Moline football focuses on speed and athleticism in 2024

Quickness and athleticism are the two key areas Moline football focused on this summer to improve.

“Everybody’s flying around, a lot faster. We have some dawgs out here,” lineman Erik Rosas said. “Were just out here flying around. More aggressive. Playing against some other teams this summer, no one can beat us, were just a lot faster.”

“This year we have this new aggressiveness.” quarterback ack Sibley said. “Flying to the ball and making the big hit.”

“We lived on big plays two years ago. Everything was explosive plays. Guys breaking runs for big plays and we didn’t have that last fall,” head coach Mike Morrissey said. “It showed stat wise with the points being put up. As coaches this offseason, we put more emphasis on speed and charting things. Doing a lot from a speed development standpoint. Right now, it’s paying off just seeing these guys move around.”

A three-win 2023 left a bad taste in the Maroons mouth. The road doesn’t get much easier facing a tough non-conference schedule this season against Rockwood-Summit out of Missouri and Benet Academy providing a good early test.

“We just flipped a switch. We couldn’t have that again, Rosas said.” “Worst season in Moline history. Were out here and no one is going to be more aggressive than us this year.”

“Rockwood-Summit is a tough task but we get past them and Benet, we have a good chance of getting far,” Sibley said.

“These guys will have to grow up quick and be thrown in to the fire quick. The inexperience we have at some positions, we don’t have a lot of time to wait,” Morrissey said. “We have a really good first opponent and just keeps going from there. The challenge starts there. We scrimmage a really good team in Iowa City High, fantastic an outstanding program from the state of Iowa and that’ll that’ll give us a good idea of where we’re at heading into week one.”

The standard at Moline? Western Big Six titles. 13 times, the Maroons have been able to say just that. The expectations are high to return to the same form.

“Showing up to practice on time. Showing up to lifts,” Rosas said. “As soon as last season ended in November, we flipped that switch. We haven’t turned it off. We won’t.”

“Last year we were really young and inexperience,” Sibley said. “Didn’t know what the varsity level would be like. This year the guys coming back, it’s different.”

It’s just setting that next chapter for these guys and they’ll do it the way they want,” Morrissey said. “The expectations are high because I think they’ve had success at the lower levels and so they want to keep that rolling over here to what we can do on Friday nights in the fall.”

The chase for a 14th conference championship begins at Browning Field August 30th.

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