New era of football underway at Gwinn

GWINN – The last time the Gwinn football team made the postseason, gas was $1.22 a gallon, Impeachment Proceedings were brought against then President Bill Clinton, and the Game Boy Color was one of the hottest toys on the market. The year was 1999, and a lot of things have changed since then.

Dion Brown enters his first season as the head coach at Gwinn. Brown was the head coach of the Modeltowners jayvee football program last season. His goal is to bring the Modeltowners program back to prominence for the first time in 15 years.

The Modeltowners will have a number of new faces on both sides of the ball this season. With open spots comes competition among teammates, which Coach Brown is happy to have during the preseason.

“When I came in that was one of my goals, to have an open competition,” said Brown. “This team went 2–7 last year. It’s an open competition. The guys who play hard and have been lifting (weights) through the summer are going to be the guys who start for me. We’re just trying to get better. We’re not throwing to much at them. I know it’s a new system that the guys are not familiar with. We’re just taking it one practice at a time.”

“Everything is already blending together,” said Gwinn fullback Dylan Sharkey. “We’re already acting like a team only four days in. I’m proud of everybody. We’re here to work.”

“I noticed there’s a difference in the players attitudes,” said Gwinn Jason Sicotte. “The players are more positive towards coming to practice instead of just ‘oh it’s two–a–days, it’s going to be hard and I don’t want to go.’ Players are actually excited to come here and learn from Dion.”