By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
For the last 20 years, Terry King had been the head football coach at Ell-Saline High School. But after a long and storied career, King decided it was time to call it quits and stepped down - leaving the program in the hands of assistant coach Joe Roche.
Roche has been a part of this program since 1997 and has decided to continue building on the legacy of coach King, rather than making big changes.
“It makes it easier when we’re using the same systems, language and vocabulary that we’ve always used,” Roche said.
Roche has put an emphasis on getting to know each of his players, and using those connections to build his team.
“I want to have a good positive relationship with our kids,” he said. “I constantly work on that because once we have that we can trust each other and if we can trust each other - in my mind - we can do whatever we want to do as a team.”
While the man calling the plays will be different in 2020, the one receiving them will not. Senior TJ Morrical is poised to reprise his role as the Cardinal’s starting QB.
Morrical has been praised for his aggressive style of play both on the ground and through the air and Roche is hoping that with another year under his belt, the decision making will follow Morrical’s talent.
“He wants to score on every play and he has the potential to do that,” he said. “But sometimes he needs to make better decisions and not try to force the ball into tight spots.”
Morrical will be getting plenty of help in the backfield from one of Ell-Saline’s breakout stars in running back Keenan Drees. Drees found himself taking the lion's share of the handoffs in 2019, en route to a 7-3 season and a playoff berth. With the Morrical-Drees tandem returning for another year, hopes are high that the Cardinals can build off that success in 2020.
One of the biggest keys to continuing that success will be the offensive line, which returns three seniors and two juniors from 2019. The Calzada brothers, Jesus and Jonathan, will anchor the line as tackles while guards Eli Hopkins and Carter Underwood flank junior center Kayden Goddard.
While the option offense will lead the Cardinals into more rushing situations in 2020, several newer additions will be looking to make their marks at wide receiver.
Payton Powell, who transferred from Salina Central before taking a year off of football, will return to the gridiron for the first time in several seasons. Powell joins other receivers like Garrett Phelps and Taegan Bradley who can hopefully add to the Cardinals air attack in 2020.
Ell-Saline will be making one big change on the defensive side, opting for a five man front to really flex their muscle in the trenches. All five Cardinal O-linemen will be playing both ways.
Roche has a lot of confidence in his secondary, which will be led by free safety Taegan Bradley and cornerback Keenan Drees. With an extra D-lineman on the front, the Cardinal secondary will need to play extra airtight to eliminate big plays.
Rounding out the defense is a linebacker group that will feature a rotation of Powell, Kayden Goddard, Obed Ruiz and Morrical.
All in all, Ell-Saline is primed to make some noise at the 1A level again with their patented brand of hard-nosed football.
“When we come to play, we come to hit you,” coach Roche said. “It’s been like that since I arrived in 1997. We don’t always look like the biggest team on the field but in a lot of those games, we’ll just flat out outhit you.”
The Cardinals begin their season with back-to-back road games, starting with Marion (2-7 in 2019) on Friday, before paying Sacred Heart (0-9 in 2019) a visit the following week.