East looks to rebound from rough year
WAUSAU - Hunter Behnke's football season ended last year before it really had a chance to start.
The Lumberjacks offensive lineman/linebacker broke his legon the second day of training camp last August while standing on the sidelines and was lost for the season.
Behnke said watching the season from the sideline was tough. It also motivated him through his recovery and workouts over the offseason in preparation of the final year of his prep career.
"Things happen for a reason," the Wausau East senior said of the injury. "But I had the greatest offseason I've had in my high school career. I worked my butt off and came back in better shape than I left last year. My leg is fine now so we are good to go."
Behnke's injury summarized the luck the Lumberjacks had last year in an injury-plagued 0-9 campaign.
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"I don't think there is a team in the conference that can go to a fifth-string tailback and think that you are going to be able to do what you do," East coach Tom Tourtillott said. "We lost Tiquane Hodges early; we lost (Isaac) Stine, who had worked his tail off to be the guy. We lost Levy Treinen. It was just a plethora of guys. Sometimes the ball bounces crazy ways and things just don't go as well as you want them to go."
Both Stine and Treinen both were lost to concussions.
East senior Chad Simon said the team's character showed through the trying season.
"It was tough. I had a shoulder injury that kept me out of a few games, too," said Simon, a running back/linebacker. "it was tough that we had some of our leaders going down, but it's a testament to the guys we had that they stayed out here (with the team). They still came to all the practices and the games and were out here every day that they could be.
"Guys want to be here and they like football," Simon said. "We don't have a ton of guys but the ones we do have love football and do everything that they can to help us win."
Simon, who was an honorable mention selection on the all-Valley Football Association-North team, is one of the returners for a Lumberjacks team that brings back five starters on offense and four on defense.
Thomas Dunbar, a senior wideout, was an honorable mention all-VFA-North selection as well. Senior Alex Becker will be the starting quarterback after serving as a backup to Kyle Daniel last year. East also returns three offensive linemen in senior twin brothers, Nathan and Tyler Kramer, and senior Steven Immel.
"Chad (Simon) is our fullback and we are going to pound the ball with him. He's a bowling ball," Tourtillott said. "Then we have Tommy (Dunbar) on the outside and we're going to get him the ball. He's going to get his touches, that's for sure. He's got a great skill set."
Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or timothy.johnson@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter@timmyjo11
WAUSAU EAST
Coach: Tom Tourtillott, third year.
2015 record: 0-9, 0-8 Vallley Football Association-North Division
How far they got: Did not qualify for the WIAA postseason
Key returnees: Thomas Dunbar, sr., WR; Alex Becker, sr., QB/DB; Chad Simon, sr., RB/LB; Nathan Kramer, sr., OL/DL; Tyler Kramer, sr., OL/DL; Steven Immel, sr., OL/DL; Reggie Brown, sr.,TE/DE; Jag Kulpinski, sr., RB/S; Hunter Behnke, sr., OL/LB
2016 SCHEDULE
Aug. 19: at Marshfield
Aug. 26: vs. SPASH
Sept. 2: vs. Appleton West
Sept. 9: at Appleton East
Sept. 16: vs. D.C. Everest
Sept. 24: vs. Kaukauna
Sept. 30: at Wausau West
Oct. 7: vs. Appleton North
Oct. 14: at Kimberly
2015 RESULTS
Marshfield 19, Wausau East 14
SPASH 59, Wausau East 7
Appleton West 21, Wausau East 13
Appleton East 21, Wausau East 0
D.C. Everest 40, Wausau East 6
Kaukauna 40, Wausau East 7
Wausau West 20, Wausau East 7
Appleton North 49, Wausau East 0
Kimberly 42, Wausau East 7