After a one-win season a year ago, August and a new season could not come soon enough for the Oakville football team.
The Acorns, who took a break from football due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, struggled in head coach Skyler Davis’ first season at the helm last year, but are looking forward to more improvement in 2022.
“August came quick,” Davis said. “As the days kept getting closer and closer we were ready to get the pads on. When we had our parent information night and the kids came out to that, they kept asking, ‘when is the first day we can hit?’”
Returning all but two players from last season, and with some improved turnout, Davis feels like his guys can string together more wins this season. And more importantly, his players believe the same.
“I can tell they’re eager,” he said. “They’re ready to win, they don’t want to be complacent again like last year. Same with me, I’m ready to do my best to put them in the right positions.”
Ashton Boyd returns at tailback and will receive a large chunk of carries once again, and junior quarterback Eddie Klatush will be a factor in the offense as well. Davis also praised the play and experience of his line, headlined by Courtney Price.
Though the Acorns will play most of their games on the road, due to locker room availability issues and construction at Oakville High School, they’re ready for their first contest against Lake Quinault Sept. 10.
In Year Two of the Davis era, the coach and his team are going to utilize the lessons learned from 2021 after a full year of prep to hopefully be more competitive in 2022.
“It was pretty humbling to have one win last year,” Davis said. “It's also nice because you can’t do much worse. We know we can expand on that and be competitive in games and not be a checkmark on other teams' schedules.”
