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The 2023 Ottawa football squad and sixth-year head coach Chad Gross will be looking to achieve something the program hasn’t done since 2006 and 2007.
Make the IHSA playoffs in two consecutive seasons.
Last year, the Pirates started the season 3-0 before dropping four of the next five, all of them to playoff schools – Class 5A (ranked No. 1 at the time) Sycamore, 5A No. 4 Morris, 5A No. 13 L-P and 6A No. 7 Kaneland.
Ottawa, however, earned a 34-9 win over Woodstock at a charged-up King Field in Week 9 to clinch their postseason-qualifying fifth win. It was its first playoff berth since 2012, and the fifth victory matched the win total for the previous six seasons combined.
“We had so many positives last season, but that said, we still have to continue to work on improving each and every day,” Gross said. “This group has goals, and they are working hard to hopefully make those goals a reality. A lot of them saw what it takes to be a playoff team, what it takes to get to that next level. Now they just have to maintain that and reach even higher.”
— Chad Gross, Ottawa head football coach
“We were honest with the kids before last season and again this past summer. ... There shouldn’t be 10 years in between Ottawa making the football playoffs,” Gross said. “Making it to the playoffs should be the norm here.
“The team, especially the seniors, didn’t just get lucky to play in Week 10; they earned that right because they worked their butts off for four years to make that happen. They set the standard, so now it’s up to this year’s to not only get there, but to also set the bar higher.”
Ottawa, which dropped its first-round Class 5A playoff game to Mahomet-Seymour 40-14 to finish 5-5, lost a number of key players to graduation, but also return many that helped make that Week 10 game possible.
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This season’s Pirates return senior RB Ryder Miller, who led the team in rushing yards (537) and touchdowns (11), while seniors Keevon Peterson, Luke Boaz (FB) and junior Tristan Finley will also be mainstays in the backfield. QB Colby Mortenson, a senior, is back after producing a solid junior season and will have plenty of targets to throw to, including senior wide receivers Packston Miller, Tyce Kubiak, Hayden Swett, junior Weston Averkamp (QB on JV last two seasons) and sophomore Archer Cechowicz.
The offensive line will have returners in senior anchor Michael Mills, senior Ryan Wilson and junior Payton Carretto. Gross says juniors Miles Fredrickson and Christian Mealley, as well as sophomores Evan Paris and Jaxon Carrier, will be in the mix.
“Season-to-season can be a double-edged sword ... your players graduate that held down key spots, but in turn that creates opportunity and competition the next season to fill them,” Gross said. “It’s coach-speak, but it’s the truth: Great teams execute, take care of the football, are exceptional in the basic things, make plays when they are there to make, limit the mistakes they make and take full advantage of their opponents’ mistakes. When we did those things last season, we had success.
“Last year was the first group I’ve had as a head coach that if something bad happened, they knew and believed in each other that they could make up the difference. This season needs to be the same way.”
On the defensive side, Gross will have returning senior DE Cody Sprowls, a strong kid who the head coach said he’s looking to as the leader up front. There’s also junior Jake Stubblefield, Mills, Wilson, Carretto, Mealley, Paris and Carrier. The linebacker corp will be spearheaded by Boaz and Finley in the middle spots, with senior Garrett Cupples, Averkamp and Kubiak on the outside.
Peterson and Swett will more than likely get the first shots at the starting cornerback spots, but Gross says there are a number of guys still competing for their opportunity. Cechowicz will play safety, possibly Miller as well.
The Pirates also have a solid weapon in the special teams game with senior K/P Cam Loomis. Gross says Loomis has already kicked a 55-yard field goal in early practices and is putting a high percentage of his kickoffs in the end zone.
“We had so many positives last season, but that said, we still have to continue to work on improving each and every day,” Gross said. “This group has goals, and they are working hard to hopefully make those goals a reality. A lot of them saw what it takes to be a playoff team, what it takes to get to that next level. Now they just have to maintain that and reach even higher.
“This is a very confident group.”