With the summer coming to an end, it opens the door to the start of high school football across the state of Wisconsin. Amherst is one of many teams this week finalizing their strategies in order to continue where they left off in 2023. The Falcons went 7-4 last season, clinching 3rd place in the CWC-Large with a 5-2 conference record.
This year, however, will be a whole new ball game. After graduating numerous all-conference nominations and with statewide conference realignment beginning this year, Amherst will be both seeing and experiencing numerous new changes not only within their starting lineup, but with new teams eyeing a conference title.
The journey begins on August 18, when Amherst will travel to Neenah to face the Zephyrs of St. Mary Catholic. The Zephyrs are one of the newer programs in the state, as they are in their second season since moving from 8-man after the 2022 season. In their first season, St. Mary Catholic went 2-8 overall, with a conference record of 1-6, which places them 7th in the Trailways Conference. The team averaged 19.2 points per game, while throwing the ball for 1,397 yards and 14 touchdowns, and rushed the ball for 657 yards and nine touchdowns. This pales in comparison to the Falcons, which averaged 31.5 points per game, 849 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, 2,003 passing yards, and 31 passing touchdowns.
Junior Michael Glodowski headlines the Amherst players to watch in week one, as he was the main backup quarterback last season. In two games played, Glodowski went 5/10 on pass attempts for 48 yards and a touchdown. Also on the short list is Senior Noah Spoelstra. The wide receiver had nine receptions that went for 124 yards and three touchdowns across four games. Sophomore Ayden Nerdahl rounds out the offensive side of the ball. As a running back, Nerdahl went for 309 yards and four touchdowns on 53 attempts in seven games. Sam Stuczynski is a key player to watch on defense. The Senior had 38 tackles and two sacks last year.
Three offensive returners highlight St. Mary Catholic in week one. Junior Maddox Dwyer has the biggest statistics out of the three, as he played quarterback and wide receiver last season. In five games at quarterback, Dwyer went 37/79 for 302 yards, one touchdown, and six interceptions. Across four games at wide receiver, Dwyer had 11 receptions for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Two more wide receivers are on the list as Junior Mason Wagner and Sophomore Tarver Trickner also come in with big statistic lines that could hurt the Falcons. Wagner had 22 receptions for 291 yards and five touchdowns in eight games. Trickner had 11 receptions to his name withing six games, earning 63 yards and a touchdown.
It will be exciting to see what the Falcons have in store in 2024.
- Statistics and records shown in the article are provided by Wissports.net.
