7 STARTERS RETURN

By William / http://www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

CANTON – It is hard not to think of championships without mentioning the Canton/Galva Eagle football program these days and 2021 does not seem too much different.

Despite losing six seniors of which five made all-state honors, Eagle head coach Shelby Hoppes has the advantage of having maybe the top player in Kansas 8-man football in wide receiver/defensive back Tyson Struber.

Struber is back for his senior year and the six-foot-three, 200 pound all-everything is looking to lead Canton/Galva back to the championship game they missed in 2020.

Here is a preview of the 2021 Eagle football program:

THE COACH:

Shelby Hoppes is back for his fifth season at the helm and all he has done in his first four is take a team that went 4-5 in his first season to teams that have rumbled through the past three seasons with 33 wins and just 3 losses.

After dominating the 2019 State Championship game, the Eagles barreled through the competition for 10 games last season before being stunned by Madison in the quarterfinals.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2021:

First of all, fans can expect to see a lot of Tyson Struber who finished 2020 with 45 pass receptions for 917 yards and 17 scores on offense while grabbing 23 career interceptions on defense. Struber was named 1st Team All-State honors by everybody, Defensive Player-of-the-Year by the Wichita Eagle, 1ST Team All-Wheat State League, and a listing as one of the top-100 non-seniors in the entire state of Kansas regardless of school classification. To top it all off, he has already committed to play at Kansas State beginning in 2022.

“Tyson (Struber) will be doing a little bit of everything for us this year,” noted Coach Hoppes. “His primary role though will be at receiver.”

The Eagles must replace those six valuable seniors, who by winning percentage were the best senior class in Canton/Galva history.

Coach Hoppes added, “We will need several players to step up to fill those roles, especially along the front sides of both the offense and defense as we need to replace four of five offensive lineman and all three of our starting defensive line people. We have had several underclassman working hard during the offseason which makes us very excited about the competition moving forward to fill those line spots.”

Offensively, the Eagles will not only return Struber, but they will also return Garrett Maltbie at quarterback. Maltbie earned some all-state honors as a sophomore in 2020 by throwing for 1,304 yards and running for another 904.

Canton/Galva will be looking for juniors TJ Koehn, Cason Mastre, Braison Alcala, and Ryder Norstrom to make impacts at the other skill positions.

Defensively, Struber leads a complete return of all three defensive backs, while Brayden Doughman will look to anchor a whole new defensive line after getting playing time last season at nose-guard. Ryder Norstrom played defensive back in 2020 but looks to be the main anchor for linebackers in 2021.

RETURNING OFFENSIVE STARTERS:

Tyson Struber, 6’ 3”, 200, Senior Wide Receiver

Garrett Maltbie, 6’ 1”, 180, Junior Quarterback

TJ Koehn, 6’ 4”, 210, Junior Tight End

RETURNING DEFENSIVE STARTERS:

Tyson Struber, 6’3”, 200, Senior Defensive Back

Garrett Maltbie, 6’ 1”, 180, Junior Defensive Back

Braison Alcala, 5’ 9”, 160, Junior Defensive Back

Ryder Norstrom, 5’ 7”, 160, Junior Defensive Back

NEWCOMERS/POTENTIOAL STARTERS TO WATCH:

Xavier Westbrook, 5’ 10”, 175, Senior Offensive/Defensive Lineman

Brayden Doughman, 6’ 3”, 260, Senior Offensive/Defensive Lineman

Preston Minson, 6’ 0”, 220, Junior Offensive/Defensive Lineman

Cason Mastre, 5’ 10”, 150, Junior Wide Receiver/Defensive Back

Lane McMannis, 5’ 10”, 150, Sophomore Running Back/Defensive Back

2021 CANTON/GALVA EAGLE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE:

September 3 = Goessel

September 10 = At Rural Vista

September 17 = Washington County

September 24 = At Bennington (District game)

October 1 = At Little River (District game)

October 8 = Herington (District game)

October 15 = At Solomon (District game)

October 22 = Lincoln (District game)

October 28 = Bi-District Games

November 5 = Regionals

November 12 = Sectionals

November 19 = Sub-State

November 27 = State 8-Man, Division 1 Championship

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