BISMARCK — While it seems like nothing changed with the Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin football team, there are some things that have changed.
The Blue Devils will not only deal with personnel changes, they — along with every team in the Vermilion Valley Conference — will deal with changes in the schedule.
While BHRA would usually deal with local teams like Westville starting in the fifth week of the season, the Blue Devils will face the Tigers on Sept. 1
“It will take a little getting used to,” BHRA head coach Mark Dodd said. “I think Westville and Salt fork play each other on Week one and we play Westville in week two. Stuff like that is weird, but I am sure we will get used to it in time.”
One thing that is staying the same from last season is the key passing duo of quarterback Karson Stevenson and receiver Ayden Ingram.
“Karson started the whole year for us and had a great season. He threw for over 1,700 yards and 26 touchdowns, so that is solid,” Dodd said. “Ayden is a great receiver and a talented kid, but we have others. Chaz Dubois started as a sophomore last season and he is real good and we have Logan Hughes, who played defensive back more last season, but he will have a receiver spot. Kyan Jones is a sophomore that has impressed us and he can be a tight end, but he can be a wideout as well and Enrique Rangel and Evan Parish are very talented, skilled kids.”
Something that will change will be at running back with the graduation of last year’s running leader Michael Hackman, but Dodd said there is a lot of talent that can replace Hackman’s 1,738 yards.
“Parish and Rangel are going to be our featured backs,” Dodd said. “Caden Keleminic and Logan Hughes will be fullbacks and Chaz Dubois and Ethan Dubois will be our wingbacks. So we don’t have names that are established coming back, but they are good, capable, athletic kids, so we should be fine.”
On defense, Dodd said there will be standouts that will give the Blue Devils a speed advantage.
“Defensively, we have been impressed with Allen Brown, who is also our center and Landyn Wendell and all of our tackles have been impressive in camp so far,” Dodd said. “We have a sophomore who was out last year in Conner Powell and he will go for inside linebacker and Jones and Ethan Hall will be at defensive ends. We have some young guys plugged in, but we will be quick and athletic we are going to use that speed.”
BHRA starts the season on Aug. 26 against Clifton Central, who were 6-4 last season and second in the old VVC North.
“They are coached real well and they have a good spread system,” Dodd said. “We have been fortunate with them, but they are a scary team to face Week One with no real tape on them. They have a lot of new faces and that’s concerning. They graduated a real good quarterback, so we don’t know what they have. We are excited about playing on a Saturday night with our new turf field. It should be a great time for our community”
Even with the replacements, Dodd is pleased with the team he has for whatever new challenges come ahead.
“We are excited,” Dodd said. “On paper, it didn’t seem like we had a heck of a lot returning. But after working with them, I feel each day, we are getting better and better and when you have good kids, things tend to get better, so we are going to be competing and try to win the VVC again. There will be a lot of challenges ahead.”