ACH looks to return to playoff contention

COULEE CITY - At the 1B level, sustained success is hard to come by.

The loss of a handful of players could mean a complete reboot of the program.

After finishing 2010 and 2011 among the state's elite, the Almira-Coulee-Hartline Warriors plodded through a 4-6 year in 2013 and missed the playoffs.

With enrollment down, head coach Brandon Walsh and his staff are looking to field a team that can compete for a playoff spot this year.

"We feel like we kind of have a good system in place," he said. "With that said, we're going through just a down cycle in our school enrollment and that kind of thing, which is affecting our numbers out here ... When our numbers are low and just athletes or numbers period it affects how competitive we can be. That's where we were last year and we're in that same boat a little bit this year."

The Warriors have about a 15-man roster to compete in the Northeast 1B South conference.

At the 1B level, teams play eight-man football which allows for explosive offensive performances with the increased amount of space.

"Just a lot more space on the field," Walsh said. "If you have one fast kid you can scheme for that and get him to space so that's where we're at this year."

ACH will have a few "fast kids" on the squad this season. Starting quarterback Dallas Isaak returns for his junior year after rushing for over 2,000 yards last season as a sophomore.

Running back Charlie Hunt will look to stay healthy for a full season and senior offensive lineman Jacob Vogel should help clear the way for both Isaak and Hunt.

"Our quarterback Dallas Isaak is a junior," Walsh said. "He started for us last year as a sophomore and rushed for over 2,000 yards and then we have a sophomore running back - Charlie Hunt - who was injured most of last year and then in the second half of the season came back and just got better and better each week. Real tough runner."

Walsh hopes the dip in ACH football will be short lived as a large middle school should provide a bigger team and more talent in the future.

"We're really in some ways kind of planning for the future," he said. "We have a big middle school so our numbers are going to go back up and so we're looking down the road a little bit."

The Warriors open with a difficult non-conference schedule as ACH plays Liberty Christian - 8-2 last season - and Republic - 7-4 last season.

Walsh expects his team's record to not be as indicative of how good ACH can play.

With four of five league games at home, ACH could have a chance to sneak into the playoffs.

"We've been really working hard on conditioning 'cause everybody's going to have to contribute both ways and they are," Walsh said. "They're making progress there. They're working hard ... I really think if we stay healthy - 'cause depth is going to be an issue for us - if we stay healthy I think we could compete for a playoff spot in the middle of the pack of our league."