The Shiocton Chiefs finished 3-7 overall, but their .500 record in the CWC-Large was good enough to earn them a playoff berth. It ended in level-1, but it gives the team something to build upon after missing the playoffs the year before.
After so much success in recent years, head coach Dino Heinemeyer doesn’t want the program to get used to defeat.
“It’s hard to overcome some of those losses and then you start to get into that mindset, so we have to change that mindset, get them back to winning,” Heinemeyer said. “Hopefully there’s enough tradition we can pull from and these guys see that. I think with the group of seniors we have, hopefully we can do that.”
Those seniors took a little bit of a beating as underclassmen, but that’s what’s been able to fuel the team heading into 2017. They understand the reputation that Shiocton has developed.
“Now that they’re a little bit older, junior and senior heavy, hopefully we learn from all that and we can turn it around,” said Heinemeyer. “But the atmosphere is pretty good. I think there’s a lot of excitement from these young guys, so these guys are ready to go and turn that around.”
Competing in the large division of the CWC, Shiocton won’t be the biggest team on the field against many of their opponents, but senior leader Wesley Broulliard says they will be able to use some things to their advantage.
“We just have to play stronger on defense and I think we’re going to be pretty fast all around,” he said. “Most teams are pretty big, but with our speed we should be able to make up for how big they are compared to us. I think we’ll be able to get it done.”
Shiocton will hope to take advantage of their early season schedule, playing three of their first four games at home. They won their first game against Tomahawk 24-0.