Smooth Transition Expected with New Riverside Coach Johannsen

Smooth Transition Expected with New Riverside Coach Johannsen –

(8-20-26) – When you already know the players, it can make things easier.

That’s what new Riverside Coach Tyler Johannsen is dealing with this season. He’s been on Darrell Frain’s staff for years and now takes over the helm of the Bulldogs since his retirement. Johannsen feels the transition will be smooth due to his familiarity with the team and running the same scheme.

“Yeah, I think the personnel is really similar, but also the system that we're going to run is pretty similar too. So super familiar with what we've installed the last three or four years, and the kids are too. We just start adding more and more to it. Our base for stuff stays the same, and then we can add and tweak based off of the kids that we have.”

Riverside was 2nd in the district with a 6-3 record, but will be hard pressed to replace 2000-yard rusher Jaxon Gordon, who’s taking his talents to Morningside to play on Saturdays.

Johannsen thinks Cole Jeppesen can be key factor to his offense. Jeppesen led the Bulldogs with 28 receptions for 461 yards and 6 TDs.

“Our goal is to move Cole as many different places as we can and make teams game plan for him in several different ways,” said Johannsen. “We'll move him all over the place and make teams worry about where he's at. Some plays will be designed for him, some plays won't, those types of things, where teams just have to think about where Cole's lined up because he is that type of player for us.”

The Bulldogs need to replace Landyn Schoenrock, who was a solid field general for them who passed for 1724 yards and 18 touchdowns in his high school career. Johannsen says he’s looking at several different options at the quarterback position.

“Throughout the summer we've given lots of guys reps to try to figure out who it might end up being for us come August 21st. I don't think we're quite there yet. We're still ironing some things out, but we're getting close.”

Defensively, Johannsen likes what Peyton Amdor brings with his reactions to play and terrific speed.

“I think what Peyton brings the most on defense is he flies around. He makes his read super fast, reacts super quick, and then flies to the football and that's kind of what we preach on our defense and on that side of the ball.”

Riverside will start their season on the road against Red Oak in a Week 0 game Aug 21st.

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