Forreston looks to ‘just keep the train moving’

Another year, another group of Forreston Cardinals ready to step up and fulfill the high expectations that come with the territory of two decades of success.

Last year’s run to the Class 1A semifinals was the seventh trip that deep in the playoffs in the last 11 years they’ve been held, and the 12th straight postseason berth for the Cardinals. They had qualified for the playoffs 22 of the last 25 seasons, and have had only one sub-.500 record since 1997.

It’s a lot to live up to, but it seems like Forreston is up to the task year in and year out.

“It feels great to be the next group up,” senior running back Kaleb Sanders said. “The only thing is it’s just a lot of pressure to keep everything going. But we love that challenge.”

“It’s kind of a lot of pressure, because we’ve had so many good years,” senior lineman Ethan Bocker added. “But most of us have been in the program long enough to understand it and just be competitive about it. We want to carry on that tradition.”

The key to such a long stretch of success has been a stable system. Ever since Greg Wood came in as head coach in 1997, the Cardinals have been a perennial playoff contender. When Denny Diduch took over in 2008, he helped Forreston take the next step, winning 1A state titles in 2014 and 2016. Kyle Zick stepped in and added a third title in 2018.

Now, Keynon Janicke enters his third season at the Cardinals’ helm. A player under Diduch, he has followed in Zick’s footsteps of keeping things the same since Diduch took the program to the promised land.

“What’s really cool about Forreston is just the tradition that Coach Diduch started when I was in school,” Janicke said, “and now being the head coach, it’s just really cool to see that we’re still reaping the benefits of that.”

Every year, opponents know what they’re going to get when they face Forreston: a dynamic rushing attack with a physical fullback and speedy tailbacks behind a big offensive line, and a hard-nosed defense with toughness in the trenches and linebackers and defensive backs who fly around and make plays.

And no matter who graduates one year, the Cardinals are still going to be a force to be reckoned with the next season. Janicke said this year’s seniors are ready to take the reins from their predecessors.

“We lost some great kids again from last year – we were a 5-4 team and those seniors were able to propel us to a semifinal, which was really cool. But unfortunately, like anything else, they have to move on with life,” Janicke said. “But the thing that’s cool about that is now other kids get an opportunity to step up and let it be their time for a little bit.

“We’ve got a really interesting group of seniors, a lot of them that have been starters since they were sophomores, and they’re ready to be leaders on this team. It’s just same old, same old, just keep the train moving and hopefully get some more guys involved. It may be some different names, but that’s what’s really cool about this whole experience.”

A lot of that experience can be found on the offensive and defensive lines. It’s always a welcome sight for a team that relies on the ground game to be able to build their scheme behind veteran players up front.

“It’s pretty key, just the experience on the line. It’s going to help us a lot, because we all know what we’re doing and just how it all works,” Bocker said. “We all bond together, and it makes it easy to play together. We’re in the weight room a lot, and just all the stuff we do together makes us mesh on the field.”

Janicke is looking to guys like Bocker and Sanders to lead the way and help fill the void left by last year’s senior class. The Cardinals lost four of their top six rushers, including workhorse Johnny Kobler (216 rushes, 1,488 yards, 24 TDs) and speedster McKeon Crase (67 rushes, 391 yards, 5 TDs), as well as quarterback Brock Smith (59 rushes, 382 yards, 6 TDs; 11-for-35 passing, 182 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs).

Forreston had eight different players run for at least 97 yards last season in a true share-the-wealth distribution of the ball. Sanders will lead the next wave of backs, as he ran for 938 yards and 12 touchdowns on 129 carries last season, and also had 88 yards and a touchdown receiving. Micah Nelson ran for 513 yards and seven scores on 49 rushes in 2022, and also had 68 yards and two TDs receiving.

“Me, Alex Ryia and Micah Nelson, we all have stepped up huge this offseason, because we lost a couple good running backs last year, so us three are trying to fill those spots,” Sanders said. “Our offensive line has all stepped up completely this year, too. We have two three-year starters and one that played last year, then we have a couple of juniors who have played two years now.”

While it’ll be a run-heavy attack again this fall, the Cardinals might be a little more comfortable airing the ball out when they feel like it.

“Our strength is to run the ball,” Bocker said, “but we can definitely pass the ball now, too. We’ve been working on it all offseason, so that should help.”

He added that another deep playoff run and a potential state berth are at the top of Forreston’s list of goals this season, and Sanders agreed that the key to that isn’t just physical.

“The team is really built together, and we enjoy playing football with each other, and that’s huge,” Sanders said. “It’s just been really enjoyable. You’re not dreading going to practice, you’re out there having fun and bonding as a team while still working hard to get where we want to be.”