COLERAINE—The Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin High School football team has been close to breaking down the wall, and Titan coach Mark Gibeau is hoping the 2024 season will be that year.
That’s because Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin has an experienced team coming back, but the biggest key will be starting the season on the right foot.
“If we have success right away, the floodgates could open up,” Gibeau said. “These kids are hungry to knock down that wall. The coaches are working harder to put these guys in the right spots.
“We want to collectively knock that door down, then good things will happen during the season.”
It all starts with the seniors Cole Hart, Gage Olson, John Duffy, Shawn Oothoudt, Ty Wells, Jacob Honeycut, Louis Champlain and Tony Dudley.
“I need some leadership out of them,” Gibeau said. “The good part is we have a lot of experience because they’ve been playing on the varsity for two or three years. They do have a lot of experience, which is good.
“Each and every one of them has to participate and contribute.”
The junior class consists of Kanye Wood, Adam Erovick, Beaudry Virden, Jackson Mallum, Laken Wolfe, Zeke Stuber, Gavin Schmidt, Gaborik Sobtzak, Gabriel Standridge, Simeon Wells, Landon Makey and Avery Hillman.
“We’ll be leaning on them quite a bit, too,” Gibeau said. “We leaned on them last year. They played a lot as sophomores and freshmen. We need their experience.”
The sophomore class has Brian Christie, Jayden Donnell, Hunter Smith, Travis Paine, Cameron Jayson, Jaxon Finken, Adrian Hoglund, Hunter Hall and Brandon Errecart.
“We’re going to have a handful of sophomores that have to step up and contribute big,” Gibeau said. “Brian will be playing on the line. He played there during the second half of last season.
“He has to be another guy that will play a lot for us.”
Offensively, the Titans will rely on one guy—Duffy out of the backfield.
“He has to embrace the workhorse load,” Gibeau said. “The last couple of years, we’ve had a lot of running backs, so we spread the ball around. He’ll be more of a featured back this year.
“That’s something I hope he can embrace.”
The quarterback will be Simeon Wells, which will be his first full season of calling the plays.
“It poses a big challenge, but at the same time, unlike last year, we’re bringing back four of our five linemen,” Gibeau said. “Our receivers, fullback and tailback are all back, so we’re surrounding him with experience.
“That’s the best scenario you can have.The biggest thing is how you handle things. You’re going to have down times and mistakes. It’s how you come through and progress. He’s had a great attitude. I don’t see issues with that. He could be quite successful.”
Offensively, Hart will anchor the offensive line for Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin.
“In high school football, you have to establish the run,” Gibeau said. “Cole is a three-year starter. He has the experience and understanding of what we want to accomplish.
“We have to run the ball to take pressure off of our new quarterback.”
Defensively, the Titans should be solid.
“That was our strong suit last year, and we return a lot of guys on defense,” Gibeau said. “We held everybody, including a couple of powerhouses, in check, but we lacked offensively to make plays.
“We’ll match up well with teams. We have experience everywhere, but linebacker is our question mark. We’ve had some nice surprises there from what I’ve seen so far.”
Special teams could play a big part for Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin this season.
“That will play a huge part, especially since we’re getting new kids in there,” Gibeau said. “Our punters should do well. I’m hoping our special teams win those battles and take the pressure off of our offense and defense.”
The Titans open their season on Friday, Aug. 30, in Mille Lacs.
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