Reed City

from 2021 Pioneer Football & Volleyball Preview

Evart

Reed City football gearing for another championship season

By John raffel Jraffel@pioneergroup.com

REED CITY – It was another championship season in 2020 for the Reed City football Coyotes. But it was anything but a typical season.

Because of COVID, the season was almost switched to the spring, but then included a six-game regular-season slate with the Coyotes taking another Central State Activities Association Gold division title and winning a district crown.

They had to wait until January for a regional title game but had to forfeit for COVID related reasons.

It’s a new season with no pandemic effects, the Coyotes hope, while looking for similar winning successes.

“We appreciate being able to have a season with all the starts and stops last year,” Shankel said. “We lost Payton Hansen, Noah Jones, Alex Wirgau, Joe Shewan, Teddy Cross, and Chaz Davis from the class of 2020. They were all super hard working young men that loved to compete week in and week out.”

Seven seniors are back and for all of them, Shankel said he expects them “to work hard, get better every day and be a great team player.”

Two seniors are third-year players with Dylan Schebil (tight end/defensive line) and Blake Vanalstine (two-way lineman).

Five seniors in their second year on varsity are Trent Howell (offensive linemen-linebacker), Logan Ringler (two-way lineman), Blake Daggy (linebacker/ wide receiver), Cole Kitchen (linebacker-wide receiver) and Grant Rohde (running back-defensive back).

Wide receiver and defensive back Seth Jackson is in his third varsity season.

Three juniors in their second varsity season are two-way linemen Kaiden Burgess and Kyle Crusan and quarterback-defensive back Xavier Allen.

Juniors Noah Morgan and Bryson Hughes are first-year varsity players.

“We want to compete week in and week out, compete for a conference championship, and make a run in the playoffs,” Shankel said. “The key is for the players to work together and get better each day.”

Shankel likes this team’s prospects.

“The team’s work ethic has been great all summer and this week, so as a coach I am proud of the players for that,” he said. “We have size and speed which always helps in football. They love to compete with each other and enjoy playing the game. We are a physical group and that is a bonus when you like to run the ball.

“Experience and growth are a few things that we need to work on. We have a tougher schedule this year, so we will need to handle adversity.”

Reed City will enter the season as a favorite to win the league again.

“The conference is always strong with tough competition,” Shankel said. “Everyone in the conference is a threat and favorite for the championship. I believe we fit into the race and look forward to the challenge to compete for a league championship

“It was a huge difference having no COVID restrictions this summer. We had a normal summer with lifting weights, flipping tires, camps, and 7-on-7’s. The players learned a ton and worked really hard all summer. I am just looking forward to having a full and normal season and coaching the game of football with our players and coaching staff.”

Seniors will give Reed City volleyball team major boost

Reed City’s volleyball team hopes to be a factor in the CSAA this season. (Pioneer flle photo)

By John raffel Jraffel@pioneergroup.com

REED CITY -- It’s a team which will have seniors this season, and this factor is especially gratifying for veteran Reed City volleyball coach Don Patterson.

The key for the Coyotes and other volleyball teams was being able to have a summer program after facing restrictions from COVID a year ago.

“We went most of July,” Patterson said. “We went mostly Tuesdays and Thursdays much of July. We did the Ferris team camp (July 20-21). We have good numbers, both varsity and JV. The JVs have a lot of numbers.

“We’re going to be as experienced as we’ve been in quite awhile. We have four or five seniors on our team. We didn’t have any seniors on our team last year, as an example.”

Circumstances are far more favorable than a year ago when teams weren’t allow to be inside during the preseason.

“It’s much easier to get things done,” Patterson said. “The kids are excited. We’re excited.”

In previous seasons, Patterson and his staff would focus on a certain specialty each camp such as hitting, ball control and setting.

“We incorporated some of that into our summer stuff this year,” Patterson said. “We mixed everybody up. Every day we practiced on something a little different..”

The season opens on Aug. 20 at Ludington.

Patterson indicated he could have as many as 15 players on a single team.

“We will have six seniors this year,” Patterson said. “Katelynn Holmes, and Demi Ludholtz will be the most experienced seniors. Kyleigh Weck and Christina Malackanich and Rachel Vansyckle will be the important newcomers.”