Spanish Springs Cougars Season Preview
Updated Aug. 7, 2024
By: J. Ray Dockter
We are under two weeks away from the start of high school football in the Silver State and I couldn’t be more excited. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be previewing many teams from our local area as well as a few other surprises, before getting into football season full swing on Aug. 16th when the first games kickoff. Today’s team: Spanish Springs.
Spanish Springs Cougars
2023 record: 7-5 overall, 4-1 league; 2023 NIAA 5A Northern Regional Runner-ups
Head coach: Rob Hummel, sixth season at Spanish Springs (30-23 overall, 17-7 league in five seasons at Spanish Springs)
Overview:
Is this the year 'The Cougs' break through and get over their regional championship game rival Bishop Manogue Miners and 'Win The North' for the first time in school history?
For the second consecutive season the Cougars fell one game short of winning their school’s first regional championship, having been defeated by Bishop Manogue 28-10 in the regional final. The Cougars season started last season with three straight defeats at the hands of non-league competition. After completing their first part of their non-conference schedule they got back on track winning two straight games against local competition. This was followed by a loss at Bishop Manogue before the Cougars rattled off five consecutive victories setting up a rematch with the Miners once again, ultimately falling in the pseudo state semi-final.
Well, that was last year, and the Cougars have turned the page. Offensively the Cougars return four starters from last season and will continue to operate out of the “Spread” base set. Defensively the Cougars return three starters and with the 4-2-5 as their base defense they’ll look capitalize on their size up front to free up their linebackers and defensive backs to make plays.
In my conversation with Coach Hummel, he said the keys to his team’s success this season will be “execution, staying healthy, and durability.” If the Cougars are able to accomplish these things Hummel believes that “we have an opportunity to be really good,” and “if we play well, we’ll play in big games, and we have come to expect to win those games.” Later in the conversation he stated, “we work all offseason long to be prepared for those games.”
Hummel pointed to his plethora of weapons on both sides of the ball stating “they will give teams problems and hopefully help us win close games.” The Cougars are deep at the receiver position offensively and Hummel said, “they pop.” He also noted that the team needs to be better at establishing the run this season because “[it] was basically non-existent last season.” Defensively the Cougars will need to be good against the run and control the line of scrimmage. This will help them to free up their linebackers and defensive backs to make plays in the back end. Hummel stated that both his offensive and defensive lines should be much improved this season after struggling last year.
In closing Hummel said his team’s motto for this season will be to “be healthy, hungry and humble” so that they can be a top contender at the end of the season. He doubled down on that saying this “group of kids, juniors specifically, complement our seniors greatly.” He pointed to their hard work in the offseason saying, “they attacked it, and want to get better.” He ended our conversation stating that if his team takes care of business and stays healthy, he “believes that this is the year we can get it done,” referring to winning the school first regional championship in football. Only time will tell if the Cougs are up to the task and our eyes will be focused on their September 20th home game against Manogue as the measuring stick for how good they can be this year.
Players to Watch:
QB Tyson McNeil, Junior: McNeil, a skilled quarterback, got some time behind center last year when Tate Hummel missed some games. He threw for 111 yards and ran for 16 yards. If the Cougs are going to take the next step this season I expect him to take a big leap in the coming months. He has the skills and abilities to get it done.
WR/DB Brady Hummel, Junior: Hummel has been playing on varsity since he was a freshman and has not disappointed. A coach’s kid he gets it done offensively and defensively because of his superior football IQ and athletic ability. Last season he accounted for 883 all purpose yards to go along with seven TDs. He’ll definitely make his impact known this season.
LB Kyler DePaepe, Junior: DePaepe, who has recently garnered some recruiting interest from Nevada, might be the next big LB to come out of Spanish Springs a la Jackson LaDuke a few years ago. A fast twitch athlete, DePaepe is violent when in pursuit of the ball and he closes with great acceleration. Last season he accounted for 173 tackles, 14 TFLs, and two sacks. He has a chance to put up even bigger numbers this season.
Hummel also pointed out a number of other players that he expects to make big contributions to the Cougars success this season. They are as follows: RB Jackson Harris, TE Hunter Selby, DL/OT Nery Gonzalez, H-Back/DE Hunter McLean, and DE Isaiah Blinkisop.
I’d be wrong not to include Seniors OL/DL Cormac Anderson (fully recovered from his ACL Injury from two seasons ago) and DB/K Ivan Magana (who Hummel described as “a really good weapon, really accurate with a strong leg as a kicker). Hummel said these two seniors will be “the heartbeat of our team and lead us weekly.”
Season Schedule:
Aug. 16 vs. Simi Valley (Simi Valley, Calif.)
Aug. 23 at Shadow Ridge (Las Vegas)
Aug. 30 at Clayton Valley Charter (Concord, Calif.)
Sept. 6 at Wooster
Sept. 13 vs. Pleasant Valley (Chico, Calif.)
Sept. 20 vs. Bishop Manogue
Sept. 27 at Douglas
Oct. 4 at Reno
Oct. 11 Bye Week
Oct. 18 vs. McQueen
Oct. 25: vs. Reed
J. Ray Dockter has been covering high school sports since 2022. If you have a story worth telling let him know via Twitter @J_RayDoc.
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