The Westwood High School varsity football team returns a multitude of players from last season and hope to improve as they get more experienced. In the front row from left are Josh Carr, Erik Anderson, Jacob Erickson, Sam Gilles, Nathan Beckman, Joe Boburka, Ashton Bergman, Ethan Burke, Adam Hyttinen and Braden Perry. Top row from left, assistant coach, assistant coach, Anthony Couveau, Zach Niemi, Dakota Rodda, Troy Anderson, Hayden Mann, Ethan Homola, Tabin Filizetti, Jacob Adriano, David Dalryre, Andrew Kalbfleisch, Blake Hewitt, Ethan Hill and head coach Scott Syrjala. (Journal photo by Ryan Stieg)

ISHPEMING — It took a while for things to get going for the Westwood football team last season.

The Patriots were young and it showed in their first few games, but as it got later in the fall, they showed improvement. In looking back at his first year as head coach, Scott Syrjala described it as a “learning experience.”

“Those are the words I’d use,” he said. “It was a learning experience not only for our kids, but for our coaching staff as well.

“We did some reflection after the season as a staff and we determined where we needed to grow and how I needed to grow. I was honest and open with the kids about mistakes that I made and some areas where they need to grow. I told them that we’re in this together and I thought that the kids really responded in the offseason.

“Last year was rough because not only were they young, but they were young in a conference that was very senior-laden. We’re still pretty young and we’ll probably be starting eight juniors, a sophomore and a couple seniors.

“That’s the difference between last year and this year. We had six players last year that maybe weren’t quite ready to play (at) this level and that’s not taking anything away from them. We just needed them to play.

“This year, our sophomores are surrounded by juniors and seniors instead of players their same age. We had a good offseason and I feel that we’re growing as a program. Not only in numbers, but in values and expectations. They’ve been doing a great job so far.”

Unlike other teams that are still trying to figure out who their starting quarterback is, Westwood has junior Nathan Beckman ready to go. Beckman was thrust into the role as a sophomore last year, but progressed well and might be one of the best in the Mid-Peninsula Conference.

“Nathan is a great kid,” Syrjala said. “He works really hard and is a good all-around athlete. He works on his throwing after practice or tries to get an hour of work done in the weight room.

“He’ll call me up and ask me to come open the weight room for him. That’s the kind of guy you want leading your team. Some of the things I saw last year were just him being young, but later in the season, he got acclimated with varsity football and he showed his talent and his ability to run.”

The pressure won’t be entirely on Beckman, though, as he has two good running backs behind him along with some other guys who can break out and catch passes.

“We have a good sophomore in Erik Anderson that we brought up and he will play fullback,” Syrjala said. “As everyone knows, we are in the ‘gun’ or ‘wildcat’ offense, so Beckman will be involved, too, but Ashton Bergman will also be back there with him. He was another guy who was with me last year and he’s put on about 20 or 25 pounds.

“Those two will be our staples in the backfield, but (there will also be) some other kids like Adam Hyttinen and Ethan Burke. With all those guys, we look good out there.

“We’ll also be throwing to Adam and Ethan (and) Jacob Adriano along with Blake Hewitt, who missed half of the season due to an injury. So we also have some good targets for Beckman to throw to.”

While other teams try to piece together an offensive line before the first game, Westwood is set there, too, with the whole group returning, which will be key for them to run the wildcat effectively.

“The good thing about our line is we have everybody back,” Syrjala said. “Tabin Filizetti is one of our two seniors and he’ll be leading the way. Jake Erickson is another good lineman and Sam Hewitt is the strongest guy on the team.

“We have a battle going on for the other guard position with Ethan Homola and Hayden Mann, and maybe Hayden or Joe Boburka or Grant Hill at center.

“So we have a nice combination there and we have a little bit of depth. We’re not super deep, but we have some guys that can play different positions and that will help.”

Like some other coaches in the M-PC, Syrjala says the race for top is wide open, and even though some teams may be rebuilding after losing a lot of seniors, he thinks just about anybody could win it.

As far as his own team goes, Syrjala just wants to continue to build the program and says with so many players coming back, that 2017 could be a good one for the Patriots.

“I think, barring any injuries, we have the potential to have a very solid team,” he said. “We have a good line and our backs are starting to emerge and figure out where the holes are. It starts in the offseason and if you don’t work hard there, you can be sure that everyone else is. That’s what I told the kids.

“We had good numbers in the weight room and kids are getting stronger and faster. Now we just need to put it all to good use.”

2017 schedule

(* Mid-Peninsla Conference game)

Friday, Aug. 25 — MUNISING, 7 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 31 — at Houghton, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 8 — L’ANSE, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 15 — * at Gladstone, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 22 — * at Iron Mountain, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 29 — * GWINN, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 6 — * at Ishpeming, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 13 — * MANISTIQUE, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 20 — * NEGAUNEE, 7 p.m.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.