Courtesy Photo The 2021 Alcona football team includes from left to right: Michael Basner (34), Hayden Johnston (32), Jesse Sheldon (33), Owen Borsvold (66), Gavin Walker (2), Logan Zuchowski (53), Hunter Rigby (55), Collin Walker (42), Garrett Somers (3), Jeremiah Bullis (8) and Ashton Tracy (5). Missing are Quinten and Kaden Goldberg.

LINCOLN — Alcona’s shift to 8-Player football appears to be exactly what the program needed.

The Tigers didn’t win a game during their final 11-Player season last fall, but when they head to Hillman on Friday, they’ve got a feeling things are about to be vastly different.

“It is interesting, some of the guys have treated this like a fresh start,” Alcona coach Jason Somers said. “The reason we weren’t competitive in 11-man wasn’t because of the players, it was having to do with practices weren’t competitive. We had 13 guys to play 11-man so in practice you were hitting dummies all day long and not hitting live. Now, practices are competitive, there’s live tackling, live blocking against someone the same size of you and that has helped tremendously.”

Somers has liked what he has seen so far in practice and in its scrimmage last week. Plus, moving away from 11-Player has enabled Alcona to bring back its junior varsity team.

“I have been pleasantly surprised, the kids have picked it up really well,” he said. “We had some work in the summer time and that helped out as well. I would say we are adapting well, but the scrimmage did show we still have a lot to learn with the new game.”

Over the years, Alcona had a well-deserved reputation for an offense that ran the full house offense to yard churning, clock chewing perfection. The Tigers changed course from that last fall, running a variation of the spread. Running multiple formations could be here to stay for the team.

“(We’re running) a combination of both of those things, we are still able to run the ball between the tackles really well, but we can also spread it out with a couple receivers and a flanker,” Somers said. “It’s going to be a really good combination, and will allow us to take advantage of our personnel and their talents and getting them out in space.”

Somers pointed to senior Michael Basner and sophomore Jesse Sheldon, a transfer from Alpena as two who could see the bulk of the carries on offense. Returning all-conference player Gavin Walker will be the team’s top receiver, and should also see touches running the ball. At quarterback will be his son, freshman Garrett Somers. Jeremiah Bullis, another sophomore transfer from Alpena and sophomore Collin Walker should also make an impact for Alcona’s offense as wide receivers.

“Basner missed last year, but he is pretty quick, has a nice big body and a guy that is almost equal is Sheldon, he is a really nice player too and he looks really, really good,” Somers said. “Somers looked pretty good at times down at the scrimmage, but he also looked like a freshman at other times. It will be interesting to see how he develops; he has a lot of football upside. Walker is going to play the slot receiver, he will be able to run the ball or catch the ball from that position and he could be getting the bulk of the touches, he is a really good football player with good speed, good hands and he provides a ton of leadership for us. I expect big things from him.”

The offensive line isn’t going to be particularly big, but Somers feels that juniors Hayden Johnston and Logan Zuchowski and senior Hunter Rigby will anchor the line just fine.

“They are a really good combination of experience and athleticism,” he said. “They are not great big guys by any means, but they are some really good athletes and they can move, so I am excited about them.”

As for the defensive side of the ball? Well, Somers is starting to feel the pain of other 8-Player teams across the area.

“I think as a coaching staff, we have learned that defense is the hardest thing in 8-man, we are figuring out why scores are in the 40’s and 50’s,” he said. “There is a lot of space to cover with fewer guys, but the coaching staff and I have come up with a good plan. We are going to play a couple different fronts and hopefully we will be up to the task.”

Perhaps the only downside of the Tigers playing 8-Player this fall, is that with a high school enrollment of 228 students, they are above the 215 enrollment cutoff for the MHSAA’s 8-Player postseason.

They’ll also be playing as an independent this season, before joining the North Star League in football in time for the 2022 campaign.

Regardless, when Alcona plays Hillman, it hopes it will be the start of something special.

“The first day of practice we talked about if we were playoff eligible, so we want to get six wins and we want to see how many wins we can get from teams in the North Star League, pile up some wins against the teams we will be competing for a championship next year,” Somers said.

As for that Hillman squad the Tigers are set up to go against Friday?

“We have tape on them and they look good again this year,” Somers said. “One thing I respect about them is they are always really well coached. It is going to be a good North Star League fight.”