Sault football looks to get back to playoffs after near miss
SAULT — The season opener is less than two weeks away.
Sault High football has a veteran team with high expectations this season. The Blue Devils, who completed their second week of practice this past Thursday at VanCitters Field, have their best turnout numbers in a decade with 37-38 varsity players.
Sault High is coming off a season in which it finished 6-3 overall and 4-3 in the Northern Michigan Football League Legends Division.
“We’re optimistic about this team and what we have returning,” said Scott Menard, now in his 17th season as Sault High head coach. “We already had some good building blocks in place, returning nearly our entire line on both sides of the ball.
“We’ve added some well-rounded athletes to the mix,” Menard said. “Some kids who haven’t played a lot of football, but who are very good athletes. We’re hoping that extra depth pays off. Numbers are up and one of the reasons is that this group has some good recruiters. They’ve heard some good things about being part of the team and wanted to be part of it."
Offensive and defensive line play continues to be a team strength, as four starters are back at those positions. Among them are a pair of three-year starters and All-Upper Peninsula players — senior tackle John Burke and senior guard Adam Horrigan. Burke (6-foot-3, 290 pounds) signed with Central Michigan University over the summer. Burke and Horrigan were the leading blockers to help the Blue Devils compile 2,229 rushing yards last season (248 yards per game).
Also back is junior defensive end/tight end Callen Campbell, who was an All-U.P. Dream Team selection last year.
The Blue Devils must replace their quarterback, halfback, fullback and leader receiver on offense. Last season’s MVP and four-year starter, quarterback Jakob Davie was among the graduation losses.Also gone are John Robinson and Ryan LaPlaunt, who rushed for 862 and 854 yards, respectively, and receiving leader Jonah DuNuccio-McShane.
A number of players will look to step up at the skill positions.
"We have a pretty deep stable of backs," Menard said. "We might not have one guy who puts up big numbers, but we have some versatile runners and receivers."
On defense, the front four are all back, along with junior linebacker, leading tackler Kaydin Lujan.
The season opener is Aug. 25 on the road against the Escanaba Eskymos. Sault High narrowly missed the playoffs last year despite winning six games.
Escanaba is one of three Division 3-4 teams who are new to this season’s schedule, along with Petoskey and Superior Heights of Sault, Ont.
“I think our schedule is competitive and we’re brought back some good regional matchups, some traditional opponents like Petoskey and Escanaba,” Menard said. “One of our goals, as always, is to make the playoffs. We still don’t have a lot of room for error and we won’t sneak up on anybody who may have taken us a little lightly in the past."
Blue Devis football fund-raiser
Sault High football has a team fund-raiser schedule for this Saturday. The team is hosting a Pancake Breakfast from 8 o 10:30 a.m. at Applebees.
Contact Sports Editor Rob Roos at rroos@sooeveningnews.com. Follow him on Twitter, @rroosTEN.
This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Sault football looks to get back to playoffs after near miss
