Wildcats looking to use experience, chemistry towards success in 2021

ALPENA, Mich. — “When you gel well in the locker room, good things are going to happen on the field.”

Alpena High School Football Coach Eric Mitchell is confident a week ahead of the team’s first game of the 2021 season, where chemistry may be the Wildcats’ best weapon. Senior Everett Zann used the same words as his coach to describe this year’s group of guys.

“The team is just gelling,” Zann said. “Our whole O-line is all seniors and a lot of our team is seniors. We’ve all been playing together for a super long time, and it should be a good year.”

Senior Mason Mumford says the experience is going to be the difference between this season, and the disappointing one the Wildcats had last year. Kadyn Budnick gave the same vote of confidence- and for the same reason, too.

“These two years have more team chemistry than what we did last year,” Budnick said. “We all grew up together, playing football.”

“Last year was obviously not the best season,” Mumford said. “These guys, we blend together. We’re good together. I think we’ll be good.”

While experience doesn’t always result in chemistry on the field, Coach Mitchell says this year’s group is friends, as well as teammates- and they have been for a while.

“One of the biggest things is we have no real animosity on this team,” Mitchell said. “It’s a great group of seniors that have been friends for a long time. To me that’s a huge piece.”

And with that chemistry, his expectations of this group are also high- despite last year’s season.

“I truly do expect us to make Week 10,” Mitchell said. “That’s the goal every year, and that is our expectation too.”