West De Pere takes on familiar label
DE PERE – Everybody likes getting a deal.
West De Pere football coach Jack Batten is no different, jumping at the chance to purchase an allotment of empty sanitizing teat dip barrels to use for his team’s practices.
“There was a place down the river that was selling them for 50 cents,” Batten said. “Whereas a garbage barrel costs me $12.
“When we run our defense we can set up three or four different sets of barrels, and check our defensive alignments and stunts with three different groups of kids. We film it all, so you can get a lot more reps in a shorter amount of time.”
The barrels that litter the Phantoms’ field for practice are all labeled with different positions.
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Entering the 2019 season, West De Pere finds itself receiving a familiar label of being the favorite in the Bay Conference and a strong contender to make another deep postseason run after finishing as the WIAA Division 3 state runner-up last year.
The ultimate goal this season would be to finish the deal after watching a 24-0 lead evaporate in the second half of a state title loss to Waukesha Catholic Memorial.
While West De Pere returns a solid contingent of players, it still has a long way to go to build the chemistry it takes to accomplish such lofty goals.
“You start back from scratch,” Batten said. “The most important thing is you have to develop a team and every year is different. We’re starting from the beginning trying to build team camaraderie and getting the guys all working together.”
The Phantoms’ defense has some big holes to fill, including Jake Karchinski, the 2018 Bay Conference defensive player of the year, and the inside linebacker tandem of Alex Spitzer and Evan Frisque.
Meanwhile, the offense returns six all-conference performers.
Josh Blount enters his third year as the starting quarterback. The junior passed for 956 yards and 10 touchdowns in addition to rushing for a team-high 1,498 yards and 24 touchdowns.
Senior tight end Billy Wyatt along with senior offensive linemen Bryce Graef and Kerry Kodanko also return as first-team all-conference players.
A linchpin on both sides of the ball is Cody Cavil, who rushed for 567 yards and 12 touchdowns in addition to being named a first-team all-conference linebacker.
“We’re getting close to the point where we can all count on each other,” Batten said.
“All of the guys have got to be in it together. As important as lifting is in the summer and becoming bigger and stronger and faster, I think the more important thing is you develop a team where everybody can count on the other guy. We’ve been able to do that this summer.”
West De Pere at a glance
Coach: Jack Batten, 6th season, 48-12
Last year: 13-1
All-conference players to replace:
Matt Kempen, FB, 2nd team
Cameron Reese, OL, 1st team
Jake Karchinski, DL, 1st team
Evan Frisque, LB, 1st team
Alex Spitzer, LB, 1st team
Garrett Kempen, DB/P, 1st team/HM
John Edinger, DB, 2nd team
All conference players returning:
Josh Blount, jr., QB, 1st team
David Vanderlogt, jr., RB, 2nd team
Aaron Wagner, jr., WR, 2nd team
Billy Wyatt, sr., TE, 1st team
Kerry Kodanko, sr., OL, 1st team
Bryce Graef, sr., OL, 1st team
Sawyer Grovogel, sr., K, 1st team
Owyn Neuman, sr., DL, 1st team
Cody Cavil, sr., OLB, 1st team
2019 Schedule
Aug. 23 at Shawano
Aug. 30 New London
Sept. 6 at G.B. West
Sept. 13 at G.B. East
Sept. 20 at Appleton Xavier
Sept. 27 Menasha
Oct. 4 Seymour
Oct. 11 at Wrightstown (NC)
Oct. 18 Waupaca