Showing posts with label Mankato East football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mankato East football. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Time is right for Davis to return to East football

When Eric Davis resigned as football and baseball coach at Mankato East four years ago, you knew he wasn't done coaching.

He left to take an assistant football position at Minnesota State for a couple of years, and last season, he worked as an offensive assistant with the highly successful Mankato West football team.

But as coach Dave Frisell announced his resignation Monday, saying that he was making a family decision to move to the Twin Cities where he could be closer to his mom and in-laws, Davis is the first name you think of to be the next football coach at East.

Davis was a popular coach at East from 2003-07, working with the football, boys basketball and baseball programs during that stretch. His teams were 31-19.

The Cougars have struggled the last four seasons, not because of the coach but because of diminishing talent. The program appears to be improving.

Davis will get a lot of attention over the next month as the position gets filled. There will be other candidates to emerge, though none would have the star power and light a fire in the program like Davis. He's still a teacher in the building, which makes it easier to be a coach.

It seems a foregone conclusion that Davis will be the next football coach at East. It makes a lot of sense.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Gotta love high-school athletics

Did you give Mankato East a chance to win Wednesday's football game
against Mankato West?
Be honest. Nobody, at least outside of the Cougars' locker room, thought the Cougras could pull off the upset.

That's not to demean the East program, which has struggled the last few
seasons, but the numbers didn't add up for an East victory. West was just
too powerful, having bulldozed every opponent this season.

But with seven minutes to play in the third quarter, East had cut the lead
to 14-11 and were about to try an onside kick.

That's why high-school athletics are so much more fun to watch than college
or professional.

As most know by now, West pulled away in the final 19 minutes to post a
28-11 victory, finishing an undefeated regular season with the sixth
straight Jug victory.

The victory kept West on track for its season's goals, which include a No. 1
seed in the Section 2AAAA playoffs and homefield for the semifinals and
championship game. Eventually, this team has its sights on a state
championship, but there will be some tough battles ahead in that pursuit.

East also has plenty to feel good about. The Cougars pushed West as hard as
any team this season, and despite having just three victories, East now
looks like a formidable opponent in the playoffs.

The only chance East had to pull off the upset was to use running back Tevyn Schmidt and a size advantage in the offensive line to pound the ball at the Scarlets.

It¹s too corny to say that both teams were winners Wednesday night because
that¹s not how life works. You can say that both teams should be proud of
their performances.

The winners were the 3,500 or so folks who sat at Blakeslee Stadium, some in the
protected environment of a press box, who got to watch a very compelling,
fun game.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

LIVE BLOG: Mankato East football vs. Mankato West