Prepzone Pigskin Preview 2017

AURORAHUSKIES
By: Spencer Schubert
The 2016 season for the Aurora
football team might go down
as one of the biggest “what if”
seasons of the year.
The biggest question likely still
rattling around in the head of
coach Kyle Peterson is what if
standout tight end and future
Husker Austin Allen didn’t get
hurt before the season even began?
Fact of the matter is, the Huskies
were without Allen all regular
season and still recorded an
impressive year. Aurora did get
him back for the playoffs and
advanced to the second round,
dominating rival York 24-3 in the
opening round.
However, Elkhorn South thumped
the Huskies 42-13 in the next game
in a rematch of the 2015 Class B
title game, sending Aurora into an
early offseason.
Peterson enters his third year at
the helm after going a combined
20-4 in his first two campaigns,
but 2017 might prove to be his
toughest coaching job yet.
The Huskies return just three
starters on offense and one on
defense, leaving the coaching staff
TEAM FACTS
Team Name: Huskies
Class: B
2016 Record: 8-3
Playoff Appearances: 30
Head Coach: Kyle Peterson
Career Record: 20-4
Assistant Coach: Tim Elge
with a lot of work to do before the
first whistle of the season.
“We will be a young and
inexperienced football team this
fall,” Peterson said. “We have
talent at the skill positions, most
of which is untested in varsity
competition.”
As with any football team,
especially one that lost the likes of
Allen in the trenches, Peterson said
he’s giving a lot of attention to his
offensive and defensive lines.
“Line development will play a big
part in how far this team can go,”
Peterson said. “We will have great
competition for most all positions,
which we hope will provide us
with much needed depth by
midseason.”
The only two-way starter returning
from the 2016 quarterfinal team
is running back Cal Narber, who
is entering his senior season. He
shared the backfield with Presten
Dibbern up until now, so it’s safe
to say he’s eager to see what he
can do with the increase in carries
in 2017. His head coach echoed
that sentiment.
“Cal has very good balance and
vision as a back,” Peterson said.
“(He) runs with good power and
has breakaway speed. He’s also an
exceptional open-field tackler.”
Narber was third on the team
in tackles, but considering he’s
the lone starter returning on the
defensive end, Peterson will be
hoping the depth he’s worked on
in years past pays off early and
often.
2017 SCHEDULE
8/25 McCook
9/1 @ Sidney
9/8 Waverly
9/15 @ Scottsbluff
9/22 Gering
9/29 @ Crete
10/6 York
10/13 @ Northwest
10/20 Seward
guys he expects to fill key roles
defensively for the Huskies,
including linebacker Ian
Boerkircher, defensive back Rylan
Willis, and linebacker Grant
Bonifas.
As far as the schedule goes, it’s
the exact same as last season as
teams fulfill the second year of
the alternating schedule, which
means Aurora should have a good
opportunity to grow early. In 2016,
their opponents combined to go
just 36-44.
However, three teams on the slate
combined to go 23-4, and one of
those teams is who Aurora takes
on first - a McCook squad that
went 8-1 last year.
Only time will tell if the 2017
Aurora football season will be
considered a reloaded season or a
rebuilding campaign.
Key Players:
Cal Narber (5’9” 170 lbs) Sr. RB
Caden Schuster (6’4” 200 lbs) Sr.
WR
Ian Boerkircher (6’5” 210 lbs) Sr. LB
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Peterson gave a short list of
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