Warriors play hard in season opener

By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register

The Central football program’s first game of 2023 didn’t quite go as planned, with a 68-14 loss to Edgewood-Colesburg, but it provided a glimpse at the potential the Warriors possess and can build on as the season progresses.

Last week marked Central’s first game at the varsity level in over a year. The Warriors looked to carry over last year’s success as a JV team, but ran headlong into a Viking team that made the playoffs last year and returned several key pieces, allowing Ed-Co to control the line of scrimmage as the more physical team, while the Warriors gave up touchdowns in all three phases of the game.

“We knew going in that this was going to be a tough team…we got down early, but showed some good things later in the game. Hopefully, we can build on that moving forward,” said coach Ben Heitland.

The Warrior offense, led by quarterback Isaac Loan and Owen Hammersland, performed admirably, with Loan completing 13 of 22 passes for 79 yards and a touchdown. Hammersland rushed for 61 yards on 10 attempts for one touchdown and caught five passes for 31 yards, including the Warriors’ second touchdown. Both scores came in the fourth quarter. 

Loan, who is returning from an injury last season, was mobile in the pocket and scrambled when necessary, picking up 20 yards rushing.

Hammersland, according to Heitland, “proved to be a tough runner who made good reads and hit the hole hard.” 

Other offensive contributors were Braxton Bormann, who rushed for 20 yards on four carries and caught two passes for 10 yards, while Logan Sharpe finished with 13 yards on the ground on nine carries and had six receiving yards. Kale Doeppke also caught one pass for 17 yards and Kyle Reinhart finished with one reception for 11 yards.

“We were able to move the ball at times during the game. We had some good drives that were promising, which we failed to finish,” Heitland said.

Some issues on offense were areas of preseason concern, most notably turnovers and ball security. The Warriors fumbled three times, and though they recovered two of them, lost the other. In the passing game, Loan threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown. 

One thing that was improved was penalties, as the Warrior offense was disciplined, committing just three in the game.

Defensively, the Warriors finished with 23 tackles and one for a loss, led by Max Fettkether and Bormann, who each had 4.5 tackles. Hammersland was involved in 3.5 tackles, while Ryan Schroeder finished with 2.5 and Noah Diersen 2. 

Recapping the game, Heitland emphasized the need to get better at team tackling and “getting more players to the ball,” while also “increasing how physical” the team is at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. 

This is a notable issue for the Warriors, who surrendered over 200 rushing yards to the Vikings on defense and allowed five tackles for loss on the offensive side.

In special teams, the Warriors received six kickoffs for a total of 137 yards, with Bormann running for 21 yards, Hammersland 46, Sharpe 25 and Reinhart 45.

According to Heitland, the Warriors “responded well” throughout the game, especially after a halftime challenge to continue to “play hard and play with pride,” something Heitland believes they were “able to do in the second half.”

Things don’t get easier for Central next week in the home opener, when the Warriors welcome perennial powerhouse Don Bosco (0-1).

“We know that we have another tough opponent this week in Don Bosco, who has had sustained success. We will have to continue to work hard and improve every day,” Heitland said. “We will have to come ready to play.”

Kickoff is 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 1, at the Dittmer Sports Complex.