Pauly pivots to QB, defense to be key as Raiders football aims for playoffs

A new starting quarterback, a new running back and trying to replace three all-area players on defense.

It sounds like a lot to handle for one high school football team, but over at Arcadia High School coach Derek Updike has liked what he has seen in the early going for his 2022 squad. The Raiders open the season at Ellsworth on Friday.

“I think they can turn into a pretty darn good team,” he told the Times. “I think we can be competitive every week and obviously the conference is gonna be stacked… we will focus on one week at a time and try to improve, and I think we can fight it out for a playoff spot.”

The Raiders are coming off a 2021 season that saw them finish 7-2 overall while taking their only Coulee Conference loss (6-1 overall) to eventual conference champion Aquinas. They lost in the opening round of the playoffs to Stanley-Boyd.

Arcadia’s offense featured a 1,000-yard rusher in Ryan Sokup and a quarterback in Kaden Updike who threw for over 1,000 yards and had just two interceptions all year.

But Updike said the two guys replacing those key positions are playmakers. Senior Egan Pauly will move from the wide receiver spot to calling the plays this fall, a move that the team saw coming, Updike said — Pauly entered the program as a quarterback but was moved to wide receiver to give them another playmaker.

Now that he is back under center, Updike said his offense will be flexible.

“We’re trying to do some things where we’re not under center as much and a little bit more in the gun and I think it’ll fit his skill set. He has a live arm and he’s tall and has a background to play quarterback as a younger kid,” Updike said. “We feel pretty comfortable.”

The offensive line brings back one lone starter in Cruz Patzner. Connor Lisowski has some experience but hasn’t started.

The line will be tasked with making room for Cam Boland, who made plays for the Raiders as a receiver last year and will be the top running back.

“He played wideout a lot last year. He can play running back for us,” Updike said. “He’s gonna be a big part of what we do and hopefully we can get some good production out of him.”

Jordan Rotering and Caleb Glenzinski could also have some big plays on offense for a squad that will rely on power formations. But there could be more times this year where the Raiders will play out of the shotgun formation, Updike said.

“I just think we’re going to try to get guys out in space a little more and see if we can create some mismatches that way because we just don’t feel like we’ll be able to line up and just run people over,” he said.

Boland, Pauly, Rotering and Landan Bremer will be the secondary core, which could see time in a hybrid defense. Glenzinski will lead the linebackers and make the calls after starting last year, finishing fifth on the team with 35 tackles.

It’s going to be a young group, but Updike said the defense could be a strong piece for his team by season’s end.

“We feel like we’re going to replace guys fairly well,” he said. “If we can get the pieces of the puzzle figured out, we really like our defensive backfield — which struggled last year, but they were young — and we feel good about that.”

The defense lost its top three tacklers from last season, but the secondary has a chance to make plays this fall, Updike thinks. It’s a defense that will have its hands full in the Coulee as West Salem gets set to rejoin the conference and Aquinas remains strong after winning the Division Five state championship last year.

“Those two teams are definitely the upper echelon, and then the rest of us are fighting to try to get a playoff spot and I don’t know that there’s any rhyme or reason to where the rest will finish,” Updike said. “I think it’s gonna be a lot about who stays healthy and who makes some plays and key moments to win a few games.”