Clintonville coach looks for continued improvement
By Erik Buchinger
Tom Burkhalter is ready to kick off the 2019 season of Clintonville football.
“I don’t even have a word for it and this is awesome,” said Burkhalter, starting his second year with the Truckers. “The weather has been very good. The smell is in the air and everything is good because it’s football season.”
Burkhalter wants to see continued improvement from last year’s team.
“We want to be more competitive in this conference,” he said. “We know we can be and we should be. We got a little bit better last year with point differential. Look for us to take a big step forward this year.”
Burkhalter is excited for the future of the program with the returning talent in addition to more size coming through the freshmen and sophomore classes.
“Some of the top returning players on the offensive side of the ball include Brock Smejkal and Dylan Danforth coming back, along with Seth Keller and Ben Papendorf on the offensive line,” he said.
Danforth had team highs in receptions (33) and yards (214) last season and caught one touchdown pass.
Smejkal had nine catches for 103 yards, the second highest on the team in 2018.
Papendorf said he is excited about what he has seen in practice so far.
“It’s been going pretty well,” he said. “We have a good turnout so far every day and intensity has been high.”
Keller said earning a conference victory is a goal for the Truckers in 2019, which finished the 2018 season with a 1-8 record.
“We want to win some games,” he said. “Last year, we won one game against Green Bay West, but we want to get a couple conference wins.”
Most of the defensive backfield is returning, including Hunter Allender, Matt Seefeldt and Daniel Rohrer.
“Those are some pretty darn good football players,” Burkhalter said.
Burkhalter called defensive back Nathan Morse one of the best sophomores in the North Eastern Conference last season and likes the versatility of senior wide receiver/defensive back Dominick Bricco.
“Dominick Bricco played just about every position here and there last year,” he said. “We want to get him some really solid snaps this year. He’ll be everywhere again.”
Rohrer said he spent the off-season improving his strength.
“I just worked on getting bigger and stronger because that’s the only way you’re going to get better,” he said.
Seefeldt, a 6-foot-3-inch wide receiver/linebacker, said he tried to improve speed to get ready for the season.
“I worked on mainly cardio to get faster,” he said.
Burkhalter said he is excited to see wide receiver/defensive back Blake Hopp and quarterback/linebacker Jared Cartwright, both of whom have been injured the past two seasons.
“We’re excited about the talent level at every position, which we haven’t been able to say in quite some time here, so we’re very excited,” he said.
Burkhalter said a successful season includes being better players and young men on and off the field.
“We want to get better each and every day and can say these are better young men because of being part of the Trucker football program,” he said.