Bobcats looking to repeat success of 2012

SUPERIOR – The Superior Bobcats football team have only had a few practices so far this year but Head Coach Alan Labbe has already begun to get an idea of what sort of team will be on the field for the upcoming season.

Fans of the Bobcats can look forward to seeing several returning seniors take to the gridiron including starting quarterback Wyatt Zylawy, center Cody Schrock, linebacker John Holecz and Vicente Guerrero among others.

Labbe said early practices have gone well and the players are beginning to get back into the swing of routine workouts, cross-training and weight lifting. He said the team is looking good to have another successful season.

“We had about half of our starters return this year,” Labbe said. “And the newer players are familiar with our systems so I think that’s a plus. They may not have as much varsity experience but they know how we play. All of our seniors are very capable and great players so that’s good.”

The Bobcats traditionally play an aggressive form of the game according to Labbe. During the first few practices, Labbe said the primary focus was working with players on an element of that type of football that is essential to executing that form effectively.

“Being fast is our focus, always has been and always will be,” Labbe said. “We have been working on conditioning and getting in shape as well as the techniques of our hurry-up offense.”

The hurry-up offense is a strategy that limits delays in between plays in an effort to rush and disrupt the defensive side. The technique is very common in the collegiate and professional levels of the game and is considered very effective in disrupting defensive strategy and flexibility as it robs the other side of time to think about what the offense is going to do.

Labbe said, for his team, the strategy has been very effective over the years. He said it confuses the defense and can provide the Bobcat players with an advantage that is hard to counter-act by the other team.

“It’s proven to work for us,” Labbe said. “It’s been a big factor for us especially if toward the end of the game if we are down, we can strike quick and get back in it. We like to strike fast and not let the other team get back in the game. We want to run our play before the other team can get set.”

Another factor the Bobcats have going for them this year comes down to simple biology. This year, for the 2014 to 2015 season, the Superior Bobcats are just simply going to be bigger than many teams. Labbe said size is always a factor in the game of football.

“We aren’t as fast as we were last season but we are a lot bigger across the board,” Labbe said. “We are going to be working on getting quicker. We have a big arsenal of weapons. Everyone on our spread offense is capable of catching the ball and we have the ability to get the ball to them.”

The first game of the season for the Bobcats will be on the road against Arlee on Sept. 5 with kick-off starting at 7 p.m. Labbe said he expected Arlee to be very competitive due to the large amount of returning veteran players this year.

“They have power, they have quickness and they catch the ball well,” Labbe said. “We have to work harder and everyone needs to have that in mind while we are practicing.”