Last year was not a Hudson Tiger type of football season. After suffering through a tough 3-6 campaign in 2005 all is history and is nothing but a bad memory from a year ago. The prospects and the hopes for 2006 appear to be much more optimistic. “We feel like we can double that win total from last year and get our six wins and make the playoffs,’ said Tiger head coach Chris Luma, who returns for his 10th season guiding the Hudson varsity gridiron team. “We have a group that is very coachable and they are working hard. We answered some questions in the scrimmage last week when we performed very well. We are all looking forward to a lot better season this fall.” The Tigers could never get untracked last season but don’t look for that to happen this fall. Luma has around 25 players on the team and several of them took their lumps a year ago and now it is time for them to get some paybacks in on the opposition. The early season practices are going well and Luma liked the results of the pre-season scrimmage last Thursday at Stockbridge where his team more than held its own against three other schools. The host team was there along with Galesburg-Augusta and Quincy who took on the Tigers. Hudson is all set to take on local rival Hillsdale tomorrow (Friday) to kickoff the 2006 season of high school football. The game will be against the Hornets who feature a former Tiger in Lance Patrick (oh how Luma wishes he had this kid on his team) who now wears the blue and yellow of Hillsdale. The following is a look at the 2006 season and who the two dozen or so players are that will make up the Hudson varsity squad, as it battles to regain some respect that was lost after last year’s dismal season. This season and the future look to be much brighter and happier for those associated with Hudson Tiger football.

Offense will have strong line
The backfield will be solid but the offensive line could be superb. “We think the line will be one of our main strengths this season as they have a lot of experience coming back,” said Luma, who suffered his first losing season in nine campaigns last autumn. “We like our backfield too but I think we will go just about how our line goes. If the line plays well we should do well and I think they will play well.” The center will be sophomore Colin Wollet who is quick and hard-nosed. The guards will be Caleb Ely and Kyle Hillard both of whom were starters last year when they were sophomores. “Ely and Hillard are both very solid and they should have big seasons for us,” said Luma, who is 75-22 overall after nine years. The tackles will be sophomore Gabe Elliott  and senior Derrick Welton with Welton being the team’s biggest kid at 6-2, 230 pounds. Jeff Liby a sophomore and junior Andrew Osborne also will see playing time on the line. The tight ends positions will be manned by junior Nick Hart who can catch the ball if it is thrown his way and the other tight end is Eric Wolf. Brian Johnston will help as a tight end on offense as will Matt Aguirre when he returns from an injury.  Don’t forget the name of senior Caylan Pickford who will also see considerable time as a tight end on offense. “Last year our offensive line was young and they took their lickings but watch out this season as they should do a solid job,” said Luma, who will have his brother, Mark, coaching the O-line. In the backfield will be junior quarterback Zach Warner who is a gifted athlete with good ballhandling skills. He can pass if needed but his main job will be faking and handing off the ball. Taylor Milligan will be his backup as the signal caller. Josh Butts will be one of the main runningbacks and Luma likes his focus and concentration so far this season. His speed is good and he has looked impressive thus far in the early workouts. Junior Gannon Curtis will also run the ball as a halfback and he will be pushed for playing time by senior James Miller. Add in sophomore speedster Byeongjk Kim and the team has another kid capable of playing in the backfield while running the ball. Kim also has good hands caching the ball. The fullback will be senior Justin Payne and while some opposing coaches don’t know the name they will soon be finding it out. “He is a sleeper who is going to surprise some people,” said Luma. “He does the little things and has a great work ethic. There will be no drop off in production from the fullback spot after losing Kyle Williams from last year.” Curtis can also play some at fullback when needed. Hudson will primarily be a running team like always under Luma but will pass when needed. The Tigers will run the popular wing-T set with lots of faking. The offense should be able to generate some points and that will be good to see this season.

Defense to be aggressive
Coaches like Dan Rogers, who runs the Hudson defense, constantly preach 11-men to the ball. Hudson will have at least that many wanting to make plays this fall. This defense should be improved from last year’s outfit that gave up a lot of points at times. The down linemen will be Ely and Seth Loop as the tackles. Loop is ready to go and could have a big year with lots of tackles. Elliott will also play on the defensive line along with Hillard who will be at an end spot. Cameron Mathews will provide depth on the line. Hudson will normally show a 4-3 defensive set with Hart in the middle as its linebacker. Curtis and Wollet will spend an awful lot of time on the outside as linebacker who can both stop the run while defending the pass. The cornerbacks will be Osborne and Michael Forbes on one side and Milligan on another side. Butts and Kim should be the defensive safetys with Miller and Pickford providing quality backup players. Joe Rodriquez will help where needed. Taylor Smith is another player who will fill in where needed and Luma loves the effort that the little guy shows. Other players that will help are Joey Beaubien just called up from the JV’s and he will play on the line. Other players that will help out are Billy Heath, Jacob Holtz and Kyle Sexton. “If we get all the kids out and get them healthy we will have a good number to work with,’ said Luma. He likes to have a squad of close to 30 kids and the Tigers have 26 players at this point as game one approaches. “This defense should be very aggressive and we will be looking for some big things from it,” said Luma who acknowledged the defense this year is improved from a year ago. “In the scrimmage we didn’t allow one score and I was real pleased with that.”

Special teams and season outlook
The special teams will be led by Butts who can punt and he will returns punts as will Miller. Kim will kickoff and boot extra points or field goals as needed. Wollet is the long snapper for extra points and on punts. The 2006 race for the championship of the LCAA will see Onsted as the early favorite and Blissfield is the defending LCAA champion. “We need to be quicker and stronger,’ said Luma, who noted two areas the coaching staff is concerned about. “We want to finish in the league race as high as we can. Also, we need to take one game at a time and play our best.” Luma will have veteran assistant coach Pat “Hugger” Wollet back working with him this fall. The junior varsity program looks to be in fine condition so the present and the future of the Hudson Tiger football program appear to be in good shape. Last year was an anomaly that is not seen around these parts very much. This year the Tigers are going to restore the roar at Thompson Field and get back to the playoffs along with being in the hunt for the LCAA title. It starts Friday with Hillsdale at 7:00 at Thompson Field and then next Friday, September 1st the Tigers head to Morenci to face the Dawgs and new coach Bill Kohn. This Friday is first however and the game features the return of Patrick who is a Hornet and that should make for an interesting buildup as the two rivals get set to play. Prediction: Hillsdale is loaded with speed and quickness but Hudson is hungry for a win. This should be a classic in this rivalry that goes back many years. Look for the Tigers to pull off the upset. Don’t ask me how as I have no idea how they will do it but just look for it and pray for it. Hillsdale has this Blanchard kid, who is no relation to our former doctor in Hudson, so don’t miss him when he has the ball. If Hudson stops Blanchard and if Patrick doesn’t rip someone’s head off making a tackle the Tigers have a chance. Final score: Tigers 22, Hornets 21.
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