By John Raffel
It won’t be easy for Beal City coach Lou Rau to replace several key players from his 2013 Division 8 state runner-up team.
He lost six starters, including all-stater Ty Rollin.
“He’s a special individual,” Rau said. “He was with us a long time. You miss him personally as much as you do anything else. We have a stable of kids. No one is going to run just like he did. There’s a number of different-style runners we have that will do the job.”
Among the returnees for the Aggies is junior Chase Rollin, Ty’s brother.
“His freshman year, he was brought up for the playoffs and played real well for us until he got injured,” Rau said. “He was up last year but had an injury-plagued season. He doesn’t have a ton of varsity experience yet. He has a few games under his belt, but not as many as you’d like.”
Rollins broke a shoulder bone his freshman year. Last season, he experienced knee problems but saw action in six of Beal City’s 14 games as a backup running back and cornerback.
“When he was out there, he was able to contribute,” Rau said. “He had a couple of injuries during the year and never had a chance to solidify anything. But he’s a big contributor and great athlete and a different style kid than his brother. But he’s a talented athlete.”
“I had to try to work for a spot, and I felt I earned a spot,” Chase said. He indicated that things took a wrong turn in week seven with his injury. “I was really frustrated when I couldn’t play,” he said. “It was tough because it was my brother’s senior year. I was excited playing with him. We were back on kickoffs together.
“Our outside backer broke his ankle in the semifinals,” Rollin said. “I started at outside backer in the state championship game and wasn’t at 100 percent.”
Ty was a very cerebral runner, Rau recalled. “He would get people to miss and always set up his blocks real well,” Rau said. “Chase is a much more downhill runner. He runs downhill real well. He’s definitely at 100 percent now. He ended up starting for us that last game at outside linebacker.”
Chase is back to full strength but is not ready to draw comparisons between himself and his brother.
“My brother was an extremely talented running back,” Chase said. “He could bust the middle and break out of the tackle. He was a lot stronger than I am. He’s 175 to 180 and 5’6″. I’m 5’9″ and 155. I think we’re going to have completely different running styles. I haven’t earned the right yet to compare myself to my brother. He was so good.”
Rau anticipates Rollins being a cornerback and one of the team’s running backs this year.
“Every kid, we expect to see real improvement out of,” Rau said. “He has limited experience on the varsity. We didn’t get to see as much of him last year as we would have liked. We’re looking forward to seeing what he could do this year.”
So is Chase Rollins.
“I used to be physical, but now I’m not one of the biggest guys, so I can’t afford to hit people,” he said. “I was injured the last two seasons because I wasn’t as smart as I should have been. I can get away from guys, get outside and run.
Defensively, “I’m good at scanning the field,” Rollins said.
The Aggies hope to get another crack at the state final.
“I believe you can go only as far as your line,” Chase said. “This year, our line is looking really good. All our linemen have worked hard this summer working every day. I don’t want to say we’re quicker than last year, but it’s going to be close. Our team is scrappy. We lost a couple people from last year we can’t replace. It helps that everyone works 100 percent all the time. I think we’re going to be good.”