Prep Football 2016: Estero set to kick off Year 2 of Hanlon era

The second year of football coach Jeff Hanlon's era at Estero High School begins pretty similarly to the way the first got under way – with a game against Cape Coral-Mariner.

The Wildcats lost last year’s game 21-14, part of a five-game winless stretch to start the season before a late-season surge got Estero into the playoffs.

The Wildcats obviously are hoping for a faster start this season, although Hanlon knows it won’t be easy with a road game at an improved Mariner squad. To compound preparation a bit, Mariner was one of several Lee County teams to see its preseason game canceled due to lightning last week, so the Wildcats don’t have any fresh film on their opponents.

“Obviously we’re not able to see game film to break them down or whatever, we just have to look at what they did in the spring, most of the personnel is the same,” Hanlon said. “I’m sure offensively, they’ll be trying to do a lot of the same things.”

Prep football: Estero rolls past East Lee for Jeff Hanlon's first win as coach

On the Estero side, at least they got a preseason game in to work out some kinks before Friday’s opener. The Wildcats didn’t do much offensively in a 3-0 victory, with speedster Willie Neal the only player making much of an impact. But the defense certainly did its job all night, a trend Hanlon obviously hopes will continue throughout the season.

“We saw some nice things in that game,” Hanlon said “Obviously, we need to become more consistent on offense. We need to sustain drives better. Defensively, I thought we played well. We flew around, played physical. We made a few mistakes, mistakes we’ll have to avoid against Mariner because they’ve got some nice athletes who are coached really well.”

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Junior Phil Setterquist has taken over the quarterback position, a more traditional quarterback than Neal was last year. The move allowed Hanlon to use Neal in a variety of ways. Sometimes he lines up at running back, other times at receiver, giving the Estero offense some flexibility and making it more difficult for opposing defenses to plan their attack.

Overall, Hanlon is happy with his team heading into the season. As it was last year, the goals remain the same.

“Just keep moving, keep getting better every week,” he said. “If you can do that, you’ll be where you want to be at the end of the season.”

Estero at Cape Coral-Mariner, 7:30 p.m.

Key players: E – RB/WR Willie Neal, QB Phil Setterquist, CB Keevon Clark, LB DJ Adams; M – QB Cairo Jeunegens, RB Johnathan Charles, OL/DL Alex Gonzalez, WR Amari Haynes

What to watch for: Each team is looking to improve on a four-win season from a year ago. Wildcats started 0-5 in coach Jeff Hanlon’s first year with the program, before winning four of five to clinch a playoff berth. Estero opened last season with a 21-14 home loss to the Tritons. Estero was able to play its preseason game last Thursday, a 3-0 win over Bishop Verot. Mariner had its preseason game rained out. The Wildcats secondary will be challenged by the Tritons’ tall outside receivers, including 6-foot-8 Amari Haynes.