Trojans open season Friday at Cut Bank

At the start of each season, Whitehall High School head football coach Dan Lacey discusses with his team the little differences between good teams and great ones. Two weeks into fall camp, he is optimistic about what he sees from the team who will open their season August 30 on the road against Cut Bank.

"To be a great team you have to have discipline, team chemistry, and a positive culture in which you enjoy being a part of. If we can simulate practice effort and energy to game situation, we will be ready for opener. So far, practices have gone really well and I'm excited and proud of how hard our team is working," Lacey said. "Our turnout over the summer was very beneficial to those who showed up and committed to working on areas they needed to improve. The first weeks have been going really well. Our kids are starting to understand what we are asking out of them and are playing with much more confidence than earlier on in camp."

On the offensive side of the ball, the Trojans staff is expecting big things out of Tegan Robbins, Evan Wagner, Payton King, and Brendan Wagner.

"Each of these players come in with a lot of experience in the system so I'm excited to watch them grow over the course of the season. Dylan Smith is also a key returning player that we need to have a big year for us up front. The expectations we have of these individuals is to lead by example and always be prepared in all situations," Lacey said.

Whitehall will start a young and talented ninth grader Miles Hoerauf at quarterback.

"Miles has really caught on and grasped the system as our quarterback. I like that he is willing to learn, and he does a great job of handling criticism. His teammates believe in him and that is very important when being the quarterback of a football team. These past few weeks have been great for him to get a feel of the offense and learn to see and feel the style of tempo we have on the offensive side of the ball," Lacey said.

On defense, Lacey is excited to see the front eight play.

"We are able to mix and match much more this season in the front eight so I'm excited to see what we can do with getting pressure on the quarterback as a main focus for us. Key returners for defense are Mike Wilkinson and Robbins," he said

Looking toward the Friday matchup at Cut Bank, Lacey said the team is excited to open the season.

"It's a community with great football tradition. They are a run heavy style team that tries to wear you out throughout the course of the game. We need to make sure that we take care of the football and win the field position battle to have an opportunity to win the game," he said.