After last season’s 2-6 overall record and not qualifying for the Section 7AAA playoffs, the International Falls football team is seeking to do better in 2012.
Both wins in 2011 came in the Sea-Range Conference, where head coach Jay Boyle said the team is aiming to be .500 or better this season, as well as being a top-two team in Section 7AAA.
In last year’s 28-6 win over Hibbing, returning senior running back Nick Janttie set the school record for the most rushing attempts in a single game with 41 after running for 261 yards and three touchdowns.
Falls’ returning senior quarterback, Gunnar Anderson, set a single-game school record for passing attempts (39) when he completed 16 throws for 183 yards in last year’s 44-8 season finale loss against Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin.
Boyle said the key personnel losses to graduation include linemen Forrest Arch and Jack Bragg and running back/defensive back Josh Owen.
In addition to Anderson and Janttie, Boyle’s list of top returning players includes senior linemen Beau Herzig, Ryan Kilbride and Brandon Cox, senior running back Wesley Gunnerson, senior end Josh Potter and sophomore end Ben Humbert.
“Many experienced players (are) returning in positions that they have been playing in for several years,” Boyle said. “(They are) athletic players that should perform well in both the run and the pass.”
However, Boyle said he is concerned the most this season about the team being able to stay healthy.
“We have back-ups in all positions, but do not have a ton of depth with our junior and senior athletes,” he said. “We will need to stay healthy.”
Boyle said he is looking forward this season to “getting started with our Sea-Range schedule and seeing how players perform against the other area competition.”
The Broncos open the season Friday by hosting Foley, which Boyle describes as “very tough competition out of Section 5AAA.”
“All Sea-Range Conference games will be tough, competitive matches,” he said.
