Video provided by Randy Manning.
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ROXANA - The Roxana Shells football team open their season at home against Robinson tomorrow night (August 26) at 7 p.m. and they couldn't be more ready for it.
"Summer was really good," head football coach Wade Devries said. "We were able to add a lot of sessions. We had days in here where we had 60-70 athletes from Roxana in the weight room together."
He mentioned that the team lost a lot of bodies up front but said that "we have a good piece of our team back."
The Shells graduated nine seniors last year, but have plenty of depth in the program to make up for what they lost.
He mentioned that the team has been working hard all summer but is at a little bit of a disadvantage not being able to scrimmage other schools before the season kicks off. It's not because the team didn't want to, it's because the state of Illinois doesn't allow pre-season games according to Devries.
"We're going to have to match Robinson's intensity. We've only been playing each other."
They do return their quarterback, junior Chris Walleck, and a lot of their receivers, so Devries looks forward to what this team can do offensively.
Coach talked about how Walleck has been working on throwing the ball to improve upon his slightly above 50% pass completion. He was good for three passing touchdowns last year.
Their leading running back from last season was junior Evan Wells who averaged 110.9 rushing yards a game and he returns. He led the team with 998 yards rushing last year.
Senior Paxton Osmoe led the team in receiving yards averaging over 30 a game and finished with 121 yards at the end of the season.
The Shells actually return all five of their key receivers and only lost one key rusher. They have a lot of their key pieces returning for this season.
After finishing with a record of 2-7 last year, the Shells are ready to turn things around and make a run at making the playoffs.
"The boys have been working hard. I think we're ready to go Friday."
Photos provided by Randy Manning.
Roxana Football Schedule
(All games are held at 7:00 p.m.)
8/26 - vs. Robinson
9/2 - at Red Bud
9/9 - vs. Civic Memorial
9/16 - at Columbia
9/23 - vs. Salem, Illinois
9/30 - vs. Freeburg
10/7 - at Breese Central
10/14 - at Wood River
10/21 - vs. Alton MarquetteRandy Manning also contributed to this story.
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