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Coming off a 2-7 season, the Cornjerker players are hungry to pile up some victories within the Vermillion County Conference. This insatiable desire is evident by the fact that nearly double the amount of players as last year have reported to practice for the upcoming season. “I think, while simple, the best aspect of this year’s team is our competition from within,” said Hoopeston head coach Jeff Ohlemeyer. Our numbers are up nearly two fold from last season. This not only creates healthy competition for our players but has also caused them to battle more for a starting position.” Ohlemeyer, in his first season as head coach, realizes he has a large task ahead of him, based upon the recent struggles of the Cornjerkers football program. However, he remains extremely poised and optimistic about Hoopeston’s chances. No stranger to the program, Ohlemeyer believes that with hard work and a strong determination from his players and coaching staff, the Cornjerkers can easily improve upon their win totals from the previous few seasons. “I have been around the players for a few years now so I have begun to understand what it takes to have a successful football program. Already this season, I can tell we have great team speed which should obviously help on both sides of the ball, but most certainly on defense.” explains Ohlemeyer. As far as individual players are concerned, the Cornjerkers can expect the driving force behind their offense to be led by Bob Baker and Daryl Varelm. Both players according to Ohlemeyer should have an immediate impact once the season begins. “Our conditioning is much better than it has been in the past, and our players are really working hard, said Ohlemeyer. I’ve been really impressed with their positive attitude and willingness to work towards a goal.” While Ohlemeyer believes that his team is poised for success, he does also realize that there are definite aspects of play in which his team need to improve upon in order to obtain success this season. “I think we need to work on our overall defensive line play,” explains Ohlemeyer. I’m sure that would hold true for any football program that is trying to revamp their success level, however I think that would certainly help us immensely.” Looking ahead to their 2007 schedule, the Cornjerkers can expect some vigorous competition from the get go. Hoopeston opens their season with two out of conference home games against Mooseheart and Watseka, before starting conference play against Georgetown. This should prove a tough battle for the Cornjerkers, seeing as Georgetown finished the 2006 season with a conference record of 6-1. While trying not to get too far ahead of himself, Ohlemeyer believes the Cornjerkers can reach the postseason if things fall correctly into place. “If we can win some of our close games I see us being successful this season,” said Ohlemeyer. Last year we had a lot of close games that we simply couldn’t finish out strong, so if we are able to close the gap this year, I see good things happening for our program.” blog comments powered by Disqus |
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