218 Jocks: Duluth East Football

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Veteran Duluth East football coach Joe Hietala led the Greyhounds through a brisk preseason workout Tuesday morning at beautiful Ordean Stadium. Duluth Public Schools photo

Duluth East football coach Joe Hietala on the 2019 Greyhounds:

“We return a lot of experience from last year, including nearly our entire offensive backfield. Our receiving core is also back. We face the same question mark that we’ve had in the last few years: if we can develop an offensive line? But we’re bigger than we’ve been in maybe the last 10 years, so from that standpoint and it bodes well for us.

Leonard. Duluth Public Schools photo
Caden Edwards is a second-year starter at quarterback, and he runs our offense well and throws a good ball. We should be two-dimensional offensive with fullback Elijah Leonard returning, so we should be able to run the ball against most teams. At 5-10, 270 I wouldn’t want to tackle him.

Overall, we’ve enjoyed the best summer of work that we’ve ever had. Our student-athletes went to the UMD team camp and performed well there, and we had our own camp in July that gave us a head start on this season. Where it adds up to in the end I’m not sure, but I like our chances. Andover, Cambridge and St. Francis are strong programs in our section. If we’re playing our best football in the playoffs, I think we’ve got a chance.”