Coldwater football looking to work through adversity, bounce back in 2023
COLDWATER – After back-to-back seasons missing the playoffs for the Coldwater football program, the 2023 version of Cardinal football could end that streak as the team returns a wealth of talent from last season's squad.
Last season, Coldwater struggled out of the gate against two exceptionally good teams in Grand Ledge (34-7-L) and Plainwell (49-0-L) before hitting the teeth of their Interstate 8 conference schedule. Coldwater went on to drop the next three matchups before bouncing back in week six, recording their first win of the campaign with a hard fought 42-27 win over Pennfield to improve to 1-5 on the year.
The Cardinals finished off the year dropping the final three games of the season however to finish 1-8 overall on the year and 1-6 in the Interstate 8. In those losses, however, came a ray of sunshine for the rebuilding Cardinals, and it happened in the final game of the season, a home contest versus the playoff bound Parma Western Panthers.
In that game the Cardinals put their most complete game of the season together, playing strong in all facets of the game, even leading the Panthers well into the fourth quarter. Parma Western went on to pull out the win, avoiding the upset, but the Coldwater coaching staff saw some important things happen in that loss, things that transferred into the offseason and into the early going of 2023.
“That Parma Western game was kind of a turning point for us, despite it being a loss we still played our best football of the season,” said Coldwater head coach Jeff Schorfhaar. “If we played all season like that, we may have been fighting for a playoff spot, it just all came together. What happened though was that the returning guys finally realized the most important lesson we can teach them, you are just playing football. Stop overthinking and play football. A lot of guys look back to that game and remember it, the feeling during the game, and they have taken into this year, and it shows.”
With that in mind, let us take a look at what the 2023 version of Coldwater Football brings to the gridiron with our season preview.
Key Returning Players
Coldwater returns much of their roster from last season, on both sides of the ball, so coach Schorfhaar and his staff are able to enjoy a great deal of leadership within the ranks. Chief among those returnees is all-conference quarterback and all-around playmaker senior Zach Coffing, who returns behind center for his second season.
Coffing led the Cardinals in passing yards, rushing yards, and scoring last year and returns as one of the most important pieces to the program, on both sides of the ball. Coffing will once again be counted on to make plays with both his legs and his arm as the big lefty will look to air the ball out a little more in 2023.
Joining Coffing in the offensive backfield will be the likes of Tre Miller, Jack Ruden, and Jackson Reilly, just to name a few, as the Cardinals will look to establish the run with several big backs carrying the ball.
Also looking to make an impact on the offensive side of the ball will be Tyson Roby, who will serve as a big, physical, and athletic tight end and the trio of Drake Thornton, Garrett McVicker, and Sal Barone who return to lead a stout offensive line.
On defense the Cardinals will be led by returning leading tackler Jack Ruden, who plays the linebacker position like a man possessed. Ruden led the Cardinal defense last year with his hardnosed style of play and will do so again in 2023.
Also working in the linebacker corps for the Cardinals will be Roby and Thornton while Coffing, Miller, Reilly and Evan Porter will be huge parts of the defensive secondary for the Coldwater defense. Barone and McVicker will also be huge for the Cardinals in the trenches on the defensive side of the ball.
New Faces
Coldwater returns a lot of starters from last year's team, meaning playing time for some of the younger players may be in short supply. But that does not mean a few guys have not shown out in camp, making it hard for Schorfhaar and the Cardinal coaches to keep them off the field.
Looking to make an impact this year will be Drew Ennis who played sparingly last year but had a big offseason and will make some noise for the Cardinals at the linebacker spot and as a fullback in the offensive backfield. Ennis brings size, athleticism, and toughness to an already gritty roster.
At the skill position spots it will be the duo of Kendall Austin and Landon Auble seeing some big snaps as the athletic duo will put in big minutes at both wide receiver and safety after turning impressive summer workouts into big plays on the field.
A big X-factor for the Cardinals could be a pair of freshmen skill players, as the rookie duo of Draycen Foster and Dayton Ennis look to make their mark at the varsity level. Foster is one of the highest ranked pro-style quarterbacks in the class of 2027 according to qbhitlist.com and brings a big arm and poise in the pocket. Ennis has been his go-to receiver from the word go and when healthy could make a dramatic difference for a Cardinal team looking to throw the ball more in 2023. The freshman duo appear to be the future of Coldwater football and the future might not have to wait long to become the present.
