The Platteville Pioneers will be looking for positives to build on as they come off a difficult end to their 2009 campaign. The Pioneers had a 3-2 record on the season and held a 23 to 14 lead at Eau Claire with less than three minutes to go in the third quarter. The Bluegolds struck on a 45 yard TD pass and went on to defeat the Pioneers 34-26. The Pioneers would not see another victory as they lost their next four games, two of them by only 3 points, finishing at 3-7 for the season.
The Pioneers welcome back 8 offensive starters in 2010. Sophomore QB Nick Anderson won the starting job as a freshman, but was hurt in the 5th game of the season and didn't play the rest of the year. Sophomore John Kelly also returns after playing in 6 games last year. Between Anderson and Kelly, they threw only 4 TD passes last year. Leading rushers Chad Roscoe and Brandon Hertrampf both return. However, they combined for only 512 yards rushing last year, so the Pioneers must find a way to establish a stronger rushing attack.
Defensively, the Pioneers gave up 28.1 points per game last year. They have been hit hard by graduation and their development of underclassmen will be tested on the defensive side this year. Defensive Backs Brian Snyder and Dave Daino, along with linebacker Jesse Lindemulder will be counted upon to lead the Pioneer's rebuilt defense.
With some close losses, in many ways last year was a year of what "could have been" for the Pioneers, which sounds strange for a team that won only one conference game last year. However, they have lost some key players and will have a challenge to improve on last year's record. Perhaps their best chance would be to open up the offense a bit, knowing their quarterbacks now have more experience under their belt. If history is any indication, the Pioneers will be competitive in most games and spring the upset on an unsuspecting foe or two.
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