Countdown to kickoff: Raiders show ‘some fire to them’ that stokes desire to be playoff team

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QUINCY — Ryan Darnell is quick to point out the competitiveness taking place during the Quincy Notre Dame football team’s practices isn’t limited to the players.

“The coaches are getting after each other, too,” the senior lineman said.

It explains why the atmosphere is always intense.

“It’s how hard we work together and how much we butt heads,” Darnell said. “It really feels like we are getting the best out of each other.”

The Raiders understand it will take maintaining a high level of competitiveness to tackle a daunting schedule in order to make the postseason. QND’s enrollment will be significantly smaller than every team on its schedule, but no one is shying away from the challenge.

“These guys have some fire to them,” QND coach Jack Cornell said. “When these guys really get going and they get cranked up, they’re very challenging. They challenge each other. They challenge themselves. They challenge coaches. They have a competitive spirit.

“They’ve played on competitive teams in the past, and now they’re putting their brand on it. They’re spirited. Tempers are flaring. When things are going, it’s really good.”

That mentality carried the Raiders to the second round of the Class 2A playoffs last season.

“It’s an attitude that we’re going to get back there,” senior linebacker Taylin Scott said. “We’re going for it all this year. That’s got to be the mentality.”

It starts with a hard-hitting approach.

‘It’s communication and guys who care’

Buoyed by the return of Scott and senior safety Wyatt Mueller, the Raiders believe defense will be their calling card. A year ago, QND limited the final three opponents on its regular-season schedule to 15 combined points and won just enough games to earn a playoff bid.

On the road in the opening round of the Class 2A playoffs at Arthur-Lovington, the Raiders held the top-seeded team in the bracket to one offensive touchdown in a 21-14 victory.

And this defense might be better because of its maturity and experience.

“This defense flies around,” Cornell said.

The Raiders believe they can bottle up opposing run games.

“Very, very hard to run on,” Darnell said. “That’s going to be our defense.”

The true determining factor will be how well the Raiders interact. Scott set the single-season tackles record with 181 stops, while also blocking a punt that was returned for a touchdown and simply being here, there and everywhere on the field.

The NCAA Division I recruit can’t do it alone. Mueller is a D-I bound safety who has committed to Illinois State University and is healthy after missing six games last season with a broken leg. Gavin Doellman emerged as a lockdown cornerback last season, and the front line is as quick as it is physical.

“It’s communication and guys who care,” Scott said. “Every person on that defense has cared so much about being at our best. Football is their lives and we just want to play.”

If the offense clicks as expected, the Raiders will enjoy the freedom defensively to just play.

‘We need to run the ball’

As the team’s primary playcaller, Cornell realizes he has a variety of weapons at his disposal, but how he uses them may change week to week or even series to series.

“We have to really look at making sure we have guys in the right spots, but also not being afraid to be unique and try some new things,” Cornell said. “For me personally, that’s branching out of my comfort zone. 

“After calling plays for a couple years and really understanding what that role is, I know it’s not just about the plays that are called. It’s about personnel. It’s about putting people in the right spots to have success.”

Start in the backfield where senior running back Ivan Hun returns after emerging as a workhorse midway through last season. Hun rushed for 100 or more yards in four of the final five regular-season games, and the offensive line knows he is willing to get the tough yards.

“We need to run the ball,” Darnell said. “Seeing him pick up yards gives us a lot of faith in what we’re doing up there. We can move guys. We know he can move guys. We just have to do our jobs.”

Junior quarterback Hunter Schuckman returns after emerging as the starter late in the season and fueling the playoff push. He throws a catchable ball, understands the offense and continues to improve in his decision-making.

“He throws an accurate football,” Cornell said. “He has poise. He’s a young man who is still growing up and maturing, but he understands the game. He’s done a nice job of bringing the guys along with him. He’s working to get better at his craft, and he has the desire to be a really good quarterback.”

The weapons at his disposal are abundant. Doellman can be a dominant 1-on-1 wide receiver, while Jack Brenner and Joseph Doellman are shifty pass-catchers who provide bursts of speed and help spread the offense.

‘Believe you can do it’

The right balance between offensive efficiency and defensive intensity is what should make the Raiders a playoff-caliber team, but they understand that creating balance isn’t always easy.

“The biggest message is believe,” Scott said. “Believe you can do it.”

And believe the work pays off.

“It doesn’t just happen,” Cornell said. “These guys have to think it, they have to believe it and then they have to go do it. When we put different guys out there and it works, it shows the coaches we can trust you in those spots.”

It’s all designed to be ready for November football, something the Raiders have experienced plenty in the past two decades and want a taste of again.

“Anything can happen in the playoffs,” Scott said. “When we get back there, we have to make something out of it.”

Said Cornell, “God willing we get the wins to get there, that’s step No. 1. If anything in the past couple of years has shown us, it’s that nothing is guaranteed. We play a tough schedule that puts us in position to have success when it comes time to play in games like that.”

And the attitude it takes to win is born in those competitive practices.

“These guys hate losing more than they want to win,” Cornell said. “If you have that mentality, you can do something special.”