Blaze pumped up for football
by Andy Rogers
Thisweek Newspapers
The Burnsville Blaze football players are eager to get the ball moving in 2010.
With many returning players, the Blaze want to show the new South Suburban Conference they’re not the team that won just two games in the past two years.
“The team should be competitive with the teams in the South Suburban,” head coach Mark Riggs said. “It’s tough to pick a favorite in South Suburban. We have solid teams all the way through.”
Riggs believes Burnsville is one of those solid-all-the-way-through teams.
“We have no concerns; we just can’t wait to get started,” Riggs said.
The quarterback abilities of Cameron Jones alone should keep the team competitive. Jones is one of the top returning quarterbacks in the conference.
His favorite target, Charles Smith, is also back at receiver along with Chad Dove.
Jones will have veteran protection at offensive line with Channing Smith, Dre Thomas, Chase Roullier and Zach Severson all back. The position with the least amount of experience appears to be the running back spot as every back from a year ago has graduated.
The defense also took a significant hit, losing linebackers Yusef Hassan and Zack Okonek to graduation.
Burnsville has a mix of linemen, linebackers and defensive backs with experience such as Brian Lien, Andrew Wiebe, Justin Threlkeld, Cody Martin, Harris Wahidi.
“We have a top linebacker group and a solid (defensive) line,” Riggs said.
The Blaze showed what they could accomplish with a 35-20 blowout against Bloomington Jefferson on Sept. 2. Charles Smith had a dominant all-around game, with 65 yards rushing with two touchdowns. He led the team in receiving with two catches for 30 yards and also returned a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown.
The team’s home opener is on Friday, Sept. 10, against Rosemount.
Andy Rogers is at
andy.rogers@ecm-inc.com.





