Kendrick Tigers hope upswing continuesAfter showing marked improvement last season, the Kendrick Tigers hope 1998 is their breakout year.

After going just 1-7 in 1996, the Tigers improved to 4-4 last season.

Now, all but two starters are back.

And head coach Kevin Driskill isn't shy about what his Tigers want out of the season, which begins Saturday at Salmon River.

"We're shooting for the league championship," said Driskill, in his seventh year as head coach. "We went though a few down years. Now we're trying to reestablish the Kendrick tradition of about five or six years ago."

However, with five-time defending champion Deary to deal with in the Class A-4 Whitepine League, Eggers knows winning the title will be no small task.

"Deary's going to be tough," he said. "I don't know if anyone can beat them -- I don't know if anyone in the state can beat them."

Kendrick, ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press preseason A-4 poll, will be short-handed for the season opener.

Matt Tefft, a starter on the offensive and defensive lines, will miss Saturday's game while serving a one-game suspension after being ejected in last season's finale.

Junior tailback Tim Silflow will also be sidelined while continuing his recovery from a concussion suffered in a motorcycle accident.

Sophomore Nate Eichner, a three-sport starter for Kendrick during the 1997-98 school year, will be back at quarterback after taking over midway through the 1997 season.

Some other key players for Kendrick, which will primarily run its offense out of the I-formation, are senior fullback/linebacker Bryan Carter, senior lineman Seth Parks, senior wide receiver/defensive back Richie Hitchcock and senior tailback/defensive back Sam Brown.