HS Football Preview –2023 Tomah Timberwolves

Tomah Timberwolves

2022 Record: 2-7 (1-6 Mississippi Valley Conference)

Head Coach: Joe Protz (4^th Year 6-19)

 

Mike’s 2023 Projected Record 0-9 (0-7 Mississippi Valley Conference)

 

Players to Watch: WR/CB/KR Eli Brown QB/DB Jackson Steffel TE/DE Jayden Brieske OL/DL Jake Spiers OL/DL Jake Squires RB Logan Rufledt

Team Preview: Tomah has struggled the past couple years winning just 2 games in the 2 year span.  Tomah must replace its leading passer, rusher, and receiver from a year ago.  The one thing Tomah does have is a lot of size on both the defensive and offensive front anchored by Jacob Squires and Jacob Spiers.  Tomah also returns DE/TE Jayden Brieske who had 40tackles last year.  Tomah also returns speedster Eli Brown who was the first place finisher in the 100M dash at this last spring’s State Track & Field Tournament for Division1.  Jackson Steffel will likely get the first opportunity to play quarterback for Tomah this year.  Steffel is a good athlete with a strong arm.  Logan Rufledt and Keegan Vonderhe are back to help lead Tomah’s rushing attack.  The pair combined to run for over 400 yards and 6 touchdowns last year.  Tomah returns it top 3 tacklers from last year.  Jeffrey Baumgartner had 101tackles last season; Bruce Rezin led the team in tackles for loss last year.  As a Tomah alum I want them to be able to turn it around unfortunately I don’t see that happening this year.  If they struggle in game 1 against Mauston it could be a sign of a long season for the Timberwolves who I have going winless for the 2^nd time in 3 years. 

 

Key to Success: Tomah has possibly the fastest player in the state in Eli Brown; if Tomah can get him a lot of touches he could give opposing defenses a lot of problems.  Tomah has had a lot of inconsistent player from the quarterback position over the last handful of years if Jackson Steffel can be steady behind center it could give Tomah a chance to surprise some teams this year.  Tomah is big it has a couple of really good athletes can the coaching staff put them in a position to make plays?

 

Game to watch:  Week 2 August 25^th West Salem (Home) 7pm

Tomah will take on the defending state runners up in week 2 of their season, on paper the game could be very ugly but that’s no why I’m selecting this as Tomah’s game to watch.  Tomah will be honoring the 1998 team that made a historic run to the State Semi-Finals that year.  Watching that year’s Level 3 Playoff upset of Menomonie in person as a 7^th grade got me more fired up to love high school football than any other game to that point.  Maybe this year’s Tomah team can pull from that same magic and upset a current Division2 football powerhouse in West Salem. 

 

Tomah games on WRJC Radio: Week 1 August 18^th Tomah at Mauston 7pm (SmashCountry92.9FM WRJC.com)

Next Preview:  Reedsburg Beavers   

 

Thanks to Wissports.net for statistics and player information.  

Source: WRJC.com

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