For Otis-Bison High School’s football team, the season-opening matchup against St. John-Hudson boils down to a couple things.
The first is finding a replacement for graduated Dylan Wissman, who rushed for 1,871 yards and 40 touchdowns in 2012.
The second is finding a way to defend St. John’s 6-foot-8 wide receiver, Dean Wade.
“You have got to stay aggressive,” Otis-Bison head coach Travis Starr said of defending Wade. “We don’t have a 6-8 kid to line up with him, so we’re going to have to be aggressive with him, but it all starts with getting pressure on the quarterback.
“If he has time to square up his feet and throw, we can’t do that. If it’s a jump ball, we’re not going to come out on top of that one, so we need to make sure their quarterback has to throw on the run.”
Getting to quarterbacks is something the Cougars have been able to do in the past. Last season, they had 14.5 sacks, but all of them came from graduated seniors.
Kole Urban will likely be the the Cougars’ starting quarterback.
Urban didn’t get called upon to throw the ball much last season, completing 11 of 31 passes for 504 yards and five touchdowns. He rushed for 468 yards and nine scores.
Senior Jordan Hoffman will also be in the backfield. He rushed for 400 yards and five TDs.
Wade had 32 receptions for 479 yards and 10 scores for the Tigers, but he has a new quarterback throwing to him after Spencer Nusser graduated.
Preston Miller was the Tigers’ junior varsity starting quarterback last season and has moved up.
St. John has a new head coach Chris Story, who was an assistant coach under former Tigers head coach Nick Garcia last year.
Story said he is ready for his debut.
“I’m definitely ready,” Story said. “It brings me back to my playing days. We have a good team. I think we’re dimensional and dynamic. We’re ready to get out there and see what we’ve got.”

• Larned at Ellsworth
This time last year, Larned was in the grip of a losing streak that spanned three seasons.
The Indians changed that with a 27-25 victory at home against Ellsworth.
It was Larned head coach A.B. Stokes’ first game at the Class 4A school. He led them to a 3-6 record last season.
Senior Easton Palmer, who is back under center, had 1,234 passing yards and five touchdowns last season.
The Bearcats rebounded for a 5-5 season, losing 66-0 against Beloit in the first round of the 3A state playoffs.

• Macksville at Victoria
Last season, Victoria left Macksville with a 34-20 victory.
This year, the Knights, who were 6-4, get to play host, and the Mustangs will look to return the favor.
The Mustangs return quarterback Tanner Tranbarger, who led the team in several offensive category, including passing yards (1,021), passing touchdowns (12), rushing yards (1,325) and rushing touchdowns (27).

• Thomas More Prep Marian at Ellinwood
With the season opener drawing closer, Ellinwood head coach Dusty Beam has made his decision about his starting quarterback.
Kaleb Schartz, a 5-foot-11, 160-pound sophomore, gets the call. He had limited time as a freshman, amounting four carries for 11 yards last season.
Admittedly, the Eagles, 0-9 last season, will need to assess their ground game after graduating Patrick Ringering, who had 852 of the team’s 1,172 yards last season. He also had all eight of Ellinwood’s rushing TDs.
Senior Colton Churchill, who rushed for 135 yards, will be the starting wing back, and Gavin Vink will be the starting tailback after carrying the ball for 80 yards in 2012.
TMP is coming off a 2-7 season.
The Monarchs beat Ellinwood 36-20 last season.

• Central Plains at Stafford
The key to the game will be at the line of scrimmage.
Stafford is returning an experienced backfield, but has a young offensive and defensive line.
The Trojans will have both Tristin Paulsen and Ethan Johnson running the ball. The pair combined for 1,958 yards and 31 touchdowns last season.
On the flip side, Central Plains brings back playmaker Layne Bieberle, who turned heads last year as a return specialist.
Bieberle had 1,188 return yards to go along with 337 yards and six touchdowns receiving.
The Oilers, who were 4-5 last season, beat Stafford at home 38-8 in 2012.

Tonight

Otis-Bison at St. John-Hudson, 7
Larned at Ellsworth, 7
Macksville at Victoria, 7
TMP Marian at Ellinwood, 7
Central Plains at Stafford, 7
Hoisington at Great Bend, 7