2023 Record: 5-6 overall, 3-4 in Flyway (5th)
Lost in Level 2 against Lake Country Lutheran (16-14)
Key Losses: OL Austin McCartney (1st team), DT Cole Legas (1st), QB/CB Cohen Raddemann (1st), LB Braedon Weiglein (1st), RB Payton Borchardt (2nd),
Key Returners: RB Sawyer Hardesty (1st), WR/S Joren Schlender, WR/DB Austin Thoreson, QB Ryan Clark
Not many coaches in the state have had the success level that coach Scott Hilber has had at Mayville as he enters his fifth year leading the Cardinals.
Mayville has made the playoffs every chance it has had since Hilber took over for Tom Noennig in 2020 (there were no playoffs in alternate Fall 2021). That run includes two trips to the state championship game.
Hilber and the Cardinals have earned the right to be called perennial contenders in the Flyway, but he said he thinks that early in last season, his team took success for granted.
“We played ugly early in the year, we started improving in the middle and by the end of the year we were in a position where we could compete with anyone in our division,” Hilber said. “I thought we had the culture in place without the monitoring and I was wrong so it’s back to the basics.”
Defensively, Mayville will have to replace excellent production in the trenches with the losses of Austin McCartney and Cole Legas.
The defensive side also loses first-team production from Braedon Weiglein, who led the team with 92 tackles and led the conference with 24 tackles for loss; and Cohen Raddemann, who had a Flyway-best 11 passes defended.
Hilber said despite those names being gone, he is excited and confident with the seven starters he returns on that side of the ball, including seniors Joren Schlender and Austin Thoreson in the secondary and Ryan Clark at outside linebacker.
Thoreson said they’ve been stressing communication on the defensive side, which will allow them to play fast.
“You can talk all you want in practice, but if you’re silent in the big game, one deep route for a touchdown and you’re in your own head for the rest of the game,” Thoreson said. “The big thing is communicating between safeties, corners, every guy and that’ll lead to success.”
Schlender is one of the more dynamic returning secondary players in the conference. He is Mayville’s top returning tackler with 81 and he had four interceptions from his safety position.
He said he has learned a lot from assistant coach Dan Decker, who has encouraged Schlender to be a run- and pass-stopper from the safety spot.
“He pushes me every day to be as much a tackler as I am a coverage guy, which really helps,” Schlender said.
On offense, now-departed Raddemann also took nearly every snap at quarterback in 2023, finishing as the fifth-best passer in the conference with 763 yards and six TDs.
Mayville had three players in the quarterback competition with Clark being named the starter. Clark is listed at 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds.
“He’s a big dude, he’s got big hands, he’s tall so hopefully he can throw over those defensive lineman that are coming after him,” Thoreson said. “We’ll find out right away against Cedar Grove-Belgium, last year they were in our backfield all the time so hopefully with a tall quarterback we can throw some screens and the rest of our stuff over the defensive line.”
Hilber said although Clark doesn’t have any game experience at QB, he nearly won the job last year and has continued to improve to this season.
“He’s coming in with some toughness and some confidence and he’s just a great leader,” Hilber said. “The offense runs great with him so we’re pleased with the development of him and our team.”
Payton Borchardt also leaves the program as the second-leading rusher and receiver during his senior season.
All of that attrition means the Cardinals figure to lean heavily on seniors Sawyer Hardesty, Thoreson and Schlender on both sides of the ball.
Hardesty was the second-leading rusher in the Flyway last year behind Campbellsport’s Ben Timm. Hardesty, a ferocious and bruising runner, finished his junior year with 1,332 yards and a conference-leading 21 TDs.
Hardesty’s importance to the Cardinal offense was highlighted in their 36-25 upset of top-seeded Winnebago Lutheran in the playoffs when he rushed for 161 yards and four TDs.
“Sawyer is certainly a talented back, but we need to be multifaceted around him,” Hilber said. “He’s a power runner, he runs with a lot of intensity. He may not have the breakaway ability, but we have to do a better job of taking advantage of the attention that he brings.”
Hilber said he was disappointed with how the Cardinals ran the “Wing-T” offense last year. He pointed to a lack of fakes, which is a critical detail to the offense.
“We weren’t running really good fakes, we had a lot of guys watching and not faking,” Hilber said. “I personally was a little disgusted as I did some reflection.
“We improved a lot in the scrimmage [last week]. We’re not there yet, but we’re improving.”
Schlender was the top receiving option last year, catching 29 balls for 303 yards and three scores. He added 141 yards and another TD rushing.
Hilber said they have emphasized getting Schlender more touches this year.
“He’s a calm, cool kid in his demeanor, but he just performs and he brings it every single day,” Hilber said. “Definitely looking to get the ball more into his hands because he’s a dynamic athlete as both a runner and a pass receiver.”
Thoreson had 85 yards and a touchdown last season.
On special teams, Chase Merritt was the team’s top returner and Elijah Mlsna went 3-for-3 kicking field goals and 15-for-23 on extra points.
Hilber said another area that needed improvement was team speed and conditioning. Mayville brought in outside companies to help with the speed program and the coaching staff got back to the basics in the weight room.
Schlender said there has been a renewed energy among the team when it comes to putting in work off the field.
“We love being in the weight room together,” Schlender said. “We have a great weight room, it’s one of the best in the conference and when you can get all of us together having fun and working our butts off every single day, it brings an energy and a chemistry that you can bring out onto the field.”
Mayville was eliminated with a two-point Level 2 loss to Lake Country Lutheran in 2023.
“The last game we lost by two points and we talked about why we lost by two points: we couldn’t generate big plays and we got tired,” Hilber said. “I told them, ‘Level two is 14 weeks from now so that’s two full weight cycles, you guys could be completely different men if you do that.’
“I don’t know if we have any top-end speed on this team, but our overall team speed is much better and we learned how to generate big plays at the end of last season.”
Hilber said during camp, he has been impressed with his group of upperclassmen leaders, such as Thoreson and Schlender.
“I like our leaders,” Hilber said. “They’ll do a good job holding kids accountable because ultimately great teams have great leaders.”
Schlender credited past players as guys he looked up to and learned leadership ability from.
“It just starts with our culture as Mayville, just playing for some of the guys we’ve had in the past like Blake Schraufnagel and Cole Legas and guys like that,” Schlender said. “They showed us how to be a leader and how to put your all into the game and go out and help your team.”
Comentários