Logger football starts season with strong line

Libby High School football is bringing a relatively young team into this season, but one that also has a lot of experience, and the team is excited to see the results.

“We’ve been forced the last few years to start a lot of younger kids that you wouldn’t normally start,” said Head Coach Neil Fuller. “But we’ve done that because we’ve been in a position, numbers-wise, where we’ve had several small classes of seniors come through.”

The Loggers have taken their knocks in the last few seasons, though last year saw notable improvement that carried through to the end of the year, Fuller said.

And now the players this year can profit from the trade-off of those previous years: having the varsity experience under their belts that they wouldn’t otherwise have.

“I’ve been here since 2003, and this will be the biggest, most athletic bunch of athletes we’ve had upfront since I’ve been here,” Fuller said. “We actually have some pretty good size for the first time in a long time.”

Especially with offensive and defensive linemen, the team is able to present a powerful front, he said. Without that, regardless how strong the team is elsewhere, the team can’t get things done without a line they can count on.

“If you don’t have strength upfront, it’s tough to be successful,” Fuller said.

Along with the athleticism the players are coming to the field with, they are also bringing motivation and a good attitude.

“We had the best team camp we’ve had for years,” Fuller said. “We’re excited. The kids, their attitude has been great. They’ve been working hard.”

In addition to the team camp in June and a jamboree in Whitefish facing Whitefish and Polson, the players have been working hard over the summer on their own to keep in shape for the season.

“The kids have put a lot of time in, and you can see it in our practice, you can see it in the execution on both sides of the ball, and we’re ahead of where we’ve been in the last few years at this point,” Fuller said.

Starting with their game against Bonner’s Ferry tonight in Libby — assuming there is no air quality-related cancellation — the team won’t have an easy pre-season schedule, Fuller said. But, they plan to use that to strengthen any weak spots and tighten up their game.

Getting a little better each week, Fuller wants to see the team get to where they need to be before they face conference play, he said.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re rough around the edges, but the pieces are there,” he said.