Eagan’s football expectations high in 2010
by Andy Rogers
Thisweek Newspapers
The Eagan football team hopes its performance in 2009 was just the beginning.
Although the team’s record ended up at 5-5, it was the best season in years, especially considering its schedule.
The Wildcats lost to Eastview by two points, Eden Prairie by 10 and Cretin-Derham Hall by one. All three teams qualified for the state tournament with Cretin-Derham Hall winning it all.
“It was a very important season for our program,” coach Rick Sutton said. “We lost one of our most important players early on, but we kept battling and developing confidence.”
The expectations are just as high this year.
“We’re not going to accept anything but our very best,” Sutton said. “We’re progressing well, but our coaches are never quite happy.”
The good news is that several of those players are back on the field for Eagan.
One big reason for the excitement is the fact that top quarterback Jameson Parsons isn’t injured as he was most of last season.
“He missed almost all of it,” Sutton said. “He’s certainly very comfortable running our offense. It gives us a dimension that we didn’t have last year. We can open up the passing game a little.”
Another top returning player is Bob Rada. He’ll be busy on Friday nights playing safety and running back.
“He had a fantastic year as a junior,” Sutton said. “We have to be intelligent on how we use him.”
Matt Henteges will also spend time on offense and defense at wide receiver and defensive back.
“We expect him to have a big year,” Sutton said. “We need to get the ball in his hands.”
Offensive linemen Matt Yetzer, Connor Randall, Tommy Bodeker, Tyler Bohannon and Jake Persons will try to keep the defense under control.
The team’s defense should be improved as well.
“We’re a little ahead of where we were last year,” Sutton said. “We didn’t play as well late in the year, but we have a little more experience coming back.”
Eric Wittenburg leads the defensive line and Matt Keller is back at linebacker with Jake Lueck. Rada is joined by Ryan Nelson in the secondary.
Eagan lost its season opener 28-20 to Lakeville South on Sept. 3. The two teams traded leads several times before turnovers got the best of Eagan and Lakeville South’s quarterback Mitch Leidner took over.
The team will travel to Bloomington Kennedy on Friday. The Eagles lost to Rosemount 34-13 in their season opener.
Andy Rogers is at
andy.rogers@ecm-inc.com.





