Oswego, Marmaton Valley favored in TRL football races

PITTSBURG, Kan. -- The Oswego Indians and the Marmaton Valley Wildcats were picked as the 11-man and 8-man teams to beat, respectively, in the Three Rivers League preseason football coaches polls announced Thursday (Aug. 9) during the eighth annual High School Coaches Media Day at the Watco Companies Conference Room.

The polls were conducted by The Ticket -- 99.1 ESPN Radio, which sponsored the event with the Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Oswego was the top pick among the three schools playing 11-man football, followed by Jayhawk-Linn and Northeast.

The Indians will have their third coach in three seasons, as Travis Burk takes over for Neal Cruse after a 3-6 campaign in 2011 that saw Oswego drop its last four games.

Jayhawk-Linn of Mound City returns to the TRL after four seasons as part of the Frontier League. After suffering through a 1-8 season as one of the smallest schools in their old league, the Jayhawks of head coach Kirk Holt hope the new schedule and 14 expected returning lettermen will help improve that mark in 2012.

The Northeast Vikings enter the season on an 18-game losing skid, but head coach Phil Hobbs (at right) is positive his squad can break that string. Northeast should have seven starters on each side of the ball coming back, led by junior QB/DB J.T. Richardson.

Marmaton Valley scored five of the six available first-place votes (coaches could not vote for their own schools) for 35 points. Kent Houk's squad was 7-3 last season and finished 5-0 in district play to reach the 8-man Division I playoffs.

Uniontown and St. Paul tied for second in the poll with 24 points each. The Eagles, dropping from 11-man Class 3A to 8-man Division I, should have 11 letterman back in the fold from last season's squad which posted a 4-5 mark. UHS picked up the other available first-place vote.

Doug Tuck's Indians jumped out to a 5-1 start for the 2011 season, but dropped two of their last three games to miss out on the playoffs.

Crest edged Chetopa for fourth in the poll with 20 points. The Lancers have 13 lettermen coming back including five two-way starters and one other defensive starter from last season's 3-6 team. Senior QB/LB Kyle Hammond (2,186 total offensive yards, 168 points) is among five seniors on Brent Smith's squad.

The Green Hornets were just one point behind Crest in fifth. Head coach Sean Price's squad will have his son, senior QB/S Dylan (more than 2,700 yards of total offense), back to lead the way.

Pleasanton picked up 14 points and finished sixth in the poll. Ethan Sabine enters his second season with only three lettermen expected back in 2012, but one of them is a 1,000-yard rusher in senior Preston Coffman.

The Jets of Altoona-Midway round out the voting with six points.