Four weeks from today the ACGC football team opens their season against the IKM-Manning Wolves in Guthrie Center. This year’s team will have to replace some key outgoing senior skill players, including: starting wide receiver and punt returner Caden Wardyn, starting tailback and punter Logan Brincks, and starting tight end Cole Boyer. There’s also going to be a sizeable shift in the line as three starting offensive linemen (Sam Fuller, Collin Stowe, Nate Schiller) and three starting defensive linemen (Stowe, Schiller, Owen Hansen) all graduated in May.

First-year Head Coach Cody Matthewson says that leaves plenty of room for kids to prove themselves heading into the fall friday nights.

“We have a lot of kids and a lot of athletes that can do some special things. When I go back to it they just need a little bit of structure, and good coaching, and a little guidance. Other than that the kids want to be successful. So it’s hard to tell. We’ve got an idea with some kids and individuals on who’s going to be our guy in this position. But honestly, until we get the pads on (and) find out who wants to hit or who can be physical and who can really get the job done, that’s the guys that are going to get the opportunity.”

Matthewson is also still getting to know these players, which can be a challenge, especially when it comes to film study.

“It’s so hard to tell right now with no prior knowledge and the only thing we got is film. Sometimes with some of these kids who didn’t have the opportunity to play last year, you have no film on them at all…Some of these kids have made great jumps from their sophomore year to their junior year. They may have never saw the varsity field as a sophomore but maybe they put on 20 pounds in the offseason and they matured from a sophomore to a junior and maybe they’re going to make a big impact on the field. You just can’t tell right now.”

Last season’s starting quarterback Bryce Littler and fullback Ben Kingery will both return to the field this fall for the Chargers.