HILLMAN – The goal heading into the 2016 season for the Hillman Tigers is to continue their winning tradition and keep their playoff streak alive. The team knows that they will have their work cut out for them as they will face some very good competition this season.

“I think we are going to see a lot more competition this year than we have been used to seeing in previous years. I’m not sure how we will end up, but I think we are going to be competitive throughout the season and I’m looking for some guys to step up and keep this program on the map,” Hillman coach Bill Koenig said.

The Tigers will be tested in their first two games of the season as they travel to Onekama before returning home to play Alcona in week two. Hillman will wrap up the regular season against another worthy opponent when they play host to Inland Lakes. The three new opponents to the Tigers schedule this year all finished with winning records last season and combined to go 20-10 overall.

Despite a challenging schedule, this year’s Hillman team will feature plenty of talented playmakers on both sides of the ball.

“We are a younger team this year. We have a good junior class, the seniors we have are all tremendous leaders and we have some underclassmen that we’re looking to make an impact this year,” Koenig said.

Billy Kolcan is one of the key returning impact players as he will try and build off of a successful sophomore campaign a year ago. Kolcan will begin his second season under center for the Tigers and his dual threat ability will make it difficult for opposing teams to defend him in through the air and on the ground in the Tigers spread offense. Caine Hunt and Travis Fessler will look to be a solid one-two punch in the backfield as year in and year out, the Tigers always possess the ability to run the ball. Sophomore Wyatt Barrie will be the anchor on the offensive line at the center position.

As good as Hillman is running the ball, they will also have two big, physical receivers this year in sophomore Kory Henigan and junior Matt Hunt.

Defensively, Kolcan will man the safety position, Zach Berg will be on the defensive line and Matt Hunt will play inside linebacker. The one downfall this season is that Hillman may be shorthanded on the offensive and defensive line as they have several younger players competing for starting spots.

“I think if we can stay healthy, we should be fun to watch and we should have a good chance of winning the North Star League-Little Dipper division and continue our playoff streak, which is our goal every year,” Koenig said. “This program has come a long way from when I took it over and I’m proud of myself, the school, the coaches and my players that make me proud every time we’re on the field and to me, that’s what tradition is supposed to be.”