LE GRAND — The 2021 season was not kind to East Marshall football, despite some improvements on the field. A difficult district in Class 1A set the Mustangs up with a schedule including opponents such as Dike-New Hartford, Denver and Aplington-Parkersburg. East Marshall went 2-6 with wins over BCLUW and Central Springs.

After losing a few key contributors but maintaining a core group of returners for the 2022 season, head football coach Greg Lee said he hopes the Mustangs can latch on to what went well last season.

“We’re lucky to have a substantial group of seniors to lead us this year and 15 returners,” Lee said. “Being able to pick up where we left off last year is a big advantage and we’re starting way ahead of what we did [last year].”

Senior quarterback Bo Lee is coming off offseason foot surgery but is looking strong in practice, Greg said. He is a big part of the Mustangs’ offensive hopes — East Marshall is trying to become a more balanced attack after years of heavy run-first offense, but after attempting to implement more open concepts in 2021 with mixed results Greg said an extra year of work is paying some dividends.

Going from an option attack has taken some adjustment, and it has been doubly difficult against strong opposition — but Greg said the team’s personnel should work in its favor, with returners Wyatt Benson and Adrian Arifi set to take bigger roles as receivers.

“We did not throw the ball very much last year,” coach Lee said. “We’re thinking we’re going to be able to throw a little more this year and be a little more balanced. We think we’ve got kids who can run with the ball if we get it to them — so we are really hoping to spread the ball a little bit more.”

Defensive contributors returning include Gage Overton and Tyler Fuller, two of the Mustangs’ top-five tacklers in 2021 and players who will need to take big responsibilities after the graduations of Tim Benson and Garrett Kerber. Connor Hassin and Hunter Postel also made an impact on the defensive end, with Postel recovering a fumble and recording an interception.

Special teams seem set to be handled by Jake Farrington and Arifi for the Mustangs.

A difficult schedule begins with a road matchup against BCLUW Aug. 26 before home games against Roland-Story and Lynnville-Sully. East Marshall has four home games this year with the final two coming against Dike-New Hartford on Sept. 23 and South Hardin on Oct. 7.