Riverton Parke ready for successful campaign

Over the last four decades, there’s only been four players who lifted 1,000 pounds. Sanders said this year’s team boasts three with a few more players close.

“Our starting offense this year has only three guys not squatting over 400 pounds and those three are about 15-20 pounds away. We are extremely happy with how the off-season has went,” he said.

Riverton Parke has some holes to fill through graduation, especially under center as quarterback Collett Sanders is gone. 

Sanders said key losses and newcomers are “tough,” noting that each coach says the same thing but for him it’s about the team and system.

“We are going to miss last year’s seniors. On paper some of those guys clearly had more of an impact on games then others but I would not feel right saying we were going to miss one more then the other. I have been around all those guys since they were little kids and I love each one of them. They all brought something to the team and I am going to miss them,” Sanders said.

On offense, the Panthers will have a new quarterback, center, tackle and two tight ends. 

“I know a lot of people think or hope we wont be as good but with our numbers we have great depth. As I mentioned, our kids are bigger, stronger and more motivated than they were a year ago,” Sanders admitted.

Being a running team, Sanders said his offense is looking to evolve this summer by adding a few wrinkles to make it harder for teams to defend. And with 65 players currently out, Sanders said he is working hard to retain every player through the summer.

“We want to make sure to retain everyone of those guys. As I said, one of our strengths is our numbers and depth. For us to continue to be a good program we have to focus just as much on those younger kids as we do our older kids. One thing I love about this year’s seniors is their mindset. They want to play the best competition and are not scared of it. When the new sectional alignment came out we wrote every sectional in the South Class A on our white board and what their records were last season. We reached out to who we felt were the best teams in Class A to scrimmage this summer. While summer competitions don't really mean much our thought is why not see where we stand right now? Some teams had a full schedule, but we did manage to get some of the better teams in Class A scheduled for this summer. We are looking forward to get going,” he said.

The schedule will look a bit different this year, as the Panthers open against Linton-Stockton and then take on Tri before opening conference play. 

Sanders said the changes were the result of Cloverdale dropping Riverton Parke and that leaving an opening the first weeks.

“We had the opportunity to schedule Linton who in my opinion is the best program in the area year in and year out. We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to play them. A bonus was getting the opportunity to play them at Rose-Hulman. Coach Oliver is a great coach and those kids down there are as tough as they come. They are the kind of program we aspire to become and we are excited to play them. Week two we take a long trip to Tri. I don't know a lot about them, but I do know they return a really good back who was a Class A All State player last season. Hopefully facing that caliber of a running back will pay dividends for us later in the year as we will see some really good backs,” Sanders said.

As for the Wabash River Conference, Sanders maintains the goal is the same. 

“We have some new coaches in the WRC this season so it will be interesting how things shake out in the conference. Our goal is to compete for a WRC Championship again and we know some teams will be better and gunning for us. The goal for myself and our staff is to make sure our kids don't overlook anybody. #1 thing we preach from day 1 is effort and we expect and demand our guys give their best effort regardless of their opponent. Football season can't get here soon enough. We are ready to go,” Sanders said.