ADA, Mich. — Forest Hills Eastern Head Coach Joe Schwander is now in his 5th year with the hawks. You always hear people talk about a 5 year plan, but coach Schwander is just taking things day by day.
"I'm pretty focused on the 24 hour plan. I have five kids and a wife at home so we're crazy busy with scheduling there and then I come here and it's all about how we can make our team better today and tomorrow. If you start thinking down the road too much I think you miss what's in front of you so we just stay focused on the now and get better every day," said Schwander.
The Hawks finished 6-4 last season. They start the year off with four straight wins which gave them the boost they needed headed into their game against Catholic Central.
"It definitely builds up the confidence but it also builds up the momentum. The more you're winning, the more you want to win. The more the team is together," said Braeden Mulcahy.
Playing in the OK Gold brings it fair share of challenges but senior Matt Stotts says they worked hard in the weight room this summer to keep up in the conference.
"Definitely I feel like the physicality part of it. We have a lot of guys that have been busting their butts in the weight room. Like putting on weight, getting faster, and more physical so that'll be a big part in our season of our it fairs out," said Stotts.
They finished off the year against South Christian and Unity Christian, two of the best programs on the West Side. Senior Jake Heemstra said there were some mental mistakes that they've grown from.
"Just some mental mistakes, like when you're in the moment you tend to mess up a few times but now that we're going through, watching film, walking through it in practice I think it's going to be a lot better this year.
Brendan Thompson, the former Hawks quarterback won't be on the field as he's focusing on baseball. Now it's a battle between Jackson Arnold and Mark Fuehrer for the starting job.
"We have a new quarterback this year. We're kinda in a battle between two guys. A junior and a senior. They love competition. They love the opportunity so they're very excited. Both of them are going to help out our team on both sides of the ball so they just love playing football and competing," said Schwander.
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