Harder, better, faster, stronger: Oilers prepare for tough conference battle this season
EAST ALTON/WOOD RIVER - For a team like the Oilers from East Alton-Wood River High School, a fresh start to a brand new season can be crucial to revitalizing this young team.
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Coming off a rocky 2015 season with his young team, head coach Garry Herron made sure that he and his coaching staff worked to instill the philosophy that hard work can certainly pay off, especially during the offseason.
"I think one of the things we expect from the kids is to work hard and get stronger," Herron said. "That's something they really did in the offseason, with showing up to the weight room and anything we had extra curricular-wise with camps throughout the summer, speed and agility workouts every week. It's a good thing to see the kids come around to that stuff. They know that they're getting better and we can see the improvement."
In 2015, the 1-8 team were able to defeat the Metro-East Lutheran High School Knights 42-12 in their sixth week of play.
Last year's squad was comprised predominantly of sophomores and now that they are a year into the system, Herron seems confident that they will be able to put in some good effort in the upcoming season.
"Now, they're all juniors. They've got a year under their belt and they're a lot stronger now," he said. "Offensively and defensively, they're way more comfortable than they were a year ago. If it comes our way and we have to change something up, the kids know how to make that adjustment now."
Quarterback Justin Englar and running back Zach Womack are returning to the squad as juniors. Engar completed 26 out of 48 attempted passes and rushed 111 yards in the 2015 season. Womack led his team with 505 rushing yards and scored three touchdowns for the Oilers last season. TJ Lawson (running back, corner back), Lukas Westbrook (tight end, linebacker), Zack Wells (wide receiver, line backer), Zack Kinkade (linebacker, offensive line) and Zaide Wilson (defensive back) are back to play as juniors in the positions. Standing side by side as the squad's only seniors are Jacob Vassos and Christian Hunter as offensive and defensive lineman and wide receiver respectively.
The Oilers will face off against their Prairie State Conference competition at Marquette Catholic, Bunker Hill, Metro-East Lutheran, South Fork, Mt. Olive, Nokomis and Pawnee. The team will go all in to their conference after week three, battling in non-conference games hosted at home against Dupo and Taylorville on Aug. 26 and Sept. 2 respectively.
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