there is.
“We have four starters returning on offense, all of which are on the offensive line,” said Street. “We also have four starters returning on the defensive side of the ball as well.”
On defense, the top returner is Troy Bergesen, who made 50 total tackles last year. Senior Tyler Wiltermood is also on the roster on defense, he had 20 tackles last season.
A senior expected to go both ways is Michael Cross. As a junior, Cross got a few opportunities to take to the field on both sides of the ball. He made 19 tackles on defense, and got some receiving experience to the tune of seven catches.
“As a whole we are very young and inexperienced, and have a lot of room for growth,” said Street. “However, I really like the way this group is working, their competitiveness and their desire to get better. I’m excited to see us continue our growth into August.”
Heights’ schedule is unchanged from last year. The Class 3A Huskies will open at 4A Mount Vernon on Aug. 18, then host 5A Kokomo at the Husky Dome the following week. Heights was to play the Wildkats for the first time last year in the Week 2 game, but Kokomo was hit with tornadoes earlier in the week, forcing the game to be canceled. Instead, the Huskies and the Wildkats teamed up to help the city of Kokomo with the clean-up efforts.
