By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
As his team “went to work” at practice this week in preparation for a high school football Week 2 game at Northview High School, Wyoming high head football coach Irv Sigler Jr. sounded like an X’s and O’s football coach as he talked to WKTV.
He praised his offensive line play in the team’s dominating 59-25 win over Holland opening week. He praised his opponent this week and said his team would need to be better to beat the Wildcats on their home field — a game which WKTV’s Featured Game sports coverage crew will be covering. UPDATE: Due to technical issues, WKTV was unable to video record the game.
But Coach Sigler also went a bit beyond the X’s and O’s by talking about the “culture” of his program, which has a modest 5-13 record in his first two years but may be about to turn the competitive corner.
“We’ve grown a great deal in our ability to practice with purpose, with having a sense of urgency about getting better every day when we come out … the little things are the difference between being good and great,” Coach Sigler said in a WKTV interview. (See the entire interview on YouTube here.) “I describe our kids as lunchbox kids. They come here every day. They got a lunch box and they go to work.”
In their opening night games, Northview defeated Comstock Park 28-7 while Wyoming defeated Holland 59-25 in a game which was began on Thursday night but finished on Friday night due to storms moving through the area.
For the Wolves, junior running back (and linebacker) Cameron (Cam) Simon rushed for just shy of 200 yards and scored four touchdowns, while junior quarterback Matthew Berg passed for three TDs.
Northview, out of OK White, had 10 new starters on defense against Comstock Park but still held the Panthers to a single touchdown. Running back Jakaurie Kirkland had 220 yards on 23 carries. Senior quarterback Dan Frey went 7-of-11 for 72 yards, with two touchdown passes to sophomore Kyler VanderJact.
Northview, last season, was 7-3 including an opening round playoff loss to Grand Rapids Christian, which ended a six-game winning streak. They were 5-1 in OK White and finished second to Cedar Springs, their only conference loss.
All Featured Games, as well as other high school sports and community events covered by WKTV, are available on-demand within a week of play at wktvlive.org.
For a complete schedule of all local high school sports action each week, any changes to the WKTV feature sports schedule, and feature stories on local sports, visit wktvjournal.org/sports/.
