One would think that after the Lake Forest High School football team finished its 2009 campaign on a four-game winning streak for a 7-3, 4-2 record, Head Coach Freddie Johnson would be fired up at the potential of bringing that momentum into this fall.
Not so.
The Spartans, Johnson said, had a nice end to the year a season ago, posting shutouts in their three final games. However, the coach said the end result didn’t get them where they wanted to be.
Johnson’s squad fell short of making the state tournament as two of the teams that beat them moved on, with one of them, Laurel High School, eventually winning the Division II championship.
“We can’t rely on what we did last year,” he said. “We won seven games but we didn’t beat the teams that ended up in the tournament. We finished on a good note but that was last year. We need to worry about this year now and improve for this year.”
To erase any memory of the season prior that could instill overconfidence in the Spartans, Johnson has been running his players hard this preseason.
Senior offensive lineman Ryan Hacker said the workouts have been exhausting, but added they’ve started to accomplish what the coach wants them to.
“A couple of kids think they’re going to take it easy because they think we’ll have a winning season because of last year,” Hacker said. “But he’s really pushing us right now. He’s running us a lot and trying to get us ready for the season.”
Hacker and his offensive line cohorts, Johnson said, should be the cornerstone to this year’s team.
The Spartans are returning four of five offensive linemen, including guard Hacker, senior tackle Tyler Loomis, junior guard Marshall Hobbs and senior tackle Aaron Shahan. The newcomer is sophomore Tylr Hacker, who will take over the center position.
“We’re bringing back an offensive line with a lot of playing experience,” Johnson said. “That’s going to be a strong point for us.”
With a formidable backfield on offense as well, that line should have its chance to shine via the progress of the team’s running backs.
“It makes us feel good when we see a running back get 2,000 yards in a season,” Loomis said. “That’s where we get our glory.”
Johnson said with such a strong group on the front line for Lake this year, the skill players on offense are salivating at the opportunities that could present them.
