Cook County High School Head Football Coach Mitch Dorr welcomed 26 players to practice this fall. The Vikings are coming off their first nine-man season in which they finished with a 6-4 record, winning one playoff game.
With the first game scheduled against North Woods (away) on September 1, there isn’t much time to prepare a team that lost nine seniors off of last year’s roster.
Coach Dorr said speedy sophomore Josh Prom would take over the quarterback spot vacated by Leo Johnson who has graduated and is playing football at Concordia College in St. Paul.
“We also are counting on Sam O’Phelan and Ethan Sporn out of the backfield, but I’m not sure where we will line them up,” Coach Dorr said.
“We don’t have starters picked out yet. Competition for positions is wide open,” said Coach Dorr.
“This year’s squad is really young. We have two seniors; five juniors and the rest of the kids are sophomores and freshmen but that doesn’t mean we won’t be good. Our sophomore class is extremely talented. We will have to grow up fast, but the talent is there to field a good team.
“Sam O’Phelan and Josh Prom had as good an off season in the weight room as I have seen from any of my players in many years. They really put in a lot of work and it shows up at practice.”
As far as linemen go, Billy Hackett, a junior who saw lots of time playing last year, has some size at 235 pounds, but the other linemen aren’t very big, said Assistant Coach Mike Prom.
“But we will be faster this year. We have some speed and that should really help,” chimed in Assistant Coach Bryan Carpenter.
Following the game against North Woods, the Vikings open play at home on September 9 against Carlton. On September 16 they face Frederic at Superior, then square off against the Ely Timberwolves on September 23 before coming home again to play Mountain Iron-Buhl on September 30. On October 7, Isle comes to town and the Vikings’ last two games are away on October 14 at Silver Bay and on October 19 at Northeast Range. All home games, unless changed, will start at 7 p.m.
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