Panther gridders off to good start

Head coach Dan Knaus is pleased with the progress thus far of his Plymouth football team during the preseason.

The Panthers are preparing for their five-team scrimmage Friday at Appleton East. PHS has 38 players on the varsity. Knaus said the roster size is good and there’s a lot of competition for starting spots.

“We’re off to a good start. We’re looking good,” said Knaus about the Panthers’ preseason workouts.

Preseason practice for high school football began Aug. 11 and teams went to pads Friday. The Howards Grove Tigers and Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah Resorters are also gearing up for scrimmages Friday.

“We’re injury-free so far. We’ve had some spirited practices. We want them to be physical and learn,” Knaus said.

“We want them to be intense on every play.”

The coach said the main emphasis so far has been fundamentals such as blocking and tackling, learning the assignments and making reads.

“We want knowing the assignments to come naturally, so they don’t have to think about it too much in games,” Knaus said.

“We’re plenty ahead of last year at this time. We have the same offense and defense as last year which will help.”

Knaus is satisfied with the shape the team is in for this point in the preseason.

“About 80 percent of the kids did our summer workouts. Now, we’re where we need to be,” he said.

The Panthers’ scrimmage will start at 3 p.m. The other schools participating will be Appleton West, St. Mary’s Springs of Fond du Lac and Green Bay Southwest.

Howards head coach David Schmid is very pleased with the Tigers’ progress in practice.

“It’s going really well. I’m pleased with where we’re at. We worked a lot in the weight room in the summer,” Schmid said.

Depth is Schmid’s biggest concern heading into the season. The Tigers have only 23 varsity players, compared with 32 last year.

“Our weakness is our depth. Our first line of guys are very talented. Last year, we were able to sub more,” he pointed out.

“Our year will come down to depth.

“I’m optimistic about our offensive line. We have several returning starters here which is our biggest plus,” said the Tiger coach.

“I’m encouraged with our special teams. We can be pretty athletic there.”

Schmid said the players are working hard in practice and he is pleased with how well the team is conditioned.

A main focus for Schmid has been to fill spots from last season and find out where players can perform to help the team the most.

Howards will host a four-team scrimmage at 4 p.m. The other teams include Two Rivers, Sturgeon Bay and Valders.

A lack of numbers is also a problem for the Resorters. The program has only 25 players and doesn’t have enough to field a junior varsity squad.

“We don’t have enough players for the varsity and junior varsity. We may still have a JV. I don’t know yet,” said Resorter head coach Barry Feldmann.

“We hope to have more come out.”

Feldmann resigned after last season due to a change in his work schedule at the Kohler Co. He was able to return to the helm after getting his work shift changed.

“I’m disappointed we don’t have more players out. We had 36 signed up in the spring,” he said.

Feldmann is encouraged with what his team has shown in the preseason.

“We have several seasoned players. I like the kids’ attitude and work ethic. We’re progressing,” he observed.

“It’s taking time for the freshmen to learn but we’re getting there. They’ll be mostly in backup roles.”

The Resorter coach is pleased with the shape his team is in.

“They are working hard. Overall, we’re in pretty good shape. I’m very impressed with the team unity,” Feldmann said.

“The hitting has been pretty good. We’re focusing on being physical at the point of attack.” The Resorters will scrimmage at Markesan at 10 a.m. Also participating will be Bowler, Port Edwards and Williams Bay.