Sports : Viking alumni, coaches excited about rematch at CPU

Logan Merchant gives the VS alumni offiense some directions about plays during practice.

For the third year in a row, Vinton-Shellsburg alumni football players will put on their pads and helmets, hoping for a win against Center Point-Urbana in an Alumni USA Football game.

"The excitement is really building," says Captain Randy Scheel. "We picked up two more players today. Lots of chatter. Selling tickets. Randi Walker has also stepped up with the alumni cheerleaders and helping sell tickets. The guys are all getting pumped."

Scheel says he thinks there will be at least 30 players suiting up for VS Friday. The game takes place at Ted Rogers Field in Center Point, where the first VS-CPU game took place in 2011. The two teams played in Vinton in 2012.

One of the challenges for the team last year was that they tried to run a complicated offensive scheme.

This year, Logan Merchant, a former Viking who is now on the VS football coaching staff, "has really stepped up to put the game plan together." said Scheel.

"Logan has gone over previous games video. He has run our practices for us. He has really done a lot for our team. All the credit should go to him for all we do," says Scheel.

Merchant shares that enthusiasm and says the team will be ready as it seeks its first win in three attempts vs. the CPU alums.

"I know I'm really excited, along with all of the guys too," said Merchant. "Our practice Sunday was really up-beat, and you could tell everyone was ready to go."

"We had a short notice that we were playing another game this year, and within a few days we had over 20 guys signed up and ready to play,: said Merchant. "That itself shows how much all the guys want to play."

'Keep things simple"

Merchant explains the philosophy he is using as he prepares the team and its offensive game plan:

"The main thing I've learned while coaching at the High School that I've used for the Alumni team are to keep things simple, because of the fact that most of the guys haven't played for multiple years, some more than others, they tend to forget some things, until we can introduce it back to them, so they pick up on things quick when things are kept simple. I feel my coaching experience helps me be able to explain the different concepts to the guys. Going off of last year's game where the offense kind of struggled because of confusion from the complexity we decided to keep things simple, and kept offense as our main priority."

Both Scheel and Merchant say the entire team is excited and ready to play, and hoping for a large audience Friday in Center Point.

"The one thing I know for sure is I can't wait to get on the field with all of these guys and play the game we all love," says Merchant.

Tickets are available at Peppy's Ice Cream and Ehlinger's in Vinton, or from Scheel; contact him a 319-477-3150. Tickets are $10 each; half of advance ticket sales go toward the two schools.

CPU alums are equally excited and motivated. Tim Dwight, the former Iowa Hawkeye and NFL player, will be an honorary captain for them. And they have dedicated their game to their late football coach Ted Rogers, who coached for 31 years; he died last November.

"As much as anything, we would like to fill the stands with VS fans. It looks like the weather should be perfect on Friday," says Scheel. "We will have a fun team this game. We lack in practice but probably have more talent than previous years."