Head Coach: Kyle Lindsay (8th season)
2020 Schedule:
Aug. 21 Carroll
Aug. 28 at Wayne
Sep. 4 Homestead
Sep. 11 at Concordia
Sep. 18 North Side
Sep. 25 at Northrop
Oct. 2 Dwenger
Oct. 9 at South Side
Oct. 16 at Snider
Key Returning Players:
QB Carson Clark
RB/FS Ramon Anderson
WR/FS Brody Glenn
OC/DT Ben Rectanus
OG Brendan Mitchell
DT Joe Redick Jr
Key Losses:
RB Brayden Cowherd
WR Jamic Johnson
WR/FS Nick Birkmeier
LB Will Derrick
Losing seasons are never fun for those involved. 3-8 for Bishop Luers, a program that proudly hangs 11 2A state championship banners, was a disappointment. Granted, 2019 was supposed to be a tough year, with Luers suffering huge losses all across their roster by way of graduation.
The most notable area of concern was at quarterback, with the Knights losing their leader and star Norman Knapke, who threw for 3,190 yds and 37 TD in his senior season and gave the Knights some consistency at quarterback for 3 years. Last season, Christian Fly, Austin Finney, and Carson Clark all had trouble keeping the job.
However, Carson Clark will be the starter for Luers in 2020. As a sophomore, he threw for 578 yds and 2 TD, but his 50% completion percentage and 7 INT leave room for improvement. He was thrown into the fire on a team that didn’t appear to mesh well and was subject to constant change. However, with the strides Clark has made this offseason, there’s lots of optimism that he could grow into one of the better quarterbacks in the SAC.
“I’m trying to prepare every day of the week,” Clark said. “During quarantine, I would get with a bunch of guys and they’d come to the field with me so we could throw. We’ve been getting that chemistry down so when we came in, July 6, it was an automatic connection. We’re still working on it, but it’s been a lot easier because I know my go-to guys and it’s going to help out a lot more.”
Clark’s initiative and drive has led him to become the leader of this team. His efforts to improve team chemistry are crucial to the success of Luers in 2020, because as any member of last year’s team would tell you, lack of leadership and individual agendas are what kept Luers from finding success in 2019.
“I love every one of those kids, they’re great kids, they all have bright futures but we lacked leadership from the senior class as a whole,” Coach Lindsay said of his senior class from a year ago. “We believe that this year although it’s a small group, sometimes it’s easier for a smaller group to bring those leadership skills and qualities to your team and we’re confident that will be a strong aspect of the 2020 Luers football team.”
One of these seniors will be RB Ramon Anderson. Anderson had 357 yds, 7.8 yds/car, and 3 TD as a junior and will likely see an increase in carries in 2020. Brody Glenn also had a solid season last year, with 12 receptions for 164 yds and a touchdown. Glenn should have a breakout season and be targeted the most out of the Luers receivers. The offensive line will also be strong with Ben Rectanus and Brendan Mitchell.
Rectanus will also be featured on the defensive line, with his imposing 6’4” 310 lb frame being very useful on both sides of the ball.
“I’m liking all the new schemes we’re doing and our starting four right now,” Rectanus said. “I think we’re going to be a dominant group up front.”
Last season, Rectanus came up with 45 tackles and 3.5 tackles for a loss. He’ll be joined by junior DT Joe Redick Jr to make for a stout defensive line and possibly the strength of Luers’ defense. The linebackers and secondary will be inexperienced with the loss of players like Will Derrick and Nick Birkmeier, but hopefully the Knights can find players to step up in time for big matchups with Carroll and Homestead within the first three weeks of the season. But as Coach Lindsay will tell you, the schedule isn’t the focus right now.
“The key is for these kids to not focus on opponents that are coming up until we get to week 1,” Lindsay said. “Opponents shouldn’t really matter. It should be working on getting better individually and as a team. You do that and you’re going to put yourself in position to have a lot of depth to compete and win ball games.”
The Knights will continue to work this offseason towards reaching their goals and will look to compete in week 1 against Carroll.
