OTIS-BISON HIGH SCHOOL
COUGARS
Classification: Eight-Man Division-II
District: 7 (Beloit St. Johns-Tipton, Natoma, Northern Valley, Thunder Ridge, Victoria)
League: Central Prairie League
Head coach: Travis Starr (entering 10th season)
Assistant coach(es): Curtis Little
Roster
Brandon Keller, QB/DB, 110 pounds, Jr.; Trevor Trapp, TE/DB, 110, Soph.; DeJay Vaughn, RB/DB, 150, Sr.; Nick Higgason, OL/LB, 150, Jr.; Tristen Dean, TE/DB, 105, Soph.; Kade Urban, TE/LB, 155, Soph.; Trenton Welsh, OL/DL, 135, Jr.; Brad Lightfoot, RB/DB, 145, Soph.; Kade Hagans, OL/DL, 180, Sr.; Preston Cheely, OL/DL, 215, Jr.; Kyle Patrick, TE/DL, 180, Sr.; Bryce Maneth, OL/DL, 220, Soph.; Hayden Maier, TE/DL, 175, Jr.; Cody Kaler, OL/DL, 170, Soph.; Daniel Scott, RB/LB, 130, Fr.; Landon Hoopingarner, OL/DL, 240, Fr.; Clade Anderson, OL/DL, 180, Fr.
Schedule
Sept. 5 — At Macksville
Sept. 12 — At St. John-Hudson
Sept. 19 — NESS CITY
Sept. 26 — KINSLEY
Oct. 3 — THUNDER RIDGE
Oct. 10 — At Natoma
Oct. 17 — BELOIT ST. JOHNS-TIPTON
Oct. 24 — NORTHERN VALLEY
Oct. 30 — At Victoria
* — District games
All games at 7 p.m.
HOME GAMES IN ALL CAPS
OTIS — To say the Otis-Bison High School football team had a rough start to the 2013 season would be an understatement.
The Cougars averaged 16.6 points per game in the first six games of the year.
Otis-Bison didn’t win any of those games.
Then things turned around.
The Cougars were already 0-2 in the district before winning the final three games.
The 3-2 district record wasn’t enough to get them into the playoffs, but it was enough to turn around morale.
This year, Otis-Bison opens the season against Central Prairie League opponent Macksville.
“We’re learning from that,” Otis-Bison head coach Travis Starr said. “We’re all a year older. With three seniors and three juniors from last year, our freshmen who’ve got thrown in there early, they’re sophomores now. You can see a big difference in those guys.
“There’s a big difference between this year and last year. When we put the pads on on Friday night against Macksville, hopefully, we’ll see the progress.”
Still, Starr said there is a lot of work to be done before the Cougars reach their potential.
“Well, we’ve got a long way to go,” Starr said. “Obviously, we’ll know more once we get into a game situation, but we’re just trying to get ourselves ready.
“It’s not about Macksville or on down the road. We got to get ourselves ready right now.”
That means taking care of the fundamentals.
“We got to do the little things,” Starr said. “We got to make tackles. We got to execute little plays. We got to get better from where we were last year.”
Otis-Bison lost three seniors, quarterback Kole Urban, running back Jordan Hoffman and receiver Colin Regan.
“We have some young guys who are stepping up,” Starr said. “At times, those guys were injured last year and we had some guys who had to step up anyway.
“We’ve been filling their shoes. It’s just executing all the time.”
Otis-Bison only has 17 players out for the team this year.
“Depth has been an issue,” Starr said. “Just like any eight-man team, you’re going to have some depth issues, so you just have to have some guys step up.
“It’s below what I thought would be out, but we do have 17 kids who want to be out and work hard. It’s a good 17.”
