Local News and Views From Area Teams & Athletes

“We’re getting there,” Eagles football head coach Matt Rollyson said of his squad and their preparation for Friday night’s season opener at Lincoln High School. Rollyson commented that he and his coaching staff have “pretty much settled on one or two players for every position.”
Behind center, Braxton fans will see either senior Stacy Jirles or sophomore Jordan Lacy. Jirles, who didn’t play last season, received some experience at quarterback during the two years that he did play. Lacy saw action in that position during some varsity games as a freshman.
“Yannick Yewawa and Nathan Tallarito are probably the front runners for the rest of the backfield,” Rollyson said, adding “but they are being strongly contested by Logan Wilson and Justin Foster, both of whom will definitely see some action.” The coach continued with “also getting some looks for work in the backfield” are Jacob Yanero and Zac Perkins.
Receivers with an edge are returning seniors Michael Coen and Ethan Shaw. “Others looking at playing time” are Jordan Coen, Jirles, Tyler Cottrill, Seth Stancatti, Keith Hardesty, Caleb Cline, Yanero, and Perkins.”
Nathan Greene and Jared Harper are still vying for center, and Coach Rollyson explained
he still isn’t sure who will start in that position at Lincoln on Friday night.
Defensively, the Eagles have returnees Tyler Cottrill and Jacob Murphy—both juniors, in the secondary, and Yewawa and Tallarito will definitely see action as linebackers.
Wednesday’s scrimmage at North Marion “went very well,” Rollyson said. He continued to add, “Our players improved in some key areas between the first scrimmage and the second one. I was overall very pleased, especially since we saw the defensive improvements that we wanted.”
Looking at Friday night’s game, Coach Rollyson reported that Lincoln “has the starting quarterback and receiver back, and they are both excellent athletes.” Beyond that, he noted that Lincoln is “big on the line–on both sides of the ball” and that overall, “Lincoln seems to have a pretty good football squad.” Looking at his own team, the Braxton coach would most likely describe it as “a darned good football squad” and he hopes to prove that on Friday night.

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