GRANITE CITY – A new era for Granite City High School football will begin next school year.
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In more ways than one.
The Warriors will be competing as an independent next season after the school leaves the Southwestern Conference at the end of the spring sports seasons.
Not only will the school be independent, GCHS football will have a new coach as Brad Hasquin, who was recently appointed to the position after the previous coach Carl Luehmann stepped down in January; Hasquin had been an assistant coach in the program for the previous eight years. Prior to his new position with the Warriors, Hasquin had been the head coach at East Alton-Wood River and spent eight years as an assistant coach in Alton.
Last year's Warriors finished 2-7 after defeating Jersey and Carbondale in their first two games before going 0-7 in their final SWC season, but as Hasquin described it, “the rails fell off and we didn't have the season we envisioned.”
Part of the reason for the Warriors losing their final seven games was a shoulder injury sustained in Week 3 by Freddy Edwards; the sophomore quarterback missed the remainder of the football season for GCHS. Edwards is currently working out with the baseball team in preparation for the season. “His arm is getting stronger and we'll have him throwing in April with a football; we think he'll be healthy and ready to pick up where he left off,” Hasquin said.
Besides Edwards, the Warriors will return all but two players on the offensive side of the ball in 2018, including Jerry Watson. “Freddy and Jerry are kind of like our 1-2 combination out there,” Hasquin said. “One thing we want to do is play fast and get as many plays as we can in over the course of a game and score some points, especially with the talent and ability that we have.”
The season will be one of change and transition for the Warriors; leaving the SWC and playing an independent schedule will open up slots for teams the Warriors have not played before. “We'll still have (Jersey) and Carbondale the first two weeks of the season,” Hasquin said. “We'll play Francis Howell in Week 3 and Carnahan (of south St. Louis City) after that, then play at Belleville West and Collinsville at home (both former SWC opponents). We have (Breese) Mater Dei in Week 8 for our homecoming and close the season at Galesburg in Week 9; hopefully, we'll be battling for the playoffs at that point.” The Warriors will also be playing Alton next season.
One thing Hasquin wants to do is continue to build the program. “We want to build up our numbers and our strength,” Hasquin said. “It looks like we've got 57 kids from the (rising) sophomores on up for next year and hopefully, we'll have about 30 or so more freshmen out. We're out beating the bush and building relationships for players; we'll be close to 100 players total next year.”
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