Team: Clarkson/Leigh
Mascot: Patriots
Colors: Red, Blue, Gray
Class: D-1
Head Coach: Jim Clarkson (82-76 career record)
2015 record: 8-2 (lost to Creighton in Second Round of Playoffs)
Returning Starters: 1
Overview:
The Clarkson/Leigh Patriots hope last year's success leads to more success this season.
Clarkson/Leigh has their work cut out for them this year though as they return just one starter in Bradley Bunner (6’1 175 Moving to QB and Safety Senior).
Head Coach Jim Clarkson says as long as his team avoids the injury bug, they should be competitive.
"Will be low on numbers so we will need to remain healthy. If that hold true I think we will be able to compete in our schedule and District. Bunner is a dynamic athlete, and we have some hungry players who have waited their turn."
Here are the Patriots' projected starters:
Offense: Brad Bunner –QB, Blake Paprocki – RB, Jacob Gall-RB, Anthony Bruhn – TE, Connor Brandt-TE, Dan Ariazza - G, Alex Machmueller - C, and Paxten Indra -G.
Defense: Alex Machmueller – NG, Connor Brandt - DE, Paxten Indra - DE, Anthony Bruhn – LB, Haden Held - LB, Derek Gurnsey – CB, Hector Mendoza – CB, Brad Bunner - S.
Clarkson says his team has a lot of players to replace from last year. "We lost a lot of good players from last years team, including the whole offensive and defensive lines."
He feels there are a number of newcomers who could do special things. "There will be plenty of newcomers who will have the opportunity, Indra, Machmueller, and Mendoza to name a few."
The new starters should be chomping at the bit to get out there and play. This is their time to shine, and they have waited their turn to start.
Seeing the success that last year's team had should really fuel and motivate this year's group.
I don't know if Clarkson/Leigh will be as dynamic as they were a year ago, but the Patriots should be solid once again this season.
Bunner is as solid as they come, and his ability to lead this team will be critical to their success, in my opinion.
I look for him to have a huge season offensively, and make a big impact defensively as well.
This team was a juggernaut offensively last year, and was decent defensively.
Clarkson/Leigh needs to be solid on both sides of the ball to be successful this year to have success, in my opinion.
I think the defense in particular needs to be better. It wasn't bad last year, but if they can hold teams to under 20 points week in and week out, the offense should be able to do enough to win games.
I don't think there's any doubt the offense will score points this season, but I don't think they'll be as dynamic as they were last year. The offense is going to have work really hard to score points, in my opinion, but Bunner should be able to make big plays in the running game at the very least, which should help.
Season Outlook:
Clarkson/Leigh hopes this season treats them just as well as last season did. "The hope is that we have building a solid foundation, I agree last years team did pop some record wise, but we feel that our culture and program are solid and when it is their time the kids will perform at a higher level. This year will be as good test to that."
Growth, development, and improvement in the offseason is critical to the success of any program, in my opinion. Clarkson says the offseason was good. "We have had a strong offseason, again our culture dictates that the kids will put in the time during the offseason. We also competed very well in our team camp down at Hastings College despite missing 4 guys with injuries at the time."
We will find out just how much that offseason work will pay off in the early season as the Patriots open up the season with back-to-back tough games against Pender and GACC.
Clarkson says the two games will allow for his team to be ready right away. "It is definitely a tough task, but it also really helps focus the kids knowing they will be punched in the mouth right away, so seeing how we react and compete with those teams will go a long way in setting the tone for the season."
Clarkson/Leigh will need to play well week in and week out if they want to win games this year, and will need to play at a high level and be focused every week.
After Pender and GACC, the Patriots take on Omaha Nation, which should be a win.
A trip to East Butler and a home game against Neligh-Oakdale figure to be really tough midseason tests for the Patriots.
Clarkson/Leigh is at Elgin Public/Pope John before taking on Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family and Howells Dodge on at home and on the road, respectively, to end the regular season.
It's really difficult to predict a win/loss record for the Patriots this season.
The one thing I will say is the non district schedule appears to be tougher than the district schedule so I could see Clarkson/Leigh playing their best football in district play.
Clarkson feels his team has the potential to compete in their district. "As wins and losses go this is a very tough thing to predict, I feel we have one of the best players in the state in Bunner, there is no doubt he is special, if our other guys step their games up and we stay healthy I think we can be a factor in the district race."
Bunner is going to have to make a lot of plays for this team to be successful, in my opinion.
Teams are no doubt going to try and keep him in check. The biggest thing will be getting other players to step up and make plays. Bunner can be a one man show against some teams, in my opinion, but not against others.
I think it's going to take more than just Bunner to beat the likes of GACC and Neligh-Oakdale.
Clarkson feels the district is up for grabs for the most part. "A tough and fairly even district on paper, I would say Neligh-Oakdale has the most returning and seem to be the favorite, after that I really think it is a crap shoot. Howells-Dodge and Humphrey-Holy Family are very well coached and have some nice players returning, Elgin Public/Pope John, had a great year last year but like us graduated about everybody. So it will be fun to see how it all plays out."
Bob Jensen of the Huskerland Prep Report says Clarkson/Leigh has a lot of holes to fill. "They're going to have to fill in a lot of the blank spots there if you will, but again Jim Clarkson's a really good coach, a guy that's been in the state final, he knows how the whole thing's supposed to work. It's just you're going to have people with their first chance of playing varsity football."
The Patriots open up the season at Pender next Friday in a game that can be heard on 107.9 the Bull.
Jim Clarkson's District Rankings:
1. Neligh/Oakdale
2. Howells-Dodge
3. Clarkson/Leigh
4. Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family
5. Elgin Public/Pope John
2016 Clarkson/Leigh Patriots Football Schedule:
08/26/16 @ Pender
09/02/16 Guardian Angels Central Catholic
09/16/16 Omaha Nation
09/23/16 @ East Butler
09/30/16 Neligh-Oakdale
10/07/16 @ Elgin Public/Pope John
10/14/16 Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family
10/21/16 @ Howells-Dodge
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