By Chris Parker
Pleasant Hope football returned to the varsity football field for the first time since 2021 and went 1-7. The win came in the Pirates’ third game of the season by a 56-44 decision over Central (Kansas City).
That victory marked the first varsity football win for Pleasant Hope since Oct. 14, 2016, and snapped a varsity losing streak of 42 games.
This season, Pleasant Hope will look to stack more wins. A key to that will be establishing the run more.
“We are trying to establish the run,” Pleasant Hope head coach Jim Apple said. “We didn’t have much success last year with the run game. We hope we will do a better job with that. We have a little more beef up front. I think it is going to help us establish the run and still be able to throw as much as we do.”
Shane Gallivan, Carson Simon and Caleb Altic will be the team’s top players.
“Caleb Altic is probably one of the best receivers around,” Apple said. “He is unknown of, but he is still probably one of the best.”
Altic will be busy in Pleasant Hope’s pass-heavy offense.
“We are going to air it out,” Apple said. “We are fun team to watch. We love to throw the ball. That is what we are built around. We want to establish the run this year, but we are still going to air it out. We are going to be entertaining football.”
Health will be a key for the Pirates.
“We need to stay healthy,” Apple said. “We keep getting the injury bug and I would like to stay away from it.”
Overall, Pleasant Hope has more experience, but the Pirates are still young.
“I feel like they really are grasping what we are doing, but we have a little bit brain fog every once in a while,” Apple said. “We are still young. Even though I might have upperclassmen for the first time, it is their first time every playing ball.”
Pleasant Hope travels to Springfield Catholic for a jamboree on Aug. 22. The Pirates open the regular season on Aug. 29 at Clinton.
