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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
STRATFORD – The Stratford football team has made the WIAA playoffs in 24 straight seasons and reached Level 3 of the postseason for the second time in three years, but something that has eluded the Tigers during the past eight seasons is an outright Marawood Conference championship.
After sharing the title with Auburndale in 2002, the Tigers won five-straight conference championships outright. Since that run, which ended in 2007, Stratford has just one shared title, that coming with Edgar and Marathon in 2013.
The Tigers are poised to end the drought in 2016, and will find out quickly how they stack up in the Marawood.
After a nonconference game to open the season against perennial Cloverbelt Conference power Stanley-Boyd, the Tigers will host Marathon and Tomahawk, before traveling to Edgar on Sept. 9.
“It’s going to be a tough schedule,” senior running back/linebacker Kam Bornbach said. “Marathon and Edgar are going to be tough. We couldn’t beat either of them last year, so obviously we’re going to have a little chip on our shoulder. Our first goal is conference and those are going to be two tough teams.”
Stratford finished 5-2 and in third place in the Marawood last year, and ended up 9-3 overall after its season ended with a 30-15 loss to Spencer/Columbus Catholic in a Division 5 Level 3 contest.
The Tigers return six key players, four of which will return to the offensive line and defensive line and linebacker positions.
Senior Tyson Kauffman was a unanimous all-Marawood first-team choice at offensive line and will be joined on the unit by fellow seniors Ethan Fabry and Tanner Weinfurtner, and junior Aiden Hoffman. Fabry and Hoffman were second-team all-conference picks on defense in 2015.
The foursome will be blocking for arguably the best one-two backfield punch in the conference, as Bornbach and Cole Hoffmann return as the team’s top ball carriers.
Bornbach was named the Marawood Back of the Year after rushing for 1,227 yards and 18 touchdowns, and was a first-team all-conference choice at running back and inside linebacker. Hoffmann had 624 yards on the ground and eight scores after moving to running back in Week 4 after starting the season as the Tigers’ quarterback.
“We’ve got four returning starters with me, Tanner (Weinfurtner), Aiden (Hoffman) and Ethan (Fabry), and I think what will help us is our athleticism – we’re pretty athletic big guys – and also our smarts, which should help with our hurry-up offense, being smart and able to process things quick,” Kauffman said.
Head coach Jason Tubbs said four players are in the mix to see playing time at quarterback as the team looks for a replacement for graduated senior Sam Wenzel. Juniors A.J. Schoenfuss, Andrew Bargender and Mark Handrick, and sophomore Eli Drexler will compete, with a starter not announced heading into the season opener.
However, it’s going to be all about the running game in Stratford.
“When you have Cole Hoffman and Kam Bornbach running the ball, your quarterback just has to manage the game and not lose the game,” Tubbs said. “I don’t care if teams want to put eight or nine guys in the box, our five up-front guys are amazing this year, probably the best line I’ve ever had. We get Tanner back at full speed, and with Tyson, you’ve got two guys that have (Division II) scholarship offers from Duluth already. Both guys are at the top of their game.”
The strength of those linemen will put the Tigers in the conference title picture.
“Our conference is one of the best in the state every year, and this year will be the exact same thing, we expect,” Tubbs said. “The juniors last year are now seniors and have really turned themselves into men. This is the first time we have three guys benching over 300 pounds and we have three guys in the 290s. I know it’s not all about bench, but we haven’t had that since 1986, and we did pretty well between those years.
“We start at Stanley in Week 1 at their new stadium, Week 2 we get Marathon and then Week 4 you get Edgar. We’ll find out right away and that’s why we’re going from Day 1 with a high intensity right off the bat.”
This story, and much more, will appear in a special 2016 Football Preview section in this weekend’s Hub City Times, part of your Marshfield Area Buyer’s Guide.