KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With last football season in the rearview, this year's Rockhurst team believes it has what it takes to go the distance.
"You always have some of those teams that look good getting off of a bus — we've got a team that looks pretty good getting off of a bus, right? So we're kind of fired up about that," said Kelly Donohoe, Rockhurst High School head football coach.
When it comes to size, the Hawklets might just be a mile ahead of other area teams.
"We've got a bunch of big kids. They've been weight-room warriors for years now, and it's shown," Donohoe said.
The biggest guy on the field, senior left tackle Andrew Sprigue, thinks it might just give Rockhurst a leg up.
"I feel like our O-line, D-line are pretty big. I mean, we've got big linebackers," Sprigue said.
But what's even bigger is Donohoe's role since he joined the program three seasons ago.
"Coach Donohoe's a great coach, great guy. He's got his philosophies, and we know they work because he's very experienced, we have a very experienced staff, so we have a lot of trust in him," said senior quarterback Ethan Hansen. "[We are] hoping to take this team to a far, far run in the playoffs."
Rockhurst's first stop along the route to the playoffs is the home opener against Raymore-Peculiar High School.
"So pumped. We've been waiting so long, and [we're] just ready to get after it and just ready to stop going up against the scout guys and go up against someone else," said Thomas Coppinger, senior linebacker.
Kick-off between the Hawklets and Panthers is set for 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25, at Rockhurst Stadium.
"Every coach right now is super fired up for the year, as we are. There's teams that earn the right to be good based on the off-season and how they treat each other, how they rally around each other, this is a team that is that team," Donohoe said. "They paid a price.
"A lot of these guys have played a couple years now, [and it was a] tremendous off-season for us, so we're really excited for the year. We can't wait to kick it off — it can't get here quick enough."
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