Hobbs, Tigers prepare for football season

As the IWC football season kicks off, the team is working on meshing its new players with its veterans and adjusting to a new coaching staff.

?Practice is going good; we?ve got a lot of new guys that are getting in, but we have a lot of returners, too, so it?s going pretty smoothly,? Ridge Hobbs said.

Hobbs, an IWC junior from New London, is one of those returners.

The wide receiver led IWC with 42 receptions for 953 yards and 11 touchdowns last year. He ranked first in the Mid-States Football Association for receiving yards per game, was fifth in the NAIA for the same statistic and was fourth in the NAIA for total receiving yards.

This season, he has his sights set on something a little bigger.

?I want to get that 1,000 yards ? I want to get better every year,? Hobbs said. ?You never want to go backwards.?

A key part of his goal is working closely with returning quarterback, senior Kevin McConnell.

?Off the field, we?re really good friends, so we?re not afraid to communicate,? Hobbs said. ?Our off field relationship helps us on the field.?

The IWC football team is facing a lot of changes ? new coach, new conference, new division ? but a lot of those changes haven?t made a serious impact yet. Three classes of football players are still receiving scholarships, and the football schedule still consists of a number of MSFA teams, since it was made two years in advance.

For Hobbs, even the coaching change hasn?t made a huge impact, since the team?s new head coach, Tom Parkevich, specializes in defense.

Before coming to IWC, Parkevich spent four years as the defensive coordinator at College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn.

?I think he can turn our defense around,? Hobbs said. ?There are not a whole lot (of offensive changes). Our game plan is still to take what we can get, to be efficient, and to gain on every play.?

The biggest offensive difference comes in the form of two tight ends that will complicate matters for IWC opponents.

Tight ends Jake Tolander and Jamarco Clark take some pressure off Hobbs as leading receiver.

?The defense will have to focus on them as well,? Hobbs said. ?They?re really the full package ... You can?t sleep on them, because they?ll hurt you.?

The IWC football team starts its season at home against William Penn on Aug. 25.

?Every single one of us is a competitor,? Hobbs said. ?We all want to win, so that?s our focus. My ultimate goal is to play for the team.?

And that intensity starts in the first game ? in fact, Hobbs would like to beat William Penn more than any other opponent on the schedule.

?We played them tough two years ago and the same last year, so it?s time we turn the tables on them,? Hobbs said.