Renville County West Jaguars

RCW defensive lineman Tyler Amsden (left) tries to get around a Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s blocker during a home game on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020 in Danube. Joe Brown / West Central Tribune

Lots of new faces in store for RCW

Jaguars, undefeated in ‘20, start fresh after talented class moves on

BY TOM ELLIOTT | West Central Tribune

DANUBE — The Renville County West Jaguars are wrapping up one of the best football runs in school history, going 6-0 in 2020 after an 11-1 record in 2019.

Ryan Hebrink called it a once-in-a-generation run of talent.

“We were extremely blessed as a coaching staff to have some of the players that we did,” said Hebrink, who enters his 12th season as RCW’s head coach.

Gone are Jaden Kolker (St. John’s University), Riley Ashburn (Bethany Lutheran basketball), Brandan Hoberg (Ridgewater College baseball), Landon Turner (Minnesota-Morris football), Jacob Haney and Ayden Gustafson.

And while the 2021 RCW football team won’t have as many familiar names, Hebrink is nonetheless optimistic about the season.

“I don’t know if you’d recognize any of the names,” he said. “But we’re super excited about the kids we have coming up.”

There are five seniors, including two out for football for the first time. Seniors Tyler Amsden (5-foot-11, 245-pound, tight end/ defensive end) and Ethan Haen (5-10, 160, defensive back) are returning starters, as are juniors Noah Gullickson (5-11, 245, G) and Carter Rice (6-4, 250, DE). Gullickson is a returning all-district selection.

“We look for Noah to be a leader on our line on offense and defense,” Hebrink said. “(He’s) strong, (has) good size and (is) quick off the ball. He has a motor that doesn’t stop.”

There are nine juniors, most of them expected to contribute, Hebrink said. The roster includes seven sophomores and 10 freshmen.

“We expect each player on the team to have a role and if they’re able to do that role to the best of their ability, we’ll be able to do a lot of good things,” Hebrink said. “We don’t have the names that we’ve had in the past. But we’ve got a lot of players who are capable of a lot of good things.”

The Jaguars open the season at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2 at Westbrook-Walnut Grove.