William Penn Football Expecting Great Things
William Penn Football practice August 2017.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The heat of summer will soon give way to the crisp air of fall, and the William Penn football team looks to keep things hot when they work to defend their conference championship.
The William Penn team starts off the year ranked 23rd overall, but for head coach Todd Hafner, “I was a little disappointed we weren’t ranked higher.”
“It is what it is. We’ve got some work to do”, added Hafner. The Statesmen will start the season facing Baker, who played for the national title last year.
The team brings back some needed experience and is picked to finished 2nd in a tough Heart of America Conference Northern Division.
Hafner is looking to see how positions such as quarterback will be filled. A recent junior-college transfer Jonathan Thomas, Tyler Wood who played as a receiver last year, and Eric Cooper who started for the Statesmen last year, are all working to fill that position.
The receiver position is another slot the Statesmen are looking to fill out this year. Hafner added that he’s blessed to have some good players for that position. “On offense, that’s probably our biggest spot we have to fill.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Hafner is looking to fill out the safety position and others in the secondary. “We’ve got a couple of junior-college transfers that were here this spring,” said Hafner.
“We feel good about where we’re at, we’re just trying to find depth, and that’s probably going to have to come from some of our young players,” added Hafner.
The kicking game is something Hafner is feeling good about this year.
Penn gets the season underway at 1 pm on August 26th at Baker. Hafner says the team will continue to work to get better, but the team is looking at the long view of the season. “We know the challenge that’s ahead of us. We know that our kids, at the right time, will be ready to play. We can go down there and surprise a lot of people.”
You won’t be seeing anything different from the Statesmen this year. “We play a tough, physical brand of football, “ added Hafner.
The Statesmen Football team makes their home opener on September 9th, at 12 pm against Mid-American Nazarene.
