SHNH camp shows off experienced returners

South Holt-Nodaway Holt football coach Josh Petersen had to cut down his football camp from four days to three days this past week due to the heat wave, but he still found it a productive experience.

A big part of the camp’s productivity had to do with the seasoned players coming back.

“We only lost two seniors from last year’s team,” Petersen said. “That made it pretty easy. The guys came in and pretty much knew what to do right away.”

Having the camp also gave the players and coaches to work on the new offense for this upcoming season.

“We’re going to be an option team this year,” Petersen said. “Last year we were more of a lead run team that could also spread it out and throw it, but this year I think we have the athletes back to be able to be successful at running the option.”

One of the key returners for the Spartans is quarterback Allen Ottman, who will be one of the many players on the roster who will be entering their final season as high school football players.

Petersen noted that his roster is going to be loaded with juniors and seniors this coming season.

With South Holt and Nodaway Holt being one of the newer co-ops in the area, there was initial concern about how the summer weightlifting program would go, but those have since been erased.

“The South Holt kids are doing a great job of getting with the Nodaway (Holt) kids to get the lifting done,” he said. “I’m very pleased with how the summer lifting has been going.”

SHNH is coming off a 6-5 season that included a victory in the first round of the district playoffs before being eliminated by North Andrew.

Petersen knows there are areas for improvement.

He wants to see his players improve upon playing through the whistle as well as form tackling.