Coaching Philosophy
Coldwater head coach Jeff Schorfhaar and his coaching staff have long employed a very efficient Modified Wing-T on the offensive side of the ball. The Cardinals routinely use motion from their wing backs to confuse the defense and this year should be no different. As mentioned previously Coldwater will look to change things up just a little this year as they hope to throw the ball around a little more than in past years.
On defense the Cardinals run a variety of fronts, as they employ a multi-functional defense that can be switched up based on their opponents. The defense will still be fast and physical and will look to dicate their own tempo on opposing offenses from the opening kick.
“We saw some good things and some bad things in our scrimmage, like we always do, but as of right now those bad things are correctable mistakes,” said Schorfhaar. “We faced a few things in the scrimmage that really tested us, they were things that we faced last year, and we did not handle it well. This year we faced those same things early in the scrimmage and we were able to learn from them and hopefully fix that if they come up again.”
Season Outlook
The Interstate 8 is down one team entering 2023 as perennial power Jackson Lumen Christi is gone, having made their way to the Catholic High School League, a league that consists of 34 teams in the Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Toledo areas.
With the departure of Lumen Christi things are more open than ever at the top of the conference this season. The two teams to beat appear to be recent powers in the Hastings Saxons and the Parma Western Panthers, but after that it appears to be wide open.
“Hastings and Parma are sitting at the top, it starts with them,” said Schorfhaar. “As for the rest of the conference I think we are all even from there. Marshall is talented, they have a great quarterback and when that happens those teams are always going to be tough, and Northwest is improved. It will be a tough road for sure.”
The Cardinals kick off their 2023 season with a big game, as Coldwater will rekindle their long running rivalry with the Sturgis Trojans, a rivalry that runs deep in both communities.
“The big one I am looking forward to right now is the Sturgis game, getting the rivalry restarted,” said Schorfhaar. “We have not talked much about it up to this point but now that it is right here, it is great to start thinking about the way it used to be and the battles we used to have. A lot of my coaching staff played on Coldwater teams in the past or coached in the rivalry back in its heyday, so we are picking up history here. We tried to explain it to the kids, how big this is, so we will see how it goes from here.”
Coldwater and Sturgis have not met in the regular season in over a decade, although the teams did meet in the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) postseason back in 2020, a matchup the Cardinals secured by the score of 40-14. That rivalry will resume vigorously this coming Friday for the season opener for both teams
For the Coldwater coach staff, a win against Sturgis would be oh so sweet, as would a trip back to the MHSAA postseason, but for the Cardinals it comes down to just a little more than that.
“For this to be a successful season we need to stick together as a team and we need to work our way through adversity,” said Schorfhaar. “We did not do that very well last year and when things started to go downhill it went downhill fast and it snowballed. At the scrimmage we faced some of that same adversity and it was a great teaching moment because they reacted the same way the team did last year, giving us a chance to show them how we really need to take care of things. We told them that if this is how we are going to handle things then we are going to go down the same path that we did last year. We needed a moment like that to get the kids centered on what we need to do in order to be successful this season.”
Coldwater will embark on their comeback tour beginning this Friday when they host the Sturgis Trojans followed by a trip to Plainwell in week two before kicking off their Interstate 8 schedule with a trip to Marshall on Friday, Sept. 8.
Team Information
Team: Coldwater Cardinals
Colors: Red and White
Conference: Interstate 8 Conference
Last Season: 1-8 overall, 1-6 in Interstate 8 play
Coaching Staff: Jeff Schorfhaar- Head coach
Jamie Spray- Defensive Coordinator
Mark DeMeester-Assistant Coach
Mike McConnell-Assistant Coach
Jeff Gallup-Assistant Coach
Jeff Qualls-Assistant Coach
Dave Bach-Assistant Coach
Rob Klotz-Assistant Coach
2023 Schedule
Aug. 25- STURGIS, 7 p.m.
Aug. 31- at Plainwell, 7 p.m.
Sept. 8- at Marshall, 7 p.m.
Sept. 15- HASTINGS, 7 p.m.
Sept. 22- at Lincoln Park, 7 p.m.
Sept. 29- at Pennfield, 7 p.m.
Oct. 6- NORTHWEST, 7 p.m.
Oct. 13- HARPER CREEK, 7 p.m.
Oct. 20- at Parma Western, 7 p.m.
For up to minute scoring updates, stats, news and more regarding Coldwater football every Friday night, not to mention all sports throughout the week, follow Sports Editor Troy Tennyson on Twitter (X) at @tennysonTDR or follow The Daily Reporter on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater Cardinal Football preview
