Briar Cliff football team hopes defense will lead squad - KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

The coaches in the GPAC have picked the Briar Cliff football team to finish ninth out of ten teams in the conference. The Chargers are coming off a 2-9 season.

BC returns seven starters on both sides of the ball. They also have a new defensive coordinator in Justin Mohning who inherits a group that gave up nearly 37 points per game.

On offense, the biggest hole the Chargers have to fill is at quarterback. Sophomore P.J. Quiroga and transfer Kevin Van Egdom battle for a starting spot.

Head coach Tom Rethman acknowledges the squad needs better play out of the offensive line, after allowing a league high 29 sacks last season.

"If you aren't able to do the things up front, protecting the quarterback and being able to run the football, you're still not going to be able to score a whole heck of a lot of points," said Rethman. "Frankly, we've just had to throw the ball way too much.  We need to become more balanced."

"The returners that we have coming back is a solid group," said senior tight end Michael Becker. "Everybody in the huddle has some sort of experience and that makes a big difference."

"I think we've come a long way," said senior linebacker Jordan Lester.  "I really like the defense. We attack a lot better and we just seem to fit better with this defense."

BC opens the season September 1st at #21 Doane in Crete, Nebraska. The home opener is September 8th against Graceland.