LINCOLN CITY, Ind. (WEHT) – There’s just a little over a week left until opening night at The Jungle for Heritage Hills football. This fall, the Patriots are hungry and have that championship mentality.
Last year they ended the season 9-3 with their only losses against the top two teams in their conference – Mt. Vernon and 2021 State Champions, Gibson Southern. However, head coach Todd Wilkerson said he’s confident in their depth chart, specifically in the backfield, and seven of the nine top tacklers returning this season that helped lead the Patriots to four shutouts in 2021. So he says they’re entering this season full of optimism.
“We play a lot of guys both ways,” said Wilkerson. “And this year we have probably seven running backs that we have great confidence in. Us being flexible on offense we have three running backs that start, so it’s nice to have seven so we can give guys rest and we can find out who’s got the hot hand. So, feel really good about that. You know, there’s a lot of injuries in football and guys get dinged up so being that deep puts us in a situation where we’ve got a lot of competition and then we feel confident in all those guys.”
Senior Davin Miller said he’s confident in their numbers this year. He said, “I mean our size is never great, but our numbers – we have a very big depth chart in general.”
“I’m confident in the defense this year, we have a lot of starters returning,” said junior Braydon Durham. “Defense wins championships and we’re hoping to win a lot of championships this year as well. We watched a lot of film and the defense has a bond I’d say because once someone gets going, the defense gets going.”
Last year’s season opener ended in a loss against Mt. Vernon, so next week they get the chance at revenge and to open the 2022 season with a victory as they host the Wildcats on Friday, August 19th.
