The Carroll Cougars won just three games in 2020. Since head coach Blake Betzner took over in 2021, the Cougars are 32-7 and hope to continue building in 2024.
Last year the Cougars went 12-1, sweeping the Hoosier Heartland and winning Sectional 43 before falling to Adams Central in the Regional Championship.
“It was kind of a growing up piece in that we just kept moving forward, kept getting better each year,” Betzner said. “So I think last year was kind of us getting older and understanding the game a bit more.”
After having 13 seniors in 2022, the Cougars graduated 23 in 2024. Coach Betzner said although it will be tough to replace those guys, he’s confident in his team to step up and fill in those roles.
“I think we’ll have that again this year, we have a bunch of kids that haven’t played Friday nights but are ready to play Friday nights,” Betzner said. “They put in their time and they’re hungry to play on Friday night. So we’ve been really pushing that it’s your time and you make the most of it.”
One of those seniors from a season ago was Keegan Ellis. The fullback finished with 1667 rushing yards and 33 total touchdowns.
Aiden Wiles will step into that role for the Cougars, a player that the Carroll coaching staff is excited to see.
“Aiden Wiles hasn’t played a lot on Friday nights,” Betzner said. “He’s one of those kids that’s worked. And we really believe, we think he’ll be one of the best running backs in the state this year. So we’re really excited about him.”
One position that will stay the same for the Cougar’s is quarterback. Luke Tanner enters his third season as the starter for Carroll.
“We have a three-year starting quarterback,” Betzner said. “So that makes it nice. Luke Tanner, number seven, will be our starter for us. He’s a good throwing quarterback, been running some, but he’s just kind of run (the offense) for the last three years.”
Carroll starts the season at home against a team they defeated in the second round of sectionals, the Caston Comets.
“We know them pretty well actually, we’re not very far away,” Betzner said. “They had two monsters last year, so we kind of knew where the ball was going a little bit more last year. This year, they’re more spread out. Looks like they’ll have good athletes. They’ll play hard. And just like I told the kids, they’re excited to play.”
After Caston, the Cougars will hit the road for three straight weeks, including a rivalry matchup against Delphi in week four. They’ll close out the regular season with two tough opponents in Clinton Prairie and Sheridan.
Friday’s game against Caston has been picked as the HoosierlandTV Game of the Week. Tune in to Hoosierlandtv.com at 6:45 to catch pregame coverage before the 7 p.m. kickoff.
You can watch local high school football action every Friday on hoosierlandtv.com.
