John Raffel
Sports Scene
Last year, with a young squad,
the Breckenridge Huskies started
the season slow but came on strong
during the second half. This year,
with a strong core of veterans to
build around, the Huskies are
poised for improvement.
Breckenridge opened the season
with an 0-5 mark last fall before
winning three of their final four
games. That veteran core is set to
continue that momentum to start
this season.
“2024 saw the likes of a three
game winning streak for us,” said
Breckenridge coach Isaac Gregory.
“We played a state semifinalist
team in Onekama to end the
season, and were in a one-score
game right until the end. We are
hoping to finish those games on
the other side of the ledger this
fall.”
The Huskies will miss a pair of
key graduated seniors this year
in Maddax McCaw and Zander
Mapes.
“Maddax McCaw played for us
for four years and will be greatly
missed,” Gregory said. “He was
extremely coachable and worked
hard. Zander Mapes played for
three years. He came back to us for
his senior year, and he contributed
mightily to our improvement last
year.”
This season, the squad is led
by senior Trey Most who will line
up at wide receiver and defensive
back.
“Trey is a returning all-stater
whom has been all-region on both
sides of the football,” said Gregory.
“He is hungry and will see lots of
time with the football.”
Most is excited to get the season
going and see how the team builds
on the success of the second half of
last season.
“I’m feeling pretty good this
year,” Most said. “I’m feeling the
most confident I’ve been since my
freshman year. That year we went
7-2 and made the playoffs and we
are trying to get back to that.”
Up front, senior Braxton Clapp
anchors the offensive line and is a
linebacker on defense.
“Braxton is a returning two
time all-conference lineman,”
Gregory said. “He hopes to show
off his abilities this year as he has
worked to become one of the most
dominant 8-man linemen in the
area.”
Clapp also has high expectations
for this season and likes the look of
the offensive line.
“Every single one of our
offensive linemen is back so
our run game should be ever
better than last year,” Clapp said.
“Definitely running the ball with
be a strong point on offense. Our
defense really didn’t lose much
so we should be pretty good on
defense.”
Putting the Breckenridge
offense in motion is sophomore
quarterback Gavin Corbat who
plays defensive end on defense.
“Gavin is a three-sport star,”
Gregory said. “He leads the team
with swagger and composure, and
we are fortunate to have him.”
Corbat started at quarterback
last year and the year of experience
will pay dividends this season.
“I think going into last year
all around we were a pretty
inexperienced team not having
much varsity experience,” Corbat
said. “I think this year returning
almost all of our starters and a
really good wide receiver corps,
a really good running game and
offensive line we should be better
in that aspect.”
Several more starters also return
for Breckenridge including Braiden
Long at guard and Christian
Dutton at center. Long will also
play along the defensive line. Noah
Barr and Blaze Snyder will see
action at tight end on offense. Barr
and Snyder are also linebackers on
defense. Isaac Bush will be a key
part of the ground game at running
back. Bush will also see action at
defensive end while Jadon DeLong
is back at linebacker on defense.
With the talent it has on hand,
Breckenridge is aiming for a
winning season and a spot in the
state playoffs.
“We expect to compete for a
playoff spot,” Gregory said. “While
the road there is difficult, if we
stay healthy, we will be in the
conversation to be playing football
past week 9.”
Although small in number with
11 players on the team, Gregory
likes the makeup of the squad.
“We have great leadership,”
Gregory said. “We are fortunate
to have a lot of continuity built up
the past couple years. We need to
make that leap into the next tier
of team chemistry if we want to be
successful.”
Gregory expects the chase for
the league title to be a competitive
one.
“Montabella will be rich with
talent for the foreseeable future,
and their staff does an incredible
job with tapping into that,”
Gregory said. “Merrill combining
with Ashley certainly makes for
a tough team to face as well. That
group combined has a lot of team
speed. Coleman brings back some
talent at every position group, and
they’ve really found their identity
the past couple of years. St. Charles
and Carson City both bring in
new coaches, and those groups of
kids will be tough outs, both have
some very solid athletes. We hope
to compete with everyone in our
division, and whoever wins this
championship will surely have
earned it.”
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