Program Profile: Cambridge-Isanti Blue Jackets

For my seventh program profile for Northstar Football News for the 2019 season, I debut a North Metro program in the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets. I got the opportunity to ask head coach <strong>Shane Weibel</strong> some great questions about his Bluejackets squad this year. <strong>Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets Offense</strong> [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="167"] Gavan Ziebarth, CIHS RB[/caption] The biggest spark in my opinion on the Bluejackets offense is running back <strong>Gavan Ziebarth</strong> who had a great sophomore year for the Bluejackets and should rise to an even higher level this season. <strong>Ziebarth</strong> was invited to a Minnesota Gophers football camp over the summer and excelled well in front of the Gopher coaching staff. What I like about <strong>Ziebarth</strong> is his vision in between the tackles. With his tra<span style="font-size: 1rem">ck and field experience, his acceleration should improve this season to get even more exposure from college coaches. At QB1 again will be </span><strong style="font-size: 1rem">Connor Braaten</strong><span style="font-size: 1rem"> for the Bluejackets.</span><strong style="font-size: 1rem"> Braaten</strong><span style="font-size: 1rem"> has two years of QB experience for the Bluejackets and will have to overcome a receiving core that is led by sophomore Logan Henderson at wide receiver. </span><strong style="font-size: 1rem">Braaten</strong><span style="font-size: 1rem"> will have good protection coming from his left side in left tackle </span><strong style="font-size: 1rem">Cooper Laase</strong><span style="font-size: 1rem"> who also is one of the top sophomores overall on the Bluejackets roster.</span> <strong>Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets Defense</strong> Defensively, Weibel stated two players that will have breakout years for the Bluejackets. The first name that came to mind was <strong>Martin Espita</strong> who last year played linebacker but is switching over to defensive tackle this season. Building up that line-backing core will be <strong>Taylon Johnson</strong> who is also expected to excel this season. This Bluejackets team only will be returning one starter on offense and defense, so it will be interesting to see how the underclassman fill in the gaps once the season starts and who excels on both sides of the ball. <strong>Coaching Mentors</strong> Coach Weibel’s biggest mentors go back to his playing days at Richfield High School under <strong>Todd Olson</strong> who is the current offensive line coach at Hamline to this day. He credits Olson for giving him sound coaching advice and instruction ever since his college days. Another mentor is <strong>George Larson</strong> who was the head coach at Cambridge-Isanti from 1958-1993 and from 1999-2000 in which he tallied over 307 wins in his career with Jeffers HS and CIHS. Weibel coached under Larson for 2 seasons but coach Larson’s legacy lives on at Cambridge-Isanti to this day. He formed the football tradition for the Bluejackets program and is in the Minnesota Football Coaches Hall of Fame. <strong>Section Toughness</strong> The biggest hurdle about the section that Cambridge-Isanti is each team is “well coached” across the board says Weibel. There are many section champions and state champions coming out of the Blue Jackets section and the “parity” of each team makes the section extremely tough. “Teams need to be prepared each week” Weibel stated as his team will have to travel up to Duluth tomorrow to take on Duluth East at 7:00 PM. <strong>Bluejackets Goals</strong> “Be the best we can possibly be” is the biggest goal according to Coach Weibel. As I stated earlier, CIHS will only have one returning starter from last year so it will be a “learning curve” to see who fills in those gaps across the depth chart offensively and defensively. There will be many juniors that will be starting this season for the Bluejackets. <strong>Not as Many Two-Way Players for the Bluejackets</strong> One of the lower numbers I’ve seen in the program profiles I’ve done, only about 3/11 or under 28% of the Bluejackets players play on both sides of the ball. With roster size of 75, this proves why the need for two-way players isn’t as necessary. “Finding games for JV and 9B is a challenge” says Weibel. Our philosophy is we want to “play games” meaning finding these two squads as many games as possible so they can get their reps in to get to the next level of Varsity. <strong>Bluejackets Alumni Coming Back to Help</strong> I mentioned earlier the great tradition this program has; it shows off on the coaching staff. There are three former Bluejackets players on Coach Weibel’s coaching staff, which carry that “pride and expectation of excellence of Bluejacket football” in their pedigree. There are many generations of players that have continued to play for CIHS The Dunbar family, currently has had 5 generations of players come thru the Bluejackets program and the current roster has 13 players, who 10-12 of their dads played for the Bluejackets as well. <strong>What should the state of Minnesota know about Cambridge-Isanti Football?</strong> One of the best quotes I got from Coach Weibel was these three words “Tradition Never Graduates” which runs strongly in the Bluejackets program as you’ve read. It may be a younger squad in those Bluejackets uniforms this year, but the tradition of Cambridge-Isanti football will always be there regardless of the wins and losses year by year. &nbsp;