By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post Sports
HAYS, Kan. – One of the biggest questions marks for the Fort Hays State football team entering this season is the secondary where the Tigers are needing to replace four starters who combined for 106 career starts.
Redshirt junior Jaxon Kolzow is the lone returning starter in the secondary. The Salina native played in all 11 games last season, earning six starts at safety as the season progressed.
"It's definitely different," Kolzow said. "We're having a whole bunch of guys step up. We've got a lot of competition right now. We're pushing each other every single day to get better and grow as a unit."
Despite the team's inexperience, Kolzow believes this year's defense has the potential to be just as good as last season's. FHSU's defense was one of the best in the MIAA, allowing a league-low 219.2 passing yards per game and ranking second in total defense with 330 yards allowed. The Tigers also finished second in the conference with a plus-eight turnover margin, which ranked in the top 20 nationally.
"We definitely have the talent back there," Kolzow said. "It's just everybody getting comfortable and growing with each other. It takes time getting used to playing with different guys and learning a whole new defense for some of these guys, but we're getting there."
With seven career starts, Kolzow now finds himself in a leadership role.
"Last year we had a whole bunch of old guys, so they kind of told me what to do," he said. "I took that experience from them and I'm trying to implement that into this year."