Hawk football returning experience

Last season, the talk around Mid-Prairie football was about who was gone. This year, it?s all about who?s coming back.

The Golden Hawks return many starters from a 2014 playoff team, and have high hopes heading into a new season.

?It?s going to be great,? Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanaugh said. ?This is probably one of the better camps we?ve ever had since I?ve been here. There?s a lot of energy, and they are getting after it. There?s a lot of positive leadership.?

Some of that leadership is coming from a pair of seniors who figure to be key pieces to the Hawks? success this season.

Running back and linebacker Nolan Faselt comes into camp as the team?s leading back in terms of yards, and top tackler from a season ago.

Despite losing 2014 senior running back Austin Slabaugh to graduation, Faselt is hopeful that he and junior Ricky Vargas will be able to not miss a step and continue improving the position.

?Last year as a group, we made a few mistakes,? Faselt said. ?Austin (Slabaugh) was a good guy to follow, but coming in now, I think I can work with the team. Most of them are in my class, so we work together well.?

With Slabaugh?s departure, he takes 647 rushing yards and nine touchdowns with him. Faselt ran from 390 yards, and averaged 6.8 yards per carry last season, while Vargas averaged 4.8 yards per carry, picking up 377 yards last season.

?Nolan and Ricky are a great one-two punch,? Cavanaugh said. ?Nolan is kind of the bruiser and Ricky is kind of the slasher, so they?ll get more reps this year. We had a lot of depth there last year. Karson Duwa (as a blocker) is going to be a key for us there.?

Faselt and Vargas each flashed their ability as returners last season, with Faselt averaging 17.5 yards per kick return, scoring a touchdown, and Vargas averaging 14.2 yards per kick return.

With the Hawks figuring to have a strong running game, senior quarterback Ryan Cortum is hoping that helps him out in his second year under center.

Coming off a year where he completed 54 passes with a 45.8 completion percentage, Cortum is hoping to continue improving heading into his senior season.

?I want to improve my play and not turn the ball over as much,? Cortum said. ?I need to make smarter decisions when I?m dropping back to pass, and know when to tuck and run when I need to. Overall, I just don?t want to turn the ball over this year.

?I just need to slow down and relax, and let the game come to me. It felt like I was forcing a lot last year.?

The senior tossed 13 touchdowns last year, but threw seven interceptions, which he hopes to bring down this season. Helping him will be multiple returning receivers who had good seasons a year ago.

Levi Duwa is the top returning pass catcher from a year ago, catching 13 passes for 186 yards and four touchdowns, while four other players from last year have pass-catching experience.

?I don?t really have a worry about a drop-off in receiving depth,? Cortum said. ?We have Terrhyn Jacoby coming up and he?s really good, and Levi (Duwa) is a big target with great hands. He?s hard to miss. Blake Schwarz played a lot last year as well, and he?ll play some this year.?

With the offense hoping for big things this season, the strength of the Mid-Prairie team will come from its linebacker crew.

All four Mid-Prairie starters (Faselt, Vargas, Karson Duwa and Cameron Tolander) will return to that position group, and Cavanaugh has only noticed improvement from his defense early on in camp.

?We have our four linebackers back, so that helps,? Cavanaugh said. ?Levi Duwa, who was a defensive end as a sophomore, looks to be even better this year, and then we have a couple of other kids in the mix. Out of the gate, our defense is pretty solid.?

With so much returning talent up front, the group understands that they will have to be consistently strong all season.

?Through these couple of practices, it feels like we are doing 10 times better than we were last year,? Faselt said. ?Last year we were pretty solid. Our linebackers are our top defensive point, and if we can make our tackles, we?ll do just fine.?

With the Hawks looking to make the playoffs once again in 2015, they are focusing on the close losses they suffered last year (three games by four points), and hope to flip the script this season.

?All the games we lost last year by a few points, we are pumped to play those same teams again and get that victory,? Faselt said. ?It was tough losing by only a few points like that. We have a lot of people returning, and we are getting better. I think we?ll be doing really well against our other competition.?

The Hawks will hold their annual Gator Bowl scrimmage on Friday, before opening up the season at Durant on Aug. 28.