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GREENFIELD - A season ago quite a few people tipped the Greenfield-Northwestern Tigers as playoff contenders and favorites to claim the WIVC South crown.
None of that happened.
They went 3-6 and missed out on the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
In 2018, the Tigers head coach Joe Pembrook will look to use that as motivation and regroup with a new look.
“Last year we kinda had a setback and didn’t make the postseason. That left a bitter taste in our mouths. One of our goals is to qualify for the playoffs, but in order to do that you’ve gotta do well in the nine auditions you have every Friday night.”
For a long time, the Greenfield-Northwestern Tigers have been a ground-and-pound team running a double-tight end offense.
This season Pembrook will employ a different approach and play to his team’s strength; speed.
“We’re hoping to be a little more athletic out on the edges and be able to attack people from multi-dimensions rather than always being double-tight the last few years. Our team speed is better than it’s been in the last couple of years,” Pembrook said. “We’re going to be smaller up front, but more athletic and quicker. We’re going to have to beat people off the ball and put ourselves in position to make good plays. If we can do that and luckily avoid the injury bug, then we’ll hopefully have a nice fall.”
The Tigers graduated most of their backfield including fullback Jacob Foiles who rushed for 41 touchdowns in his career.
“[Foiles] was certainly the workhorse of our program on the offensive side. We were built more that style. This year we might have to be able to spread it out a little bit more and utilize key guys in key spots,” Pembrook said.
One player who will benefit from this transition is sophomore Denver Davenport. Last year he was the most productive freshman athlete in the WIVC South. Davenport was second on the team with 735 all-purpose yards. He rushed for 390 yards on 59 carries, gained 6.6 yards per carry and scored three touchdowns.
“We want to be diverse, but we’re certainly going to get the ball to him,” Pembrook said of Davenport. “He’s an explosive athlete. He has the ability to go the distance at any point in time when the ball is in his hands. We want to be able to utilize him as a weapon, and we want to surround him with a great supporting cast that we’ll be able to utilize and attack teams from a lot of different angles.”
Senior Zane Thomson and sophomore Jacob Lansaw are battling out for the No. 1 spot at quarterback. Thomson has some experience from last year. He was 56-for-111 (51 percent) with 594 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions.
A plus for the Tigers is they return the majority of their offensive line. Seniors Devin Chaudoin, Wyatt Courier and Hayden Lansaw all have a year under their belt as starters after Greenfield returned zero starters from a year ago.
On defense, senior Dylan Pohlman recorded 61 tackles a year ago as a defensive lineman. Seniors, Clint Nettles, Charlie Turner and junior Blake Motley, will join Pohlman up front having seen plenty of game time last season. Davenport, Thomson, and Wade Stuart return to the secondary while the Tigers welcome junior athlete Blake Betis, a transfer from Routt Catholic who previously attended Greenfield.
“Our expectations are to start from ground zero and get better and better each and every week. We don’t want to put too high or lofty [expectations]. We don’t want to set bars that we don’t know if we can attain or not. For us it’s about team and improvement,” Pembrook said.
