ROCKTON—To hear Brian Zimmerman tell it, those were just friendly campers collectively enjoying the sunshine Wednesday morning.
The truth of the matter was that for the Hononegah head football coach and his counterpart from Milton, Rodney Wedig, the mutual practice session was an opportunity to see their players compete against someone wearing a different colored jersey.
While players wore helmets and shoulder pads, the contact was measured and the whistles quick. But it does give you an idea of who’s keeping their head in the playbook and who is deciding to freelance.
“Today was fun to get out there and do a bunch of individual drills against some other guys,” Zimmerman said. “We did this with Beloit Memorial previously and when Coach Wedig went up to Milton we decided to do it with them. It’s nice to compete against someone new and we noticed the camaraderie. We watch how they do during the year and I think they do the same with us.”
The Indians did quite well in 2021, completing an undefeated season in the NIC-10 and reaching the third level of the IHSA playoffs for the first time since 1996. They finished 11-1, but graduated NIC-10 Offensive Player of the Year Bryce Goodwine and fellow All-NIC-10 players Aiden Peters, Dylan Sayles, Clayton Walls, Dylan Seymour, Alex Escamilla and Stuart Hale.
Goodwine, in particular, will be difficult to replace. The do-it-all player caught 32 passes for 415 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 267 yards and six more scores. He also beat rival Rockford Boylan with a last-second field goal, had multiple touchbacks on kickoffs and for good measure was an outstanding defensive back.
He has played his last down of football as an Indian and likely for any team. He accepted a baseball scholarship at the University of Indianapolis.
“We had a great group last year and obviously we lost some very good players,” Zimmerman said. “Ultimately I think we have guys who are developing and that is why camp is so important to us in the summertime. We have to give those guys time to develop and we have to see what we have.”
The coach said he appreciated the level of commitment he saw this summer.
“I can’t say enough about how hard our guys work,” he said. “They show up. That’s part of it right there, being present and working hard to get better. We have good senior leadership, but I think we really have leaders across the board. They look like they are eager and they’re doing what we ask them to do.
“We’re really fortunate to have players who are willing to listen and put in the work. That’s why we are successful. We provide the structure, but all the effort is theirs. They understand they won’t get anything for free here. They’re going to work for everything they get.”
Wedig expects to have “around 145” players out for football, including 65 on varsity. There are 40 sophomores and about 45 freshmen.
Noticeably absent was one particular senior, all-NIC-10 offensive lineman Jacob Klink, who notified Zimmerman he was going to forgo football this fall and concentrate on track and field. A state-qualifying shot and disc thrower, he recently qualified for the Junior Olympics.
“I told Jacob that he needs to do what is going to work best for him,” Zimmerman said.
Hononegah will open its 2022 schedule Aug. 27 when it travels to Rockford to play Jefferson at 12:15 p.m.
