The 2020 Bear football team will compete with plenty of youth on its squad

LAUREL — Pat Arens has been a part of two playoff teams in his first four years as head coach of the Laurel-Concord-Coleridge football team.

Following a 5-4 season a year ago that ended in the first round of the D1 playoffs in a 60-26 defeat to Cross County, the Bears have gotten back to work in hopes of making it three years in a row in the postseason.

For a program that with plenty of history, including an undefeated state title in 2000, progress means getting closer to the heyday of yore.

Last year, the Bears went 2-3 in District D1-6 and will have to try to move up the ranks without QB Ty Erwin, WR/DB Noah Schutte, C/ DE Cutter Haberman and LB Wyatt Taylor.

But the Bears do return four starters on each side of the line of scrimmage and that’s a good place to start.

Some of the key returnees include OL/DL Austin Hall, TE/DE Cael Hartung, RB/LB Nolan Ohlrich and RB/LB Evan Haisch.

“I feel our team strengths are going to be balance and depth,” Arens said. “We have a good number of athletes that help us in a lot of different areas of the game. Which will allow us to be effective at running and throwing the ball.”

Ohlrich for one is just happy to get back on the field after the 2020 season was in question due to the current COVID-19 pandemic that has left the nation wondering what will happen next day-to-day.

“I am hoping everyone does what they tell us to do and we can go out there and compete,” Ohlrich said. “I was nervous when I heard about Omaha and how bad they were. Hopefully we can keep going.

“We just have to play it by ear because no one knows what’s going to happen. I think we are confident we are going to have a full season.”

Arens runs multiple offensive formations varying from the I, to a pro-set and twins, while his defense sticks to his base 3-3-2 to stir things up.

But the one thing the coaching staff will have to overcome is a bevy or inexperience and youth in order to make all systems plow straight ahead.

“We have guys that haven’t played much in the past but don’t think that means they aren’t talented,” Arens said. “We are just going to need a few games to work things out.”

Ohlrich has seen a lot of positives during the early days of practices so far this summer.

“We are getting out of the gates good,” he said. “I have to think we are going to show up and we are already ahead of where we were last year at this time. We are all in a mindset to where we want to get things done and get better.

“Our chemistry is good because we know each other so well. On offense and defense, we have a lot of kids stepping up – especially on our line.”

They will need to in their nondistrict games before facing off with D1-6 opponents Elkhorn Valley, Hartington-Newcastle, Lutheran Northeast, Plainview and Wakefield.

“We have a very tough district again this year,” Arens said. “I feel every team is the team to beat in our district. Every team in the district had a good team a year ago with guys returning. I expect it to be a battle.

“We take it one game at a time and our goal every year is to make the playoffs. Then we’ll see what we can do in the post-season.”

The Bears open the season on Friday at Homer, a D2 program which went 4-5 a year ago and like the Bears were one-and-done in the postseason.

“We played them my freshman year and in that game, we didn’t play very well,” Ohlrich said. “They’ve gotten better than what they have been so they will be good competition.”

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