The North Butler football team made the most of an up and down year by staying the course to secure a second winning season in a row (6-3 overall in 2023).
North Butler Head Coach Jordan Vanderloop on the perseverance and unselfish attitude of this year’s team.
“We started off the season pretty strong, with a couple wins. Then we got into the meat of our schedule with some tougher games. They could have went one or two ways, we could have folded and said, we’re done after a couple losses, but the guys really dug in. They said let’s turn this around, let’s finish strong. They dug their heels in and they fought to the bitter end,” says Vanderloop. “I couldn’t be more proud of how they ended up playing to the very end and wanting to get that extra week nine game in. Then continuing to get better and better each week. We have really unselfish football players that care more about the win, then how many yards they have or touchdowns or anything like that. That’s great to see and great to build upon as well.”
The Bearcats bread and butter was an ability to establish the run, ending the year with 1,605 rushing yards. Three different backs rushed for over 370 yards including junior Jax Thorne (461), senior Pryor Wiederkehr (411) and sophomore Tucker Pecha (377) combining for nine touchdowns.
The Bearcats defense had its struggles allowing over 30 points to three opponents but had its highlight moments as well, holding five of nine opponents under 14 points and forcing 13 turnovers this season.
Vanderloop on areas of the game they need to improve in during the offseason.
“Consistency, making sure that we’re communicating up front and blocking the right people at the right times. There’s some times where we would leave one key defender and go block the next guy instead, and they ended up making the play. Cleaning up our coverages as well. At times on the defensive side of the ball, we’d stand flat foot and let the receiver run by us, the back get by us. Small little tweaks here and there that are very easy and very fixable for us. We just need to make sure we’re mentally getting prepared and ready to go.”
The Bearcats will have roles to fill entering next season after the graduation of 10 seniors.
North Butler concluded the season at 5-4 overall.
