Reviewing some football numbers

The Jaguars football team has a roster with 36 players on it in grades 9 through 12. It's the second-smallest roster in school history. In 2004, the program had just 35 players in grades 9-12. In this year's group, six are seniors, including leading starting quarterback candidate Dalon Bitzan. Last year's second-string quarterback (a sophomore last year), Austin Trustheim, did not come out for football this year.

Other seniors with Bitzan on the team include Josey Tensen, Tommy Cebulla, Jordan Wosmek, Tanner Halvorson and Shawn Felling. Just one of the six seniors is a lineman, so to say the Jaguars are breaking in a new line is a huge understatement. In that respect, they have a deep crop of candidates for the offensive and defensive lines. It's a matter of seeing where they fit in the puzzle.

Numbers are especially strong in the eighth grade, where they have a turnout of 20 for the football team. In seventh grade, they have a turnout of 13.