Week 0 sees one KCII area team strap it up for their first official game of 2023 when Lone Tree travels across the border into Illinois to face Parkview Christian Academy of Yorkville.
The Lions ended 2022 with a 3-5 overall record. They started the season hot, winning three of their first four, before finishing with four losses to close the curtain on the year. The Lions were fifth in 8-man District 6.
The Lions averaged 280 yards of offense per game, 186 of that from the ground game. The Lions scored 35 touchdowns on the season. Lone Tree’s defense surrendered 33 points per game, the offense put up 31 per night. The Lion defense accounted for 16 turnovers, 12 of those recovered fumbles, fourth most in 8-man. Lion special teams shined a season ago, averaging 20 yards per kickoff return, seventh in Iowa, with three returns for touchdowns, second most in the state.
Individual Lone Tree leaders returning include quarterback Ethan Bockelman. Under center a year ago as a junior, he was 45 of 103 in the pass game for 741 yards, 10 scores and four picks. Bockelman was fourth in 8-man football, averaging 17 yards per completion. His favorite target is also back, Emmett Burke after a freshman season with 18 catches for 232 yards and four touchdowns. The two leading ground gainers also return for Lone Tree with Bockelman and Maddox Jondle combining for 207 carries, 1373 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2022. Defensively, the Lions will have to replace their top two tacklers, Joe Boxwell and Caden Smith who moved on through graduation after posting a combined 91.5 stops a season ago. Bockelman is the leader returning there with 36 tackles last season.
Parkview Christian Academy, an hour west of the Windy City, is gearing up for their second year as a program. Their inaugural season in 2022 saw them finish at 3-6. The Falcons closed the year with back-to-back wins, including a 40-0 victory over Waldon, Indiana in their finale. They were outscored 331-176 in total. The Falcons averaged 20 points per game while giving up 37. The Falcons graduated only three seniors from last year’s squad.
This week, Lion head coach Joe Donovan broke down the keys for his club. “Ethan (Bockelman) had a really nice year last year. He’s a nice sized kid that runs hard. With Ethan, we have to make sure that we’re staying balanced. He’s always the one that teams need to key on. We need to get the ball in our other playmakers hands, who are more than capable. Guys like Moddox Jondle, Jader Sanchez, and Emmett Burke. We need to be more sound strategically on both offense and defense. Defensively, we need to try to limit explosive plays. (Parkview Christian) has an individual that they’ll play at quarterback and wide receiver, and they like to get the ball in his hands. He’s a pretty good player. We’re just looking forward to getting the year kicked off. It’s time to get ready to go!”
You can hear all of the action tonight between the Lions and the Falcons on the new KCII3 live stream available at KCIIradio.com by clicking on the “listen live button”. Pregame begins at 6:30p.m. with kickoff set for 7p.m.