In a season riddled with adversity, the Sigourney-Keota Cobras still managed to come out with a winning season. From losing a few guys in a single game to seeing their star running back go down for the season in week three, the Cobras were no strangers to injury.  As devastating as they were, those injuries were a blessing in disguise for some of the guys waiting in the wings.

When he was healthy, the offense was centered around running back Carson Crawford.  He carried the ball 67 times and racked up a whopping 586 yards and three touchdowns in just two games.  But when he went down for the season with a torn rotator cuff, the Cobras had to look for other options.

JD Stout played the spinner back position all season long, and once Crawford was out, he was the go-to guy.  He had an excellent junior year, rushing for 1150 yards on 180 carries and scoring 21 times, which was the fourth-most in all of Class 1A.  His accolades were good to earn him a spot on the first all-district team for 1A district five.

Sophomore Sam Sieren also came out and surprised.  After not touching the ball at all last season, and carrying it just five times this year before Crawford got hurt, he came out swinging, ending the year with 111 carries and averaging 6.6 per.  He also scored six times.

The defensive side of the football took a hit when they lost Crawford, as well as another one of their top defenders in Zech Boender, who notched 46 total tackles and sacked opposing quarterbacks twice a season ago.  That said though, these injuries allowed junior Trent Hendricks to break out.  Hendricks was fifth on the team in total tackles a season ago, but finished top ten in the district in that mark this year, earning himself first-team all-district honors.

The best part about all this?  All of the aforementioned breakout players will be back next year.  Coach Jensen’s “next man in” mentality worked, and Stout, Sieren, Hendricks and the Cobras will be looking to build off of this year’s 5-4 campaign a season from now.