New talent in Treynor, same solid program | Sports

(Treynor) – It's a part of high school sports that every team has to live with: a talented class graduates, and the next year begins with new faces and new opportunities.

This is true of a number of teams in KMAland, and the Treynor Cardinals are one of them, having produced 13 graduates last year.

Head coach Jeff Casey has addressed this before and the solid program that was built in Treynor is being relaunched.

The Cardinals must replace their best runner, their top three receivers and three of their top four defenders on a team that made it to the second round of the Class 1A playoffs.

One way a good head coach can deal with this is by not being stubborn and adapting his approach to the game accordingly.

Last year, for example, Treynor threw for over 1,900 yards in the air while running for less than 1,000 yards.

That's because their talent lay in fast, experienced receivers.

After two games in 2024, the Cardinals' run-heavy approach this year puts them at nearly 4:1.

“We like to distribute the ball to different players. I like to count who touches it and how many times. The first week we ran the ball successfully,” Casey said. “We did some things schematically differently than we have in previous years.”

Treynor has had some adjustment problems. They did manage to win at home against Saint Albert in the first week, but only by five points. Last year they won away by 41 points.

In the second week they faced Tri-Center, whom they had beaten 35-6 the year before and who this year lost 27-21 in a hard-fought game.

“It was a close game. We got ourselves in position in the fourth quarter and had the ball with five minutes to go, started building an attack and gave ourselves a chance. We just didn't get it on the fourth try. It was a great fight,” Casey said.

Will it be like last year? No, it never is. Should Treynor panic after two games? Absolutely not, there is still plenty of talent on this team and it's a long season.

With D-Lineman Zack Robbins, they return the strongest part of last year's dominant defense.

Robbins had a whopping six sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss last year.

“Opposing teams and coaches are probably tired of dealing with {Robbins}, he plays with a high level of intensity. He has great technique and studies film. He was one of the leaders in tackles for loss last year and did it again this year,” Casey said.

Treynor also brings back last year's quarterback, Ben Casey, who has shown that he is capable of leading an offense down the field.

“Casey makes his runs through the scramble and it’s nice to have that element that we didn’t have last year,” Casey said.

Juniors Jett Sornson and Jude Mieska have filled some gaps in offensive production.

Sornson leads the running attack with 247 yards and three touchdowns, while Mieska recorded six catches for 53 yards and a touchdown.

“Jett is an all-around back and had two long touchdown runs for us last Friday. He also plays very well on defense as a safety and is also a big player on special teams,” Casey said.

In the third week, Treynor will face a familiar opponent in Clarinda.

The last three years have been back and forth. In 2021 Treynor won, in 2022 Clarinda lost, and last year Treynor won 34-28. All games were single digits.

“We've had some great battles with Clarinda over the last few years and last year I would say we had an epic comeback. We were down 14 points with less than five minutes to go, tied it with 15 seconds to go and we went on to win in overtime,” Casey said.

Clarinda will bring a run-heavy attack, but has shown in 2024 that she can successfully throw the ball in the air.

“I expect a tough battle. They're big and physical, they run the ball really well and they're quick on defense,” Casey said.

While this is still an out-of-district game for Treynor, it will be a good benchmark to see what this new generation of players has to offer in 2024.

Treynor will begin its district play in week four on September 20 away against Red Oak.

Full interview with head coach Jeff Casey, click and listen below.