Back to school means back to the football field for the Humboldt Collegiate Institute Mohawks, as they have been hard at work preparing for the upcoming season, with practices kicking off Aug. 28.
The Mohawks are entering a bit of a rebuilding year, with the team losing 16 players from last year’s squad, but Mohawks head coach Cory Popoff says a lot of work was done last year getting the current crop of grade 11 students ready for this season, noting they made sure that those students were ready for some serious minutes on the field.
“We have a lot of confidence that they’ll be able to develop quickly this year as they will be getting lots of playing time… we’re going to have to work a little harder to win games but we’re okay with that. We know that the next years to come will be pretty positive for us and our program.”
A big portion of the rebuilding will come on the offensive side of the football as the Mohawks waved goodbye to most of their starting lineup, including most of their starting offensive line, and their quarterback.
Popoff admits that having to rebuild both the offensive line and at the quarterback position at the same time is quite tough, but notes that all teams go through adversity, and this is their adversity.
“This is our challenge and we have a coaching staff that’s ready to take us through that. We certainly have a plan and we’re going to see it through.”
The good news for the Mohawks is that most of their senior players are in grade 11, which gives the team two years with this group of players, which is nice says Popoff.
“We can run with a system and it won’t be like starting from scratch at the beginning of the following year. When I look at players from our football team I look at characters and those are the ones that will pull you through the tough times and take you to some really good times as well. Our team is full of people like that so we’re going to be alright.”
Through the first few days of practice, the one thing Popoff has noticed about his team this season is how athletic they are.
“With a little bit of skill building, complimented with athleticism, we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with given the right amount of time and pressure. It’s going to take us a little while to get there but we’ll get there.”
Looking ahead to the start of the season, the Mohawks caught a break as they received a week one bye, giving their young club an extra week of practice before traveling to Nipawin on Sept. 15 for their season opener.
The Mohawks were extremely lucky to be granted the first week bye, admits Popoff, who says the schedule does not work out in a teams favour very often.
“An extra week to get ourselves ready for competition, we’re definitely not going to squander it. We’re using every minute of practice time and it will make us just even more ready for the first game so we’re excited.”
