Jack Pine Conference
School: Beaverton
Nickname: Beavers
Coach: Aaron Seiser, second year
2012 record: 4-5
Players lost: Austin Schneider, Scott Longstreth
Players returning: Hunter Walters, Aidan O’Rourke, Roger Miller, Brad Demski, Paul Haney, Ian Hasenfratz
Coach’s comment: “I feel our team has a lot of potential this year. I think we have much more depth, and we have more participants than last season. We’re going to be relying on seniors who have come out who haven’t played for quite a few years. We have some depth now, but we are going to be experienced in spots. I think the kids are competing hard, and we’re starting to build on what we did last year.”
School: Clare
Nickname: Pioneers
Coach: Kelly Luplow, 26th year
2012 record: 9-3
Players lost: Mitch Greenacre, Patrick Hughes, Hunter Ruby
Players returning: Colton Punches, Logan Emery, Seth Harton, Jordan Gross, Brandon Ayris
School: Gladwin
Nickname: Flying G’s
Coach: Tyler Foor
2012 record: 7-3
Players lost: Brandon Wackerle, Landon Grove, Michael Fennell
Players returning: Austin Lagalo, Ethan Gary, Jake Shell, Clay Bowen, Stephen Esinile
School: Farwell
Nickname: Eagles
Coach: Alan Esterline, second year
2012 record: 2-7
Players lost: Jacob Turner, Keegan Rohdy, Quincy Crawford
Players returning: Ryan Simmons, Seth Baginski, Jacob Sutton, Riley Skornicka, Noah Wilson, Devin Warner, Dustin Weber
Coach’s comment: “We need Simmons, Wilson, and Baginski [to have big years]. I feel we have a great group of athletes that are working extremely hard. We will show up each week and play as hard as we possibly can. [We want] to get Farwell back in the playoffs.”
School: Harrison
Nickname: Hornets
Coach: Mike Petrongelli, sixth year
2012 record: 3-6
Players lost: Jacob Stuhr, Cody Rodgers, Brooks Leonard
Players returning: Justin Yager, Nathan Lipovsky, Matt Haskel, John LaTulip, Ryan Johnson, Bret Coughlin, Clay Dennis
Coach’s comment: “Very smart group that is very motivated. [We need to] stay away from injuries and keep improving. To beat [the top teams in the conference] we will need to make fewer mistakes than they do.”
School: Houghton Lake
Nickname: Bobcats
Coach: Tim VanWormer, first year
2012 record: 1-8
Player lost: Dalton Bailey
Players returning: Nathan Hudson, Tyler Sluck, Jared Dull, Justin Blanchard, Harrison Fulco, Steven Storey
Coach’s comment: “We have real good skill, and the line is starting to come together. The kids are working hard, we just don’t have a lot of numbers. If we have some injuries, we could have a long year, but if we stay healthy, we could be very competitive. The kids are picking up a new offense and a new defense, and they’re doing pretty well with that.”
School: Roscommon
Nickname: Bucks
Coach: Joe Holloway
2012 record: 6-4
Players lost: Hunter Mires, Gage Richards, Mitch Tyler
Players returning: Donald Jernigan, John Miller, Brett Jobin, Jamie Hammond, Nick Anderson
School: Meridian
Nickname: Mustangs
Coach: Mike Bilina, first year
2012 record: 5-4
Players lost: Zach Arthur, Aaron Boxey, Jeff Franklin
Players returning: Jacob Wenzlick, Kevin Scheibert, Brandon Webber, Christian Petre, Daniel Johnson