ALICE, N.D. (NewsDakota.com)- The 2017 season started well for Maple Valley-Enderlin and saw them win their first 3 games. The tough Region 1 schedule caught up with The Falcons and they ended up dropping their next 5 games and ended the season 3-5 while missing the the playoffs.

For the program to achieve a bounce back season 6th year head coach Nathan Hoots will need his team to mature quickly after a majority of their experience was lost to graduation.

Defensively they have some stability with Lain Combs, Darian Walburn and Colton Wetch return. Combs was all region and Walburn all region honorable mention. Running back Zane Gruba has some contributions last year but otherwise the offense still needed to fill some spots

 

With every rep having more emphasis coming into the year, MVE has been able to maximize their practice time thanks to a move to Alice. The coaching staff started looking into the move after last season and coach Hoots credits Mayor Dan Lund for helping in the process

 

The Falcon’s will start their schedule the same as last year meeting Central Dakota. They were able to shutout The Titans 36-0 in a game where they controlled the line of scrimmage

 

Friday’s game in Cooperstown will be The Game of the Week on Thunder Country 98.3 FM and NewsDakota.com Pregame started around 6:30.

Interview with Nathan Hoots