Hillyer hopes to run Kennedy to special season

CEDAR RAPIDS - Last season's offense for Cedar Rapids Kennedy went a little something like this: Heitland, Hillyer, Hillyer, Heitland, Jahlas, Hillyer, Heitland, Heitland, Hillyer, Heitland.Replace graduated running back Trevor Heitland's name, as well as graduated wide receiver Josh Jahlas, and what do you have remaining? A whole lot of Alex Hillyer."I like that," the senior running back said. "I like getting the ball. At the same time, it's good to get some rest at times, and we have a junior in Miles Moa who will come in and do that for me. I'll still be sharing reps with him every now and then. I'm going to do my best. We've got a big line this year, with a lot of returning players, so hopefully everything goes as planned."Hillyer rushed for 800 yards and 12 touchdowns last season in a time share with Heitland. Kennedy Coach Tim Lewis employed a unique Stacked-I offensive formation part way through the season in order to get the two into the game at the same time.Moa is like Heitland in that he's shifty and quick, but you'd have to think Hillyer will be the main man."He needs to be able to carry the load," Lewis said. "Hillyer is more straight ahead, a hard-nosed runner. Miles is a jitterbug. I'd love to have a 1,000-yard rusher, we haven't had a 1,000-yard rusher for years here. But having said that, we've kind of split the load the last couple of years ... Alex's expectations for himself are pretty high, though, I think."As are Kennedy's. The Cougars went 5-5 in 2011, losing to Iowa City High in a first-round postseason game.There are a lot of returning starters on both sides of the ball, including up front offensively, where there's 250-pound junior all-state lineman Austin Holzer, among others. Kennedy needs to find some skill guys at receiver and quarterback, where there is a battle between senior Joel Smetzer and senior Riley Fergus.Fergus will start for sure at linebacker, a la Mark Atwater of Linn-Mar last season."We have a lot of returning starters, and everyone has been working hard," said senior linebacker David Hynek. "We've had a good week of two-a-days, a lot better than we have in awhile. Last year, we had a lot of size, but I don't think we had a lot of speed. But I think we've got a lot of juniors coming up to fill that. We have a lot of good players who are ready to step up. I think we're going to have a really good shot at doing something big this year.""One of our goals, our missions, is that when somebody is watching us on film, they don't know the score," Hillyer said. "That means we're giving total effort every play. Maybe we're down by 20 or up by 30, you won't know the difference because we're still going as hard as we can."Kennedy has had a habit in recent seasons of starting slow early, then getting hot late in the season. A better start in 2012 is something this group is focused upon.Kennedy plays rival Cedar Rapids Washington in Week One, then has Cedar Rapids Prairie and Iowa City West."I think if you do an interview with a coach, and they're not excited about the season, they're probably in trouble," Lewis said. "But we do have a good group. They've had a good offseason, they've had a good first week. Now they've just got to live up to the expectations that we've set for them, and see what happens."Team: Cedar Rapids Kennedy Coach: Tim Lewis (17th season) Last year's record: 5-5 Key losses: WR-DB Josh Jahlas, RB Trevor Heitland, QB Jimmy Lizarraga, DL Logan LeTellier, DB Michael Lawshea. Key returners: LB David Hynek, RB Alex Hillyer, QB-LB Riley Fergus, LB Prince Kollie, DB Andrew Johnson, OL Austin Holzer, OL Drew Heitland, Key to making playoffs: Ride an experienced offensive line and running back Alex Hillyer. Game to watch: Week Three against Iowa City West could be very interesting.

Schedule:

August 24 - at Cedar Rapids Washington

August 31 - Cedar Rapids Prairie

September 7 - Iowa City West

September 14 - at Dubuque Senior

September 21 - at Cedar Rapids Xavier

September 28 - Cedar Rapids Jefferson

October 5 - at Waterloo East

October 12 - Dubuque Hempstead

October 19 - at Iowa City HighHere is Kennedy's full roster:

Copy of Varsity Roster 2012