Wynot will open season against St. Francis
WYNOT — Last year, the Wynot Blue Devils coaches, players and presumably their fans breathed a sigh of relief.
That’s because Wynot saw itself back in the playoffs after a hiatus in 2019 and managed to advance to the second round in Class D2 before losing to Pleasanton to wrap up the campaign with a 6-3 mark.
It was quite a nice return to the normal that Wynot teams come to expect.
This year, head coach Steve Heimes brings back three offensive starters in WR Jack Kuchta, WR Collin Wieseler and C James Collins.
Defensively, the Blue Devils have MLB Zack Foxhoven, OLB Wieseler and DE Tyler Nicke ready to bring their starting experience to the forefront.
“Jack and Colin will be returning as skill players,” Heimes said. “Colin will play receiver and running back and will take a much larger role on offense this year. Jack had some big games for us at receiver last year and we will need to have that continue. Zack started last year and will need to continue to be a big role in our defense.”
Heimes said the Blue Devils will feature plenty of youth, but also ample amounts of depth so as to be ready for any situation.
“I feel we will get better and better each week we play and hope to be playing our best ball at the end of the year,” Heimes said. “We will compete to win our district.”
Wynot will run a power spread on offense and that depth the team has can only help.
“I feel we have about 13 or 14 players that have a chance to contribute to our team on Friday night in different ways,” Heimes said. “Our weakness is our youth: we will have a lot of underclassmen filling leadership roles for us on the football field.”
Heimes says that the D2 challengers for the crown should be Sandhills, Thedford, BDS, Central Valley and Falls City Sacred Heart.
“In our district Osmond and Winside will be tough competition,” Heimes said. “It is great to have a chance to have football again this fall and start the new normal. I believe everyone is excited for the fall season.”
Kuchta said that the playoff run a year ago brought a big sigh of relief to the program.
“It was awesome, and all the guys were excited to keep going on,” Kuchta said. “It was a downer that we lost in the second round. But it was a big accomplishment that we moved on further than we had the previous year.
“Everyone wants to get to the same level and even farther. If I would talk to one of the seniors from last year, I’d feel I’d let them down if I let it happen (a regression). Telling them we are going to go farther is kind of a duty now.”
The new-look roster will offer some changes in what Blue Devils fans have come to expect.
“Right now, after losing all of our seniors, we are having to reshape our offense and moving to a faster pace,” Kuchta said. “It’s something that fits our team well: We have some athletic and quick guys.
“Most of the freshmen last year got to see the field a few times so they kind of got what the feel is. That should give them enough of a head start for this year, so they should be pretty good for this first game. The younger guys have to really step up. I hope we can get farther than last year.”
Lincoln Journal Star Class D2 Pre-season Football Ratings
1. Falls City SH 9-2
2. Sandhills/Thedrd 12-2
3. Kenesaw 8-2
4. BDS 12-0
5. Humphrey SF 8-2
6. St. Mary’s 10-1
7. Central Valley 10-1
8. Osceola 9-1
9. Loomis 8-2
10. Pleasanton 9-2
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