DAVID COOK
Sports Scene
Last season was a reloading campaign for the Mt. Pleasant football team that was making adjustments after graduating 24 seniors. With a large crew of veterans back this season, the Oilers are primed to move up the Saginaw Valley League standings.
Mt. Pleasant turned in a 6-5 overall record last fall, reaching the second round of the playoffs and finishing conference play with a .500 record. A roster peppered with starters returning has the outlook positive.
“We’ve been working hard all summer and I think we have a good core of returners who gained a lot of experience last year,” said Mt. Pleasant coach Jason McIntyre. “Last year, by our standards, was an average year. We won three straight conference championships in the three years prior to that and then last year we went 5-4 and got a playoff win. A lot of these guys that are coming back had to contribute and that is some good experience to have, and we have some good young players also.”
One of those veterans is senior wide receiver and safety Riley Olson (6-2, 175). A three-year varsity starter and two-time all-conference player, Olson believes a punishing brand of football will pay off for the Oilers.
“Our goal is to We want to win as many games as possible,” Olson said, “and we want to be the most physical team. We’re not always the biggest, fastest, strongest team out there so we just want to be the team that is going to dominate you and over-physical you and drain you mentally throughout the game. We are going to run the ball right down their throat. We are going to run the ball, go get a couple of yards and then take a deep shot and get a touchdown on you because our receivers have so much speed.”
Fellow senior Grahm Phillips (5-11, 200), a fullback and linebacker, echoed those remarks.
“We are going to be as physical as possible,” Phillips said. “We want to intimidate other teams with our physicality. On defense, we will be a really fast team which is trouble for opposing offenses. We have some dudes this year and I’m really excited.”
Senior running back/safety Will Garcia also stressed how physical the Oilers are going to be on both sides of the line.
“We are going to come at you on every play and we are just going to wear teams down physically,” Garcia said. “It’s going to get to a point where guys are just going to be on the ground and we are going to keep going.”
Senior tight end/linebacker Jack Mozurkewich (6-1, 195) also points to team chemistry as a strong point.
“We have a great a great group of guys,” Mozurkewich said. “I love the chemistry that we have. I see everywhere on the field as strong points for this team.”
Offensively, the Oilers have a pair of junior quarterbacks challenging for the starting job in Xavier Cregeur and Freddie Makinen.
The Oilers are deep at running back with Garcia leading the way along with Brady Johnston and junior Prosper Enehiroana with Phillips paving the way at fullback.
The offensive line is built around center Kort French, tackle Kyle Wallace, Jacob Dale and sophomore Tyler Schell (6-2, 230).
Olson leads a talented group of receivers that includes Mozurkewich at tight end.
On defense seven veterans return with starting experience. Kurt Freling, Levi Hoffman and Taylor Holp return along the defensive front.
Linebacker is a position of strength with the return of Mozurkewich and Phillips along with junior Adrian Castellon who started as a sophomore.
The secondary is solid with Garcia and Olson at the safety positions. Working in at the cornerback spots are Isaiah Rodriguez, junior Eassays McGinnis and sophomore Noel Helm.
“I like our depth,” McIntyre said. “I really think we can get close to having a completely different set of starters on offense than we have on defense. We can get pretty close to that and that will be huge for our depth.”
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