T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - BCLUW football returns 12 letterwinners from last season’s team. Pictured, from left, are front row: Abram Leimbacher, Wyatt Gould, Carson Wayman, Zaden Eggers, Eathan Petermeier and Aiden Frank; back row: Ryan Busch, Owen Myers, Emmitt Petermeier, Kevin Hill, Daniel Zoske and Lucas Vibbard.

CONRAD — The numbers foretell an uphill battle for BCLUW football.

The Comets are up to the challenge, looking to turn the page on a winless season last fall.

BCLUW head coach Jeff Pikna said he projects six of the 11 starters on offense and nine of the 11 on defense will be first-time varsity starters when the Comets open the season at home against East Marshall on Friday.

“We’ve got about 30 guys [total] on the dot,” Pikna said. “We’re very thin in a lot of places. A lot of mathematics going on this year, that’s for sure.”

Twelve seniors graduated from last year’s squad, led by all-district selection Cael Keller who accounted for 1,189 all-purpose yards. Four of the team’s top six leaders in tackles for loss last season have also graduated.

That leaves a lot of openings at lineman and receiver, but Pikna does have several contributors back for his diamond offense formation in Owen Myers, Carson Wayman, Zaden Eggers and Ryan Busch, among others.

Busch, along with returning second-team all-district lineman Emmett Petermeier, are two that Pikna said have helped lead the charge this fall.

“This is a huge jump those guys are taking,” Pikna said. “They take it extremely personal and I tell the guys in a small program like this that we need guys like them to almost be our assistant coaches, … to make sure the kids are in line when us coaches have our backs turned.

“Emmitt wasn’t really the biggest speaker in his first three years, which is unfortunate because he’s a great player, but him and Ryan have really, really stepped it up in that way.”

Petermeier led the team with 11 1/2 tackles for loss and 8.5 quarterback sacks last season and was second in total tackles with 45 1/2 tackles.

Pikna points to turnovers as a major factor in BCLUW’s woes last season, with 28 giveaways, including nine in the red zone.

“The other thing is that we want to take the playbook and the film class almost more seriously than what they do out here on the practice field,” Pikna added. “At times last season it seemed like we weren’t confident in what we were doing because we didn’t take the time to study it. Our motto at the end of the season is that no matter what happens, nobody’s going to be able to say they didn’t do their work.

“This group feels like to me they don’t want to let each other down. They love having a good time in a controlled environment but they want to do better than what they did last season and there are going to be guys out there in key spots this season that genuinely will not want to let each other down.”

BCLUW Football Schedule

Aug. 30 EAST MARSHALL, 7 p.m.

Sept. 6 at AGWSR, 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 at Nashua-Plainfield, 7 p.m.

Sept. 20 NORTH TAMA, 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 at North Butler, 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 at Martensdale-St. Marys, 7 p.m.

Oct. 11 WAPSIE VALLEY, 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 SOUTH WINNESHIEK, 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 at West Fork, 7 p.m. (tentative)