Expectations remain high

VALPARAISO — With the start of football practice Monday at Valparaiso High School, the Vikings are looking to build on their remarkable semistate run from last season.

At this time last year, Valparaiso was flying under the radar in the deep Duneland Athletic Conference. However, in the end, it was the Vikings who advanced further than any other team in the league. After coming up one game short of the state title game last season, the Vikings will be on everyone’s radar this time around.

With being up front and center, will the Vikings feel any added pressure? Will that change how they approach this season compared to last? Head coach Mark Hoffman doesn’t think so.

“We’ve got a great tradition here and we’re usually in the hunt,” Hoffman said. “If we were under the radar last season, it was because there were so many good DAC teams, but we knew we’d be competitive. We won tight games, we were in great condition, we had good talent, and we were able to stay injury-free. We’re going to go into this year the same way as last year.”

To get things started on the right track, Hoffman knows that the Vikings must start with the basics.

“We’re geared toward fundaments right now,” Hoffman said.

While the Vikings have a great mindset going into the 2011 season, they will be without many key pieces from last year’s squad. They return eight starters on offense; however three of their departed seniors will be playing college football this fall, including offensive tackle Matt Wagner.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Vikings lose starters on all three levels with the departures of sack leader Adam Peterka, tackles leader Chad Barton, and safeties Jerrick Suiter and Dom Coatsolonia. Plus, kicker Sam Ficken is on his way to Penn State this fall.

Even with the loss of many standout players, the Vikings return a lot of talent from last year. Quarterback Paul Andrie is back, as well as running back Andrew Kittridge. An offensive line anchored by center John Bednar will be one of the nastiest in the state.

The Vikings will look to linebacker Jake Grossnickle to lead their defense, as well as defensive end Drew Schooler and safety Greg Thome.

The Vikings had to do a little shuffling on defense which included moving Schooler to defensive end.

“He’s an animal,” said Andrie of Schooler. “Greg will shore up our defensive backfield and we have a nice rotation at cornerback as well.”

Even though it is only Day 1, defensive coordinator Dave Coyle is pleased with what he’s seen.

“I really like their work ethic,” Coyle said. “We lost a great class last year, but these guys are doing a fantastic job filling in.”

After making a deep run in the postseason last year, the Vikings will be looking to get back to where they were.

“State is the goal,” Bednar said. “But we’re going to take one game at a time. We have high expectations, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. Our motto this season is ‘Rise to the Challenge.’ ”

Andrie echoed what his center said. “The goal is state. We have to finish it off.”

The Vikings will start their quest on Aug. 19 when Penn comes to town.

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