By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After a year that featured a number of setbacks due to Covid-19, the Chapman Fighting Irish football team is ready to continue building on the success that they found in 2020.
While the team did lose several seniors to graduation, veteran leaders have emerged at almost every position, and the Irish are confident heading into the new season.
“Some of these guys grew a lot after being thrown to the wolves as sophomores,” Irish head coach Kurt Webster said. “But they overcame it and got a taste for winning and now it’s their turn to lead.”
One of the biggest departures from 2020 is quarterback Trevor Erickson, who rushed for just under 1,000 yards and added over 500 through the air to earn a spot with Kansas State.
Stepping into Erickson's shoes is junior Nick Anderson, who has continued to learn from his old QB in an offseason that saw him take several big strides.
“He’s really come a long way since last year,” Webster said. “He makes the right reads and he’s stayed in communication with Trevor throughout the summer. He looks completely different from last year to this year.”
In the backfield with Anderson will be senior fullback Eli Riegel, who returns to the fold after a broken foot kept him out for a majority of the 2020 season.
The wide receiving corps will be anchored by Cam Liebau and sophomore Ian Suther, who could very well have a breakout season in 2021.
The offensive line will return a number of veterans and has been toted by coach Webster as the largest he has ever had to work with, which should work wonders for the run-first Chapman offense.
The line is anchored by Colt Sell, Troy Boyd, Brayden Lexow, and sophomore Weston Langvardt, with the left guard position still being battled for in practice.
“We bring back a lot of experience but that’s only good if those guys continue to improve,” he said. “Our line has to continue to grow and communicate and our whole team has to continue to play hard through the finish.”
Defensively, Chapman will return a great deal of experience as well with a D-Line that could create nightmare matchups for opponents.
That unit is led by Torin Cavanaugh, David Morgan, Colt Sell, and sophomore DJ Messerly, with senior Tate Milton anchoring the linebacking corps.
The secondary will see some new faces like Nick Anderson, Ian Suther, and Aiden Whitley slot in alongside veterans like Cam Liebau.
After a long offseason and a grueling training camp, the team is ready to get to work as the 2021 season nears.
“We had our meeting with our seniors and our expectations are high,” Webster said. “Our schedule is going to be full of great schools and that’s exactly what we want. If we can do all of the little things that we need to do to get to where we want to be it’s going to be a good time to be Irish.”
Chapman will kick off their 2021 campaign at Sabetha on September 3rd, looking to defeat the Blue Jays to open a second consecutive season.