Courtesy Photo The 2022 Onaway High School football team includes, from left to right: back row: assistant coach Dylon Crowe, Brendon Brewbaker, Jack Morgan, Zack Cruse, Trey Price, Dylan Szymoniak, Tegan Tatteson, Brady Gapczynski, Landon VanHysen and co-head coach Bryan Pyle; middle row: co-head coach Rick Price, Toby Pike, Gavin Green, Luke Lovelace, Jackson Chaskey, Cason Kreft, Hudson Decker, Tucker Price, Zack Artrip, and Levi Rigot; front row: Trenton Soik, Chase Faircloth, Justin Kramer-St.Jermain, Henry Hale, Willam Gasch, Jonas Benson and Riley Corey. Missing are Darin Wolgast and Lelin Splan.

ONAWAY — Entering the high school football season, it had appeared as if Onaway was going to be once again led by Steve Klinge as their head coach.

That changed last Thursday, however as Klinge stepped down from his teaching and coaching duties at Onaway to take a job in the Kingsley school district.

In his place Bryan Pyle and Rick Price will take the reins as co-head coaches. The transition should mostly be seamless, as the two have been longtime assistants in the program.

“I would be a liar if I said that this wasn’t a big blow, Steve is obviously an irreplaceable member of this program the last four years,” Pyle said. “That being said, there is no anger, everyone wishes Steve the best and everyone understands that this was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. It was what was best for him and his family, and no one can blame him for that.”

Onaway athletic director Marty Mix felt that with Klinge leaving, and Pyle and Price holding such different responsibilities with the team as assistants, naming them co-head coaches was the right move for the program.

“We are so fortunate with the coaching staff that we have put in place and the assistants we have brought on board,” Mix said. “The program is about whatever needs to happen to make the kids the primary focus and the ball games will take care of themselves. We are blessed to have guys like Bryan and Rick step up and make it work for not only the kids but the program as a whole.”

After an undefeated regular season in 2020, the Cardinals took a step back last fall, slumping to a 2-7 record. That roster was quite young though, and Onaway hopes it can get back in the fold in the Ski Valley Conference this year.

“We went to Cedarville for our scrimmage on Thursday and I felt we put forth a good showing while we were there,” Pyle said. “We have a lot of returning players and this will be my fifth year with the program, and Rick has been with the program even longer than that. There are a lot of familiar faces.”

Of the team’s 26 players, 16 have varsity experience; including last year’s leading rusher Hudson Decker.

“We are really looking for big things out of Hudson,” Pyle said. “Gavin Green is coming back as a junior and he was a huge asset to us at fullback last year. We have Brendon Brewbaker coming back at quarterback and he is looking really good. Receiver wise, Tucker Price and Jack Morgan both had some pretty spectacular grabs last year. The vast majority of these kids have been spending a good amount of time in the weight room and going to camps this summer and they are ready to go as well.”

The rest of the team includes seniors Cason Kreft, Henry Hale, Zack Cruse, juniors Jackson Chaskey, Chase Faircloth, Trey Price, Dylan Szymoniak, Landno VanHysen, Tegen Matheson, Justin Kramer-St. Jermain, sophomores William Gash, Levi Rigot, Darin Wolgast, Luke Lovelace and freshmen Zack Artrip, Jonas Benson, Brady Gapczynski, Riley Corey, Toby Pike, Trenton Soik and Lelin Splan.

“We have a pretty big squad this year, we are looking forward to having at least a partial JV season,” Pyle said.

Onaway kicks off its season tonight, when it hosts Inland Lakes. I-L won the Ski Valley Conference last year, and is seen by many as the front runners again this year.

“We take it one week at a time, we are definitely not overlooking anybody and no one is going to be overlooking them,” Pyle said. “They are a big team, a big squad that made a very deep playoff run last year. They did lose some people but they have a lot of depth in their ranks so we are going to do the best we can. There is no quit on our team, we will be playing them every down all the way to the end.

“We look forward to having a good season,” he added. “We are coming off a disappointing 2-7 record last year, but we were extremely young. Now we have some older, more seasoned players this year so we are looking to get some vindication out of that.”