The McClain High School Tigers varsity football team will kick off their season on Friday August 25 as they host the Adena Warriors. The Tigers will welcome former South Central Ohio League rival the East Clinton Astros to Greenfield on September 15. The game will mark the first time that the two teams have competed against each other in a non-league contest since 2002. McClain will wrap up their regular season on October 27 at home against cross-county and league rival the Hillsboro Indians.
The Tigers are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 1 – 9 record in 2016. The team is comprised of 10 seniors, 16 juniors, 17 sophomores, and 10 freshmen. The team is coached by Jeremy Andrews for the third consecutive year.
“The goal of this team is continued growth. We have guys that need to grow up and need to be reliable football players.”, said Andrews. “I really like our kids, they have taken that challenge on. We have kids that are emerging as leaders, now we need kids to emerge as playmakers.”
Andrews shied away from pinpointing specific players that he thought could step up for the team this year. He did indicate that the team should be better by saying, “I like our team, I think our depth is a lot better. We have a lot of good solid kids, I like our depth right now it is better and I like the way we are working. If we can just get a few kids to step up and become dynamic playmakers, it’s going to be a fun year.”
McClain is looking forward to building confidence this season, with a more experienced roster coach Andrews expects the boys to grow as the season moves on. “Hopefully, as we get more experience and our kids get more confidence we are going to learn to play faster and more aggressive.”
Andrews indicated that he is pleased with the effort that the athletes have put in over the summer to get better. “This year the kids have busted their tail. They are doing everything we have asked them to do. It has really been a delight all summer. We are definitely making strides towards improvement because these kids have worked very hard this summer. I am real proud of the summer that they have had.”
Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
