TEAM OUTLOOK

Last fall, the Tri-County Vikings started the season on fire. In their first six games, they posted six victories and averaged 38.7 points per game. Down the stretch, the schedule got tougher, and the Vikings suffered some tough defeats. They fell in three of their final four games, including a playoff opener against the Kingsford Flivvers.

Several key pieces from last year’s team, including star quarterback Owen Behrenwald, depart from the most successful three-year run in the last decade of Tri-County football. Just four starters return on offense and five on defense, leaving Coach Phil Butler with an extremely young team.

While players will certainly emerge over the final week of practice and the first weeks of the season, there are a trio of all-conference players anchoring the squad early on. Whomever earns the quarterback role will benefit by having all-conference tailback Chase Keller standing in the backfield. The signal caller can also lean on all-region WR/DB Cole Plotts and all-conference WR/RB Jayden Button when the Vikings need to air the football out.

The CSAA Gold is set to be a formidable challenge this season, and Coach Butler has dialed up the non-league competition as well, with games against Comstock Park, Kent City and Ludington. This young Vikings squad will be tested early and often, but the culture that Phil Butler and staff has instilled in Howard City has them ready to prove their worth.