LG falls to Stratford, coach reflects on first co-op season
By Valorie Brecht The Loyal-Greenwood (LG) varsity football team played their final game of the year in Loyal last Friday against Stratford, falling short of a win. LG lost 43-8, with their lone touchdown coming in the fourth quarter off a 49-yard pass.
“I thought we played really hard, but Stratford is a really good team,” said LG co-head coach Chris Lindner. “Defensively we struggled in the first half; we were better in the second. Offensively, we were too inconsistent… We couldn’t run the ball like we had in previous weeks, and that’s credit to Stratford for stopping us.”
LG had 146 passing yards, compared to Stratford’s 207, and 68 rushing yards compared to Stratford’s 129. LG also had 146 receiving yards while Stratford had 207.
On the positive side for LG, they did not throw in the towel even when facing a large deficit.
“We battled throughout the game,” said Lindner. The Oct. 18 loss marked the end of the road for the first season of the Greenwood and Loyal school districts being co-oped for varsity football. The team finished with an overall record of 1-8, their sole win happening against Neillsville-Granton, whom they defeated 39-0 in the second week of the season. Their other game scores and opponents were: 16-32 Abbotsford, 16-29 Marathon, 0-44 Colby, 8-35 Amherst, 28-52 Wittenberg-Birnamwood, 30-34 Spencer-Columbus, and 46-60 Weyauwega-Fremont. In several of those games, LG played competitively for a portion of the game but wasn’t able to consistently perform at a high level.
“Sometimes we were our own worst enemy. We would stop ourselves or make mistakes that cost us. We worked on those details and will continue to work on those,” said Lindner. “It was more of a roller coaster than anything. We would have highs and lows, peaks and valleys. We want to get it more consistent.”
On the positive side, however, this inaugural season went a long way towards building a bridge between the two schools and getting everyone to work together, Lindner said.
“(Fellow head coach) Dean (Lindner) and I talked and we felt the program grew immensely throughout the season, from where we started in summer camp to the end… Our number-one goal was to have a unified program, to have that bond between the players and establish relationships. And I feel we accomplished that. We did a lot of different things to build that trust. We have that base established; now we just have to build off that.
“It took a while to figure out the different skill levels of the players from each school and who to put in what position. But now we have a better idea.”
Looking ahead to next season, Lindner said he had a “good group” of young men who will be juniors and seniors next year. However, there aren’t as many freshmen interested in playing, so the schools will need to recruit more.
Lindner also wants to emphasize the importance of conditioning and strength training year-round, not just during football season.
“I think our players realized the key is what you do in the offseason. The other teams we played are all doing something in the offseason — they’re constantly lifting weights or training for other sports. So we need to make sure we get everyone on the same page and fully committed to the program. Our top three things we talked about as a staff are leadership, speed and strength — not necessarily in that order, but it probably will happen in that order.
“We need all our athletes to consistently work out together, so they can build that bond and push each other to be better.”
Season comes to a close Senior members of the Loyal-Greenwood varsity football team pose for a photo with their head coaches Dean Lindner (l) and Chris Lindner at the conclusion of Friday’s game against Stratford. Below left, Cain Toufar looks to avoid an opponent while carrying the ball for LG. Below right, LG’s Colten Sandelier handles the ball.
RITA HANSON/RJ’S SMILING SOUL PHOTOGRAPHY
