Eastland-Pearl City hopes experience leads to wins

Eastland-Pearl City football coach Jared McNutt says the Cougars are off to a faster start than usual with a Week 1 Northwest Upstate Illini Conference matchup at Galena less than two weeks away.

Boasting 10 returning starters on offense and nine on defense, the team of familiar faces has grown comfortable with the playbook.

“Kids have just grown up,”said McNutt, now in his seventh season of leading the team, “and it’s really been nice to see some of the guys take that next jump from one year to the next.”

McNutt hopes the number of returning players can lead to winning more games. There are 13 seniors and four juniors on the varsity roster of 28 players. There are 37 on the JV roster.

The Cougars have struggled in recent years and have not yet reached the playoffs since 2018′s run to the state semifinals and 12-1 finish in McNutt’s first season.

They started 0-5 last season before winning three of their last four.

McNutt noted the strength of the conference from top to bottom. Now it gets even stronger with the addition of Morrison following West Carroll heading to 8-man football.

“You can’t relax,” he said. “Every team is ready to play on Fridays and every coach in the league has been around for a long time.”

Among the Cougars’ returning personnel to watch is junior Draven Zier at running back and defensive back. He was a first-team all-NUIC pick as a defensive utility. He was also part of the SVM football all-area second-team after nearly 500 yards rushing, eight touchdowns, a kickoff return TD, 43 tackles (24 solo), one sack, two tackles for loss and one interception.

“(He) has got to be one of the better athletes in the league,” McNutt said. “He will be involved heavily on both sides.”

Another junior, Will Birchen, was a unanimous first-team all-NUIC linebacker last season. He was also an SVM all-area second-team selection last year after 129 tackles (87 solo), nine tackles for a loss, one sack and a forced fumble.

Zyacn Haverland and Payton Spears are two other names to watch, according to McNutt, along with Jaxsyn Kempel at fullback.

McNutt says the team has talent, it just needed experience.

“We knew we had some athletes,” he said,” it’s just a matter of us being inexperienced up front on both sides.”

The next step is turning that experience into wins. The Cougars went a combined 4-14 the last two seasons.

McNutt said the coaching staff has made some adjustments after struggling to stop the run.

Offensively, he has dual options at quarterback.

Senior Jackson Corbin started eight games last year and Adam Awender is the team’s “wildcat” QB.

“Teams will have to prepare for both guys moving forward,” he said.

Schedule: Aug. 30 at Galena; Sept. 6 at Du-Pec; Sept. 13 Fulton; Sept. 20 Forreston; Sept. 27 at Stockton; Oct. 4 Westmont; Oct. 11 Lena-Winslow; Oct. 18 at Morrison; Oct. 25 Dakota.