TOR gridders look to rebound from lousy 08 season

An expanded roster and veteran experience should help the Nighthawks of Tekoa, Oakesdale and Rosalia rebound from a miserable 2008 campaign.

Coach Ken Lindgren, entering year 20 as head of the Nighthawks, said the team opens with 45 players, including 11 returning seniors.

Veteran savvy is one of the reasons Lindgren expects his team to improve from 2-6 last year in the SE-2B league.

“We’ve got some experience this year, and that should help us handle the big boys a little better,” Lindgren said.

One spot where the ‘hawks will be lacking experience is quarterback. Last year, Joseph Tampien started in the final half of the season, but the Tampien family moved to Spokane during the summer, leaving the ‘hawks to scramble to fill the QB gap.

Senior John Kuhn will begin the year as quarterback. Kuhn played wide receiver last year, and Lindgren said that experience should help him put a good touch on his passes.

To counter the QB experience gap, the ‘hawks will look to move the ball with a solid stable of running backs.

Senior bruiser Zach St. John should provide backfield thunder, while speedsters Earl Gaines and Scott Eberle will add lighting.

Lindgren said controlling the ball and the clock with the ground game should improve a TOR defense that was often worn down by field time because the `hawk offense had trouble sustaining a drive.

“I think our defense was pretty good last year. but when you’re on the field as much as they were, you’re going to give up some points,” said Lindgren.

With St. John and Eberle providing punch at linebacker, and Zach Smith patrolling the defensive backfield at safety, Lindgren expects his defense will improve.

One concern is in the trenches.

Last year’s squad was pushed around by bigger and stronger lines from league heavyweights DeSales and Asotin.

“We’ve got some pretty good-sized kids up front,” said Lindgren. “But we need to be stronger, we need to get these kids in the weight room.”

But finding time to put the kids in the weight room has been tough. Because harvest still needs to finish on the North Palouse, the Nighthawks have been limited to one practice a day, at 5:30 a.m.

“We’ve got kids who are out harvesting until 8:30,” said Lindgren. “If we go after they’re done cutting, we don’t hit the field until nine o’clock at the earliest. And that’s just too late.”

The Nighthawks open the season on the Tekoa grid against Liberty next Friday, Sept. 11.