Friday night, the De Leon Bearcats 4-0 will make the trip to Crawford to face the 3-1 Pirates in the first game of District 7-2A D1. Last season, the Bearcats went 11-3 and made it to the quarterfinals, before falling to Crawford 41-14.
De Leon Head Coach David Yeager calls the recent success of his program “fruits of our labor”.
“We have a great coaching staff and it takes time to establish a program,” Yeager said, “We’ve been here six seasons and with the relationships we’ve established with those kids that were in junior high when we arrived and good talent, it’s paid off”.
The Bearcats have outscored their opponents 182-19 and pitched 3 shutouts this season. When asked if he felt his team was under the radar, Yeager responded:
“I’m an under the radar type of guy and we don’t have to have a radar on our back. The Bearcats understand how important this game is and that starts with their coaches. If you want to see how good you are as a team, then play Crawford”.
The Crawford Pirates are coming into this game with a 3-1 record and without one of their key players. Crawford is currently a little banged up, as running back Garrett Dutchsmann is recovering
from a broken rib he sustained in the loss at Clifton. Head coach Delbert Kelm is confident in the ability of his team, saying that, “we just have to weather the storm, injuries are going to happen, but we’ll be fine”.
The Pirates have been able to stay focused and win by playing sound team football and that stems from great leadership from the head coach on down.
Both coaches have a lot of respect for one another and their teams. This will be a gritty, hard-fought game and with the goal of being district champs on the line, expect both teams to leave it all on the field.
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