State Contender Profile: Chippewa Valley Big Reds

<strong>Head Coach:</strong> Scott Merchant <strong>Division:</strong> 1 <strong>Conference:</strong> Macomb Area Conference - Red <strong>2019 Overall Record:</strong> 9-1 <strong>Returning Key Players:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="29588" first="Jaillen" last="Howze"] | LB | 2021 <em>(Buffalo commit)</em> [player_tooltip player_id="29576" first="Quillen" last="Howze"] | DB/WR | 2021<em> (Buffalo commit)</em> [player_tooltip player_id="29924" first="Alexander" last="Lanzon"] | OL | 2021 [player_tooltip player_id="29843" first="Darrel" last="Hawkins"] | WR | 2021 [player_tooltip player_id="30295" first="Zach" last="Allison"] | DL | 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="29699" first="Jack" last="Donovan"] | QB | 2021 [player_tooltip player_id="30238" first="Ryan" last="Schuster"] | QB | 2022 Isaiah French | LB | 2021 Draven Wilson | DB | 2021 Maddox Altamirano | WR | 2022 <strong>Analysis: </strong>Chippewa Valley ended their 2019 season with a disappointing loss in the first round of the playoffs to Dakota, but they will be looking for redemption in 2020. The Big Reds return several starters on both sides of the ball, but it will be interesting to see how the quarterback position shakes out. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="29699" first="Jack" last="Donovan"] and junior [player_tooltip player_id="30238" first="Ryan" last="Schuster"] with compete for the starting quarterback job after the departure of Josh Kulka. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="29843" first="Darrel" last="Hawkins"] and juniors Maddox Altamirano and Zack Ernat make up the receiving core for whoever aligns under center. Seniors [player_tooltip player_id="29924" first="Alexander" last="Lanzon"] and Evan Bastianon will handle the duties up front and should make the transition to a new signal caller easier. Buffalo commits Jaillen and [player_tooltip player_id="29576" first="Quillen" last="Howze"] are the star players for the Big Reds and anchor a defense that includes an up-and-coming player in junior [player_tooltip player_id="30295" first="Zach" last="Allison"]. Chippewa Valley saw a 23-game winning streak end last season, but they have the talent on their roster to put together another undefeated regular season and make a run at the state title.