Tekamah-Herman hopes for success under McElmuray

Team: Tekamah-Herman

Mascot: Tigers

Colors: Purple and Vegas Gold

Class: C-2

Head Coach: Graig McElmuray (1st season)

2014 record: 3-6

Returning Starters: 3 offense 3 defense

Overview:

The Tekamah-Herman Tigers are under new leadership as Graig McElmuray takes over the program.

McElmuray inherits three returning starters on each side of the ball. Tekamah-Herman returns Nick Bohannon (SR TE and LB), Matt Gross (SR OL and DL), and Kolton Fleischman (SR OL and DL).

It certainly appears the Tigers should be strong up front and in the middle of their defense.

There are some players Tekamah-Herman must replace though. The Tigers lost Dash Cameron (WR/RB/DB/LB/Returner), Jason Hansen (QB/DB), Justin Hansen (LB), Scott Anderson (RB/LB), and Cetan Barr (OL/DL).

It certainly appears Tekamah-Herman will be inexperienced at the skill positions. That simply means new players have to emerge and step up in order for this team to be successful.

There are low expectations for the Tigers this year, which means they could surprise a few people on their schedule.

Tekamah-Herman has a brutal five game stretch starting with Oakland-Craig, a semifinalist from a year ago.

The Tigers also have difficult games against Stanton, Archbishop Bergan, Yutan, and Aquinas Catholic.

Tekamah-Herman has the potential to be a 4-5 or 5-4 team this year, in my opinion. A lot is going to depend on the play of the skill players though. The Tigers need to find players to excel in the run game as well as the pass game. Tekamah-Herman needs to be balanced on the offensive side of the ball.

The good news for the Tigers is they have a good amount of experience up front. If there's somewhere to have returning experience it is on the offensive and defensive lines. I think Tekamah-Herman will be a strong blocking and tackling team.

It will be interesting to see how the Tigers fare this year. I look for Tekamah-Herman to have a difficult time finding their way early with a new coach and all, but look for the Tigers to be ready to go by the Oakland-Craig game, and give their next four opponents after that all they can handle.

I look for Tekamah-Herman to fight hard all season long and give teams their best shot. The Tigers may not win every game this season, but the things they can control are heart and effort. I look for Tekamah-Herman to give it their all week in and week out.

Season Outlook:

Tekamah-Herman hopes to be improved from a year ago when the Tigers posted a 3-6 record.

Head Coach Graig McElmuray says confidence and unity are important for Tekamah-Herman this season.

He told me in my preseason questionnaire that confidence is where his team needs to improve the most, and unity is how this team becomes more consistent and wins more games this year.

He also told me his team has a goal of being competitive each week, and in my opinion, the Tigers can definitely meet that goal.

McElmuray says it's a season of optimism and uncertainty. "We could be 0-9, 9-0 or anywhere in-between. We have great numbers with 42 boys out for football.  A big freshman class of 14 with a nice mix of skill and big kids. Kids have bought into the weight room and really done a good job of being involved there."

Tekamah-Herman will certainly have a lot of young talent at the skill positions this season. It will be interesting to see how fast these kids can develop, and how big of an impact they make right away.

The Tigers could have trouble against experienced, veteran teams, but could also surprise some people.

Tekamah-Herman nearly beat Stanton last year, and could very well surprise the Mustangs or some other team this season.

I think there's the potential for an upset, but there's also the possibility of a loss to a team the Tigers shouldn't lose to.

Tekamah-Herman suffered a tough defeat at Omaha Brownell-Talbot last season, and cannot allow that to happen again this season.

The Tigers have to make sure they take care of the teams they're supposed to, and do everything they can to hang in there and compete with the tough teams.

The schedule does Tekamah-Herman no favors, especially with the amount of tough games in a row, but I think the Tigers will be a better team for having fought against those tough teams. It will only help Tekamah-Herman moving forward.

The Tigers are in a stacked district so a playoff berth may be too much to ask, but I think Tekamah-Herman has the potential to go 4-5 or 5-4, and finish fourth in District C2-1.

Projected Starters:

Derek Haber       SR QB 12
 
Russell Langley    SR FS  12
 
Caleb Wissman    SR OL 12
 
Brett Fleischman    SR FB 12

Graig McElmuray's District Predictions:

Aquinas in a land slide… Dark horse is Yutan - Lot of Returners

2015 Tekamah-Herman Tigers Football Schedule:

08/28/15 @ Wisner-Pilger C2 09/04/15 Homer C2 09/11/15 Oakland-Craig C2 09/18/15 @ Stanton C2 09/25/15 Archbishop Bergan C2 10/02/15 @ Yutan C2 10/09/15 @ Aquinas Catholic C2 10/16/15 Omaha Brownell-Talbot C2 10/23/15 @ Logan View C2