Despite a lower turnout than expected last week, Wright City football Head Coach Jeff Sargent is excited about what his team has shown him leading up to the regular season opener Friday

“We’re looking good. We’re ahead of where we were last year and we have a lot of things implemented,” Sargent said. “I’m pretty excited about our potential because we have depth this year. It starts with the offensive line and it goes out to the receiver position, and we have a lot of competition. And that really builds our team and hopefully creates leadership.”

The Wildcats had approximately 31 kids at practice last Monday, which Sargent knows is a possibility in the days before school begins.

“We have about 45 kids on the roster, and sometimes it’s kind of hard with school not being here and kids having to work and all of that,” he said, “but they’ll have to pay for that by not being able to play if they don’t have their 14 practices in.”

Sargent was pleased, however, with the kids who were on the field Monday.

“Joe Phillips, Rickey McDonald, Collin Schlapper, Trevon Holmes and Donnie Grueneberg have really stepped up,” he said. “Robert Benoist has moved to center and has had a learning curve, but now he is starting to get it.”

A speedster on the outside has also gotten Sargent’s attention.

“Jayden Mahaney is going to do some good things for us,” he added. “He can outrun anyone and he’s going to be a surprise to a lot of people in the conference. The same goes for Jason Long and Ryan Charlesworth at linebacker, they’ve kind of surprised everyone.”

Then there is senior running back and linebacker Jaime Malta, who led the team last season with 445 rushing yards and 110 tackles.

“Jaime is Jaime; he’s our leader and he’s always kind of the same player,” Sargent said. “He’s not going to surprise anyone because everyone knows the type of player he is.”

The Wildcats head to a jamboree at Duchesne Friday night before kicking off their regular season the following Friday at home against Winfield.

“I’m excited on our potential,” Sargent said. “Defensively, we’re looking night and day better. Offensively, it was a learning curve last year but now they understand things better.”