2010 Halstead Football Preview

Halstead Dragons
(4-5, 0-3, D10 No. 4)

2010 Schedule
9.3 @Hillsboro (0-1)
9.10 Hesston, 6-28 (0-4)
9.17 @Smoky Valley, 28-14 (2-0)
9.24 @Sterling (2-1)
10.1 @Lyons (2-1)
10.8 Pratt
10.15 Sedgwick, 14-35 (2-2)
10.22 @Trinity Cath., 8-14 (2-3)
10.28 Garden Plain (0-1)

Coach Marc Svaty Bio
2007- Halstead Head Coach
2003-2006 Liberal DC

Coaching Staff
SP/WR/DL Aaron Dibbens
OC/RB/DB Greg Enns
DE/RB Jay Myers
Tech/OL/LB Curtis Myers

Records Breakdown
2009: 4-5
2008: 6-5 (Regionals)
2007: 2-7
2006: 6-4 (Bi-Districts)
2005: 5-5 (Bi-Districts)
Playoffs, 05-09: 1-3
Winning Streak: 2, Smoky Valley
Losing Streak: 4, Hesston

Returning Stat Leaders
Rushing: Tanner Strohl (936, 4.8)
Passing: Simon McKee (832, 14.1)
Receiving: Dakota Becker (372, 18.6)
Tackles/UT: Ethan Rodenberg (38, 18)
Sacks/TFL: Garrison Gundy (5)

Returning Starters
Garrison Gundy (6-1, 180) SR LT/LB
Jared Bean (6-0, 230) SR LG
Karsen Garnett (5-10, 230) JR C/DT
Tucker Kaufman (6-2, 220) JR RG
Tyler Henning (5-5, 185) JR RT/DE
Ethan Rodenberg (5-7, 150) SR RB/LB
Simon McKee (6-1, 155) SR QB
Tanner Strohl (5-4, 150) SR FB
Dakota Becker (5-10, 165) SR WR/DB
Peyton Wingert (5-6, 145) JR LB
Devon Bibb (5-6, 140) JR DB
Ryan Bibb (5-6, 140) JR DB

By Matt Browning

It's not that Halstead football coach Marc Svaty isn't excited about the upcoming season, because with nearly his entire team returning, the Dragons will be one of the most experienced in the area.

But what perhaps might wane his enthusiasm is the schedule Halstead has to play. Out of the nine teams on the Dragons schedule, eight of them had winning records last season-including district opponents Garden Plain, Trinity Catholic and Sedgwick, which combined for a 24-3 regular season in 2009.

"I guarantee you nobody will pick us in our district," Svaty says. "But that gives us an element of surprise. We think we can compete and even beat the teams on our schedule, no matter how good they are."

In 2008, Halstead advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a win over Southeast of Saline, and that success lit up the town. Svaty hopes that this year's team can get off to a start to bring the same level of excitement.

"That run two years ago was great for the community," Svaty said. "That is our goal again-to play deep into November."

Svaty points out this year's team with last year's schedule would have had one of the top records in the area, so the record this year might be deceiving.

"We felt like our season got cut short last season," Svaty said. "We were on a roll towards the end, but we couldn't quite get over the hump in district. It was frustrating for us." Halstead by far gave undefeated Trinity its closest game of the regular season, a 14-8 loss in Week 9.

Most of the teams Halstead will be facing are running teams, so stopping the run has been an important fundamental talked about in the offseason.

"We give our kids as much as they can handle," Svaty said. "We feel like defense is the most important aspect of the game and we want our kids asking ‘Why can't we stop them?'"