WAUSAU, WI (EVERYTHING EVERGREENS – 93.9 FM THE GAME) – It seems like the shortest summer ever, with the high school baseball and track seasons going into late June. And now we’ve arrived at the start of the new high school football season.
The D.C. Everest Evergreens are defending Wisconsin Valley Football-West champions, having won all four of their league games and then losing the four non-conference games in a patchwork schedule that started late and was impacted by COVID. The Evergreens are favored to repeat, because they have the most skill players returning for this season.
Everest either blew out or shut out all of their divisional opponents in 2020, and it’s hard to imagine that those other teams will have closed the skills gap from a year ago.
Everest brings a returning quarterback, Beau Svoke, for his senior year. Beau split the starting reps until week three last season before winning the starting job outright. He’s a shifty runner who was good at improvising a year ago and was hard to bring down. In the late-season games last year he got into a bad habit of throwing across his body and into coverage. He won’t make those mistakes this year. The Evergreens will likely be a ground-oriented, power football offense. The run will set up the pass.
Ty Strehlow will almost certainly lead the offense in tocuhes. He’s always been fast; this year he comes back bigger and stronger. At a playing weight of 190 pounds, he’s big enough to lower his shoulders and run over people. He’s always been a threat on the edge or as a slot receiver. He could lead the league in all-purpose yards. Ty is also a stand-out defensive back, and he’s been very active at camp during the summer.
The Evergreens have two other skill players who will factor into the offense: Brock Babiash is an experienced running back, and Nick Cotter has been used as a receiver and a running back.
Everest has enough returning players on their offensive and defensive lines that they should be stout on both sides of the ball.
Here’s a game-by-game breakdown:
Week 1 – Thursday, Aug 19 D.C. Everest hosts Green Bay Preble
Preble, like many schools in the Green Bay area, played spring football earlier this year, and had a 2-5 record. They played a tough schedule, and were overmatched against Fondy, Bay Port and Neenah. Two years ago Everest scrimmaged Preble — they were big and Everest had trouble running the ball between the tackles. The Evergreens will be favored at home, but the match-up is likely tougher than most would expect.
Week 2 – Thursday, Aug 26 D.C. Everest host Chippewa Falls
Chippewa Falls lost several games to COVID last year, and finished with a 3-3 record. They had nice wins over Hudson and Rice Lake, and could have had a 4th win when they lost a 4th quarter lead against New Richmond. This game will require a step forward from week 1; it’s a toss-up.
Week 3 – Friday, Sept 3 D.C. Everest hosts Wausau West
Wausau West has the best pure running back in the division, Senior Colton Geurink. Everest held him to just 50-yards while blowing out the Warriors last year. Colton was a standout at last week’s scrimmage. Everest is the deeper, more accomplished team. West’s fortunes rest on whether they can develop other pieces to put around their star. The Evergreens will be favored.
Week 4 – Friday, Sept 10 D.C. Everest at Appleton West
Over the past two seasons Appleton West has been the most-improved football program in the league. They were 4-4 in spring ball, and almost spring an upset against undefeated DePere. West has usually built its team around one or two key players. It’s unclear how well their shelves are stocked for this year. This will be a road test; pick ’em.
Week 5 – Friday, Sept 17 D.C. Everest hosts Marshfield
Everest played a cold-weather game at Marshfield last season and pulled away for a 10-0 win on a late field goal. Marshfield’s offense wasn’t able to move the ball against Everest. Everest will be favored as the team with more known, returning players.
Week 6 – Friday, Sept 24 D.C. Everest at SPASH
SPASH is the biggest mystery team in the division, with the surprise retirement of long-time coach Pete McAdams. When Everest last played SPASH, the Panthers were in the middle of a down year. They played a spring schedule where they posted wins against tougher teams than they’ll face in the VFA-West this year. Trips to Stevens Point have always been tough for Everest. This is probably the toughest game on the schedule.
Week 7 – Friday, Oct 1 D.C. Everest vs Wisconsin Rapids
The Evergreens routed Wisconsin Rapids, 48-0, to open last season. Even with returning players and junior-to-senior year improvement, it’s hard to imagine the Red Raiders closing the gap. Everest will be favored at home.
Week 8 – Friday, Oct 8 D.C. Everest vs Hortonville
Hortonville and Everest both had week 1 wins when they met last year. Hortonville couldn’t protect their quarterback and struggled to get defensive stops. Both Rapids and Hortonville were invited to play Everest a second time last year because of COVID scheduling problems, both politely declined. Everest will hold the edge over the Polar Bears.
Week 9 – Friday, Oct 15 – Open
With Wausau East canceling varsity football this year, the Evergreens have an open date for week 9. Edgar and Abbottsford also have open dates for October 15th. A game against Edgar, a powerhouse small school, would be fascinating and would be played in a unique small-town environment if we traveled to them. Edgar has scrimmaged competitively against larger schools. Germantown also has an open date in week nine. Everest could also try to fill the date if other schools have any COVID-related cancelations.
Prediction record: 6-2
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