Irish will rely on team speed

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Chase Vogler finished the 2007 season as one of the top three receivers in the Lake Conference.

Entering 2008, Vogler will be on the other end of the quarterback-to-receiver connection.

He will be under center to start the season for the Irish football team.

“He is picking it up well,” Irish coach Jeff Erdmann said of Vogler’s adjustment to the position. “We were able to work throughout the summer on getting him comfortable with it.”

Erdmann said quarterback won’t be the only area in need of special attention as the season gets under way. Only two of the five starting offensive linemen return for the Irish.

“Our line is obviously the biggest part of the success we can have running the ball,” Erdmann said. “We are going to be a little inexperienced there.”

Charlie Russell and Anthony Sicora are the two experienced linemen returning for Rosemount.

Erdmann will have more skill position players returning with experience. Zach Vraa is returning at receiver, and starting fullback Andrew Malicki is also returning. Malicki was a workhorse for the Irish a year ago, and he led the team in rushing.

Joey Broback is also returning in the backfield for Erdmann’s squad.

Defensively, the Irish will be experienced in the backfield. Three starters return in the defensive backfield. The fourth starter a year ago was Vogler, who won’t play defense now that he is the starting quarterback.

Trent Thompson and Max Busher are two experienced and talented linebackers, and Erdmann said he has some other athletic players battling for playing time at linebacker.

“On the defensive line, we don’t have a lot of size,” Erdmann said. “We have a lot of kids who can move.”

He said there are eight or nine players battling for time on the defensive line.

“We try to pride ourselves on being able to stop the run and being able to run the ball,” he said. “Defensively, we are going to be pretty sound.”

As far as singling out a specific strength, team speed has to rise to the top of the list.

“Overall, our team speed is probably the best we have had since I’ve been here,” Erdmann said. “We are pretty excited about our special teams, too.

“We had a very good summer. We are excited about where we are strength-wise and speed-wise.”

Tags: sports, football, irish