GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Northview Wildcats are hungry for what's to come in the upcoming 2022 season. They wrapped up their first week of practice ahead of it on Saturday.
The high school football players say their team is bigger than what they put on the field last season.
They say it's due in large part to second-year head coach Ryan Oshnock.
"Coach Osh is in his second year, the guys respect him more," Northview junior quarterback Matt Toole said. "We know the playbook better. We know who we are going up against better. The coaches just set us up for success as well as they can."
The Wildcats definitely showed improvement under Oshnock. The team won just one game before he took over in 2021. Last year, he helped lead Northview to a 4-5 record. However, the team wants to see even more success.
"He got up here and got us a different mentality, got guys going," Northview senior running back Donyea Robertson said. "He brought us into the weight room and got us better each and every day. Just pushing the mentality, the mentality, the mentality and I think he changed it a lot."
The mentality has sparked confidence in a team that has not made the playoffs, aside from the 2020 season, since 2018. The Wildcats believe the playoffs are in their 2022 future due to Oshnock's level of preparation during the first week of practice.
"Everything he has done from last year has gotten better," Northview junior running back Michael Murphy said. "We've gotten better as a whole. We've got a good group of seniors. We've got a lot of leaders on this team."
The players have all bought in, but Oshnock knows there is still plenty of work to be done.
"We want kids to believe in the program," Oshnock said. "We want kids to believe in each other. We want kids to believe in themselves. I think any good football program is going to do that. I think we've got a lot of guys who are bought in and they are doing the right thing right now."
Northview kicks off the 2022 season on Friday August 26 against West Ottawa.
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