The Boerne Champion football program graduated a lot of seniors from last year’s team and only brings back three players that started a game during the 2021 season.
Chargers football coach Keith Kaiser said he knows they lost a lot of experience but added that he feels good about this year’s group and how they’re progressing.
“As coaches we always go through the same thing, you graduate seniors and you know the kids so well, but when we get going the kids just replace each other,” he said. “You get new kids and it’s the next man up. They grow up and mature, so I’m a lot more encouraged right now than I was on Dec. 12 when we had our awards ceremony and I saw all those seniors leave the program.”
Kaiser said he and the coaching staff had a lot of questions but added that they received some answers during spring drills last May.
“That’s why I love spring football, it lets the younger kids grow up faster,” he said. “We’re going to have 19 new starters but because of spring football and because of the things we’ve accomplished through that, we’re not coming into the fall blind.”
A look at the district
Included in District 12-5A DI is Champion, Smithson Valley, Wagner, NB Canyon, Seguin, Buda Hays, MacArthur and Kyle Lehman.
Texas Football magazine has Smithson Valley winning the district, followed by Wagner, Champion and NB Canyon as the four playoff teams.
“It’s going to be a real tough district and it’s the unknowns, not knowing what they’re about,” Kaiser said. “Wagner will be athletic, Smithson Valley is well coached and Canyon will be better, but our kids aren’t afraid of Wagner and Smithson Valley.”
Smithson Valley and Wagner are perennial football powers but Kaiser pointed out that the Chargers have had a pretty good run recently, playing in the state semifinals as recently as 2019.
“Just like we’re talking about them, they’re talking about us because we’ve had success all these years as well,” he said.
Kaiser is right about that; they’ve been a playoff team for eight straight seasons and they’ve gone at least two rounds in all those years except for one when they were defeated in the opening round by Brenham in 2018.
Last year’s team went 9-3 and advanced two rounds before falling to Liberty Hill.
As far as the Texas Football predictions, Kaiser said he hadn’t even seen a copy of the magazine, but even if he had, the coach noted that a lot can change between preseason and by the time district rolls around.
“It makes good reading material but since they put the magazine together Smithson Valley got three transfers in that are good players so that changes things,” he said. “You can also get the wrong injury at the wrong time and that matters.”
A look at the team
Among the players to watch listed by Texas Football are Sawyer Bolli, Jordan Ballin, Kannon Brooks, Cole Riha, Griffin Jones, Sutter Clemons, Kaleb Krause, Cage Goldberg, Jared Wingo, Chase Riha, Andrew Simmons, Hayden Niemeyer, Ethan Stanley, Brady Wilson and Jack Burkhart.
Coach Kaiser said even though they have to wait a week in August to start practices because they held spring drills, he doesn’t feel like it puts them behind the other teams that start a week earlier.
“We’ve only been practicing a week and a day and they’re already tired of each other and ready to hit somebody else,” the coach said at the time of this interview.
The Chargers scrimmaged Churchill this week and open the season next Friday at home against Laredo United South.
“We’re ready and we’re excited,” Kaiser said.
Boerne Champion Football Schedule 2022
Friday, Aug. 26, Laredo United South at Champion, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 2, Champion at Eagle Pass, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 9, Canyon Lake at Champion, 7 p.m.
*Friday, Sept. 16, Champion at New Braunfels Canyon, 7:30 p.m.
*Thursday, Sept. 22, Buda Hays at Champion, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 30, no game
*Friday, Oct. 7, Champion at Seguin, 7 p.m.
*Friday, Oct. 14, Wagner at Champion, 7 p.m.
*Friday, Oct. 21, Champion at Smithson Valley, 7 p.m.
*Friday, Oct. 28, Kyle Lehman at Champion, 7 p.m.
*Friday, Nov. 4, Champion at MacArthur, 7 p.m.
*district games
All Champion home games at BISD Stadium
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