Seniors ready to help Alberton win
<p>In a photo dated 2012, the last season Alberton had their own team, the Panthers line up before a game. For the 2013-2014 season, the players from Alberton were part of a cooperative with players from St. Regis. Several seniors will be returning this year to help the young team learn the ropes of high school football. </p>
ALBERTON – The Alberton Panthers will need their upperclassmen more than ever for the upcoming football season as the team will be mostly made up of younger players not used to playing high school football.
Luckily, the team has three seniors returning and all of them said one of their main priorities, before the season starts, is to get the younger players comfortable with the game on a bigger stage than they are used to.
Alec Managhan, Tyler Ishler and Jack Lehl say they are ready and willing to tackle the task ahead. Managhan said the team played well last year under a cooperative program with St. Regis. This year, the team will be made up of strictly Alberton students and Managhan is looking forward to the challenge.
“Last year we were the Clark Fork Timberwolves and we only lost one game during the regular season,” Managhan said. “The majority of the team are freshmen and sophomores. It’s a young team but I’m really looking forward to it. I have high expectations and I think we are going to do well.”
The starting center for the Panthers, Managhan said the area where he was trying to improve his game the most was his long snapping. As the player who delivers the ball to either the quarterback or the kicker, Managhan has a pivotal role in maintaining possession of the ball with his team.
“I think if I could improve that part of my game, it would help out the team a lot,” Managhan said. “I think if we stick together as a team and our seniors set a good example, we should have a good season. I’m really excited for it.”
Panther running back and linebacker, Ishler, said he thought the team is capable of repeating last year’s results even with a young roster. Ishler said he expected himself and the other seniors to help the younger players make the necessary adjustments.
“We are going to have to step up and we will need the younger players to step up,” Ishler said. “We only have one junior returning so we will need the freshmen and the sophomores to jump in and take those spots. We will be relying on them to help the team.”
Ishler said he expected the learning curve during the pre-season practices to be relatively steep. Ishler said he would try to impress upon the younger players, they would now be playing at a different level.
“It’s not like junior high football,” Ishler said. “This is high school football. The guys are bigger and it’s just a different game than they are used to. We will help them out as much as we can.”
Returning to the starting quarterback position this year is Lehl and he said his role with the team was to help younger players make the transition to high school football. Lehl said he had confidence the team would rise to the challenge.
“They are a good group of guys and they will never quit,” Lehl said. “They will need to give it their all. I will help them and teach them and show them how it’s done. You can’t just tell someone, you have to be able to show them and do it yourself. They’ll be nervous but it’s our job to make them not think about that.”
The first practice for the Panthers is on Aug. 15 while the team will play the first game of the 2014-2015 season against St. Regis at home at 7 p.m.