A solid core that consists of Davis, defensive back Ben Straub, star sophomore running back LJ Minner, cornerback/receiver Ben Hicks, along with lineman Ben Cherji, and Yale commit Bennie Anderson. This season has the potential to be a special one in both successes and how the team was formed and play for their God, their school, and their teammates.

However, the team has not always been the lean, mean, fighting machine that will show up on Friday nights and Saturdays thios year. Four years removed from one of the best seasons in school history, the 2015 installment of the Westminster Wildcats football team was on a mission. They ran the table in the regular season with the smallest margin of victory at eight points over rival MICDS. With star players like receivers Zach Hughes and Dyllan Conway, quarterback Evan Johnson, and running back Steve Webb, the team was loaded with talent to attack any defense in their path and they had the numbers to back it up. Scoring 565 points in their fourteen games, they had the best offense of any team in school history. Once November came around and playoff action began, the Wildcats bullied the next-door neighbor Priory Rebels to a 49 point victory. They followed with a trouncing of a not so next-door neighbor, the Borgia Knights, and a nice victory against U-City, the Wildcats were into the Final Four. One game from the first crack at a State Championship, Westminsters dream season came to a somber end at the hands of a tough Kearney team.

A breakthrough season the Wildcats had been waiting for since the dawn of the program in 2000 was something to build on for the good returning crop. But in the departures that season is where the program took a hit. Not only did they lose a strong senior class full of great leaders, but also Head Coach, Cory Snyder, who left to pursue another opportunity. The impact would be seen right away.

The program saw a dip from 13-1 in 2015 to 3-7, 4-6, and 6-5 in the next three years respectively. Though many factors would contribute to the decline, there are a few glaring ones.

Anytime the leadership in any setting is transferred to a new person or group, there is often a transitional period to get everyone on the same page. The team witnessed this twice in the last three seasons, spending one season with Coach Pederson, who stepped down after one season. To fill the open position, Coach Herring was hired to shape the program to his vision.

Another issue that has plagued the team is players transferring to other schools. Many players that would have been big-time impact players left for the potential of greener grass elsewhere. Westminster lost a few players weeks into their freshman year, a few the summer before high school, and one of the most promising underclassmen going into his sophomore season.

Even after the departures of important players and coaches, the Wildcats still had a decent roster of players built up but have had awful luck with the injury bug. Injuries at the key position of quarterback occurred sidelining QB1 for the season in two instances. Chad Briden was injured in his junior year, leaving the wildcats to put a natural safety at the position. Most recently, rising senior Lane Davis tore his MCL playing his sophomore season, and his ACL a year later as he was stepping into his new role as starter. Atlin Hall, a key running back, also had a variety of issues and later on ankle troubles over his four years at Westminster.

Injuries show just how deep a team is, and when there are many players transferring the team is left in a tough spot. It is all hands on deck and trying to make the most of the hand you have been dealt with. Given the circumstances, the results are not awful, and the record has been trending upward each year.

Five game-changers walking away from the school depletes the quality of the pool of prospects coming up. Add twelve graduating players from the roster last season, and now the program is left with fewer than 40 players. But that number is deceiving. Many players are joining their buddies on the field for the first time in their senior year. This includes Ben Parres, Tommy Briner, and Pierce Dunne all playing for their first high school season. Parres has decided to play football over club hockey. Briner will be playing for the first time since elementary school. Dunne will be handling kicking duties as well as tending the net for the soccer team this fall. The commitments of the new players have given new life to the team. Going into the 2019 season, the team believes that should they be healthy and will continue to improve from the record of the previous season.

Although the Wildcats have a solid squad this season, nearly half of 30 players are seniors, and by doing the math that would be around 20 players remaining, not including current eighth-graders that will join next season. There are 20 of them playing this year. If the team can convert all of those kids into high school players, they will have some breathing room.

However, the future is uncertain and although no one is a huge fan of it, going back to school every Saturday at one o’clock has become somewhat of a routine. Should the small numbers of players continue, who knows if the school can field a team four or five years down the road. It is a very bleak truth, and assuming the program does have enough players to stick around, it could bring some very hard years along with it. But if kids can get their friends to come out like the senior class did this year, the tradition of football will carry on for years to come at Westminster.