By Greg Gielczyk
WEST BRANCH – Returning just two offensive starters and three on defense, whoever took over the Whittemore-Prescott football team had to understand it was going to be an uphill climb with an entirely new lineup.
That person turned out to be Tom Atkinson, who comes from a coaching family. His father, also named Tom, spent 30 years in coaching with stops in Johannesburg-Lewiston, Manistee and Beal City. He compiled more than 100 career victories, and was inducted into the Alpena Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. The elder Atkinson graduated from Alpena High School in 1968.
Meanwhile, the younger Atkinson cut his coaching teeth as an assistant at Beal City. The Aggies played in two state championship games during Atkinson’s time. He also was on the baseball coaching staff and helped lead the Aggies to a state title.
Whittemore-Prescott’s football team last won a state title 18 years ago. The Cardinals made the playoffs two years ago, losing 26-20 to Flint Hamady in the Division 7 pre-district qualifier.
But this season did not go well for the Cardinals, despite having eight seniors coming back from a 2017 squad that went 5-4. Whittemore-Prescott got off to a 0-3 start, and despite recovering with back-to-back win never really recovered.
Atkinson didn’t accept the job until the last week in June, giving him little time to meet with his players and start preparing for the season. Although there were a few players who had seen time last season, for many others it was their first time playing meaningful snaps in varsity football games.
“Some of them, we had to rely on to play two ways,” Atkinson said. “There was definitely quite a bit of youth across the board, both offensively and defensively. We got a lot better as the season progressed, I thought, on our offensive line.
“We were coming in running a completely new system, with a first-year head coach. I’d like to say that we got a lot better, and hopefully we have ourselves set up in good position for next year.”
One of the biggest returners for the Cardinals was Ridge Schutte, a 6-foot, 190-pound senior running back who averaged 220 yards a game rushing this season, and Atkinson leaned on him quite a bit.
His presence gave the Cardinals an offensive weapon that could overcome some of the deficiencies of a young offensive line that had to grow and mature during the season, equalizing the playing field.
Atkinson faces more challenges next year, with the Cardinals losing senior quarterback Tanner Harrison to graduation.
“We’re not a team that throws the ball a lot, but when we do, we want to have high percentage throws and catches,” Atkinson said. “We need our run to open up our play action pass.
“My fullback (Dakota Mckuen) had some injuries through the year, and we lost him in the last game. He had a couple of really good games where he was around 100 yards rushing. He doesn’t have great football instincts, but he has elite athleticism. As a sophomore last year, he set or tied a school record in the 100-meter dash.”
A threat to take it to the house any time he touched the ball. Atkinson felt he just needed time to get more comfortable in the offense, and when he did later in the season he was able to take some of the pressure of Schutte.
One of the other backs, senior Tyler Hostetler, was a contributor despite being a little undersized. The Cardinals would either flank him out, or keep him in tight. Wherever he lined up, Hostetler knew what to do.
Sophomore running back Brad Lauria was originally tabbed for a starting job on the line, but he injured his shoulder in the first couple weeks of practice and missed a few weeks. When he came back, the Cardinals moved him into the backfield primarily as a lead blocker for Schutte.
“He’s a big kid at probably 6-1 and 225, and he was able to a lot of time times clear the way for our running attack,” Atkinson said. “Coming back next year, he’ll probably have more of a role actually carrying the ball. But, he’s very valuable as a road grader coming out of the backfield.”
Atkinson had eight first-time starters on defense, including a couple of sophomores who did not play last year after the school canceled the junior varsity football team. The biggest issues came on the back end in pass coverage.
Despite their youth in the starting groups, Whittemore-Prescott was close in all of its games, except for Oscoda. The Cardinals traditionally pride themselves on tough defense, and being stingy on that side of the ball.
But the Cardinals’ special teams gave up too many big returns, which put the defense in bad field position too many times. That will be an area of emphasis when the team begins preparation for the 2019 season.
“Offensively, I’m a ‘Wing T’ guy,” Atkinson said. “Before I came here, I coached at Beal City where we had extreme success running the ‘T’ and the ‘Wing T.’ It’s not always the most flashy offense.
“The two highest scoring offenses in the state of Michigan ran the ‘T’ and the ‘Wing T.’ So, it’s able to produce points if you’re able to control the ball, and you’re able to fake to an extreme degree, and if you’re kids are confident in attacking the line.
“It’s a good offense, because at the line of scrimmage you have eight different gaps you can attack, and you’re not really giving the defense a clue to which you’re going to. By limiting the number of formations, and the number of different looks we give, I really think it actually makes it more difficult to pick up what we’re doing, and how we’re going to attack you.”
