The Oakville High School football team is working towards improved consistency this preseason after a 3-7 2021 record.

The Tigers started off the season 3-2, including a three-game winning streak, but dropped the last five games of the season by a combined score of 187 to 18. 

Senior guard/tackle Jack Bishop said the team “fumbled the bag” as the 2021 season concluded, but the team’s focus in practice so far has been on staying consistent and perfecting each play.

“We go through every play every day, making sure we get it perfectly right before we move onto anything else,” Bishop said.

Coach Mike Genge said the coaching staff has been stressing the length of a season and potential playoff run to the players. 

“Our whole offseason was geared towards a 15-16 week season. Each week had a theme … and we strung it out to where we kind of showed the kids ‘Alright now this is week 15, this is how long a football season is,’” Genge said. “Not to be negative but we’ve been done the last week of October for years. I think that’s what the disappointment was, we want to get deeper in the playoffs.”

Genge said at a certain point in the schedule players were distracted by the quality, good or bad, of opponents and they “lost sight of what we do.” 

This year’s team motto, “1-0,” is featured on the team’s camp shirts and is meant to highlight the mindset Genge is shooting for — “You’ve gotta win everyday, you’ve gotta win every rep, you’ve gotta focus on winning each game, not be focused on what a team’s record is or who they are.”

The 2021 Tigers featured just five seniors — this year’s team has around 20. A highlight of last year’s team was a full returning offensive line, something that will remain a strength of the team as four of the five players are returning again. Genge said this is the second year using the team’s offensive scheme, so the o-line should act as an engine for the offense as the season progresses.

The team is using a new method of deciding team captain’s this season — in the past the captains were chosen by the coaches, but the Tiger’s player leadership council pushed for a team vote this year.

“I take my kids’ opinions very strongly … the leadership council seniors came in and said they’d like that and for the first time here I feel like we’re in a position where our kids know what we expect and they’re going to pick kids who represent that,” Genge said. 

Genge said he expects the captains to lead by example. They don’t necessarily need to be a “yes sir, no sir kid” or straight A student; Genge said they need to be someone who the coaching staff never thinks will do something wrong outside of the coach’s view.

The Tigers kick off 2022 with a rivalry game at Mehlville High School Sept. 2. Mehlville won last year’s matchup 21-0.