BELOIT — Momentum.
If you’re a football team it’s something you strive for and, once achieved, want desperately to maintain.
It will be the goal for Beloit Turner’s football team this fall.
“It all comes down to momentum,” head coach Grant McLain said. “When you have things rolling in the right direction, things fall your way. If we can get going early on and we’re at .500 or over, we can compete in those tough games down the stretch with Lodi and Columbus. If we can get some wins early on, I think we can get to that .500 level and push for more.”
McLain looks back on last season and wonders what an opening win against Sheboygan Falls would have meant to his squad. The Trojans lost a 35-28 heartbreaker and followed that with a 10-7 loss to Clinton on their way to a 1-8 overall season record and a 1-6 mark in the Capitol Conference.
“If we get that first one, who knows?” he said. “But I have to give our kids credit. They stayed connected. They never pointed fingers. We finished 1-8, but we stayed the course and finished strong. They pushed each other.”
While the Trojans graduated some key performers, most notably Zay Howard, Ty’Shawn Teague-Johnson and Colby Lengjak, among the 65 players out for football this fall (including 23 freshmen) are many returning starters.
That includes both of their quarterbacks. JP Roche started the 2023 season as No. 1, but when an injury sidelined him, Jaxon Walenga stepped in and finished the season as the starter.
“When JP was hurt, Jaxon hit the ground running,” McLain said. “He did a really nice job for us, and he’s the guy right now. They will be able to complement each other. JP does a real nice job passing the ball and Jaxon does a real nice job running it, too. (Walenga) is also one of our top defenders, so if we can get him a bit of a breather that will keep him fresh.”
The quarterbacks won’t have Howard or Teague-Johnson to throw to this season, but they shouldn’t be hurting for targets, including Camron Ingram, TJ Noack, Brayden Ward, Dotson and others. Chris Spencer and Carter Atkinson are the top two candidates for the fullback/H-back position.
One of the downfalls last season was the team’s inability to run the football. Walenga was their best option. This season McLain expects Alejandro Rodriguez to be the primary ball carrier.
“He was coming in the mornings and after school to work in the weight room,” McLain said. “He put on a ton of muscle mass. He’s going to run through some arm tackles this season. I am really excited to see what he’s able to do.
“We also have a couple guys with some extra speed in Adriel Salazar and Jh’Mari Smith, who’ll be a senior and had some really nice carries at the end of last season.”
Stopping the run will be just as key. Losing Lengjak to graduation leaves a large hole on the line.
“Colby was an animal last year, and he’s a tough dude to replace, but we have some guys willing to step up,” he said. “Deaken Krause did a great job in the weight room. He’s a strong kid and will do a great job up front. Noah Pfundheller played some end last year and he’ll likely fill Lengjak’s shoes. I think we can be solid.”
The Trojans had to force sophomores into the lineup at the linebacker spots last year. Now they’re juniors, and the coach expects to see a lot of improvement.
“We should be more physical,” McLain said. “The sophomores who played last year put in a lot of time in the weight room. At the 7-on-7s this summer, I had to tone them down because they’re really hungry.”
That group includes Spencer, Atkinson and Rodriguez. Walenga played there last season but will move to safety this season, joining a secondary that already includes leading tackler Leyton Davies.
“Davies was the second-leading tackler in the conference with 88 last year,” the coach said. “Moving Jaxon to safety, we have our top two tacklers back there flying around. Brayden Ward, Ingram and Aiden Pavlik all stepped up last season. We also have Peyton Tucker, a sophomore, at corner and he’ll help on special teams.”
The conference will look different this fall. Lakeside Lutheran and Madison Edgewood both left and were replaced by Clinton and Horicon/Hustisford of the Eastern Suburban Conference.
“It’s nice to have a rival like Clinton back as a conference opponent,” McLain said. “Horicon/Hustisford was 10-3 last year but lost some players to graduation and have a new coach. Lodi and Columbus will look different due to graduation, but they’ll still be solid, and Lake Mills looks like it will be really good with a top quarterback and running back.”
The Trojans open at nonconference foe Parkview/Albany on Aug. 23 and then play at Delavan-Darien on Aug. 30 before hosting Walworth Big Foot for their conference opener Sept. 6. Turner has just three home games and six on the road this season.
“We're still pretty young but also experienced because of those sophomores starting last season,” McLain said. “We have to be able to run to control the football, and we have to be able to stop the run. We have to be sure tacklers and we need to force more turnovers than we did last year. That’s probably nothing different than every coach is saying at this time of year.”
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