Hoppe believes after a winless season last year that teams will overlook his squad, giving American Falls an opportunity to surprise everyone and pull off a big upset or 2. The Beavers are even younger than last year, but Hoppe believes that if he can get the young players to buy in, American Falls could do something special in 2023.
American Falls is expected to use a spread offense that uses different formations. “We have a lot of athletes on the field who can run and catch, which should allow us to spread the ball a lot,” Hoppe said. It took nearly the entire season last year, but towards the end we finally found our identity on offense and will be looking to bring that into the beginning of this season.
The defense will also see some major changes as the coaching staff went through a massive overhaul in the off season. “We will be switching up our defense this year based on the personnel that we have,” Hoppe said. They will change from a 4-2-5/4-4 defense to a 3-3-5/3-5. Their goal is to put the 11 fastest, most explosive players on the field and move them around a lot to make it more difficult to read and block.
If American Falls is going to be a team that steps up and surprises people, the offensive line will have to excel. “The offensive line will make or break our season this year,” Hoppe said. There are a lot of young kids working hard to break into the starting lineup, and regardless of who wins the spots will be much larger than last year.
A home game against Malad this Friday August 18th will open the season and give the Beavers a great opportunity to start things off with a win. A 1-0 start would go a long way as the next 2 games will be challenging. Though it will not be easy, Hoppe still believes that American Falls is ready to shock people and show how far his team has come. We have a young team this season, and if we can get the young kids to focus there is a lot of athleticism there that will give teams problems.
Come out and support the boys this season!! For their schedule you can download the AF Schools app on your device and it will be available to you under events!! We look forward to a great season this year!! GO BEAVERS!!