What the Silver Lake High football team has been able to achieve over these past few seasons is certainly impressive.
This past season helped the Lakers stay on the right track as they made only their fourth playoff appearance since 1980. The part about that which stands out most, however, is that they have made it to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons now.
Plus, they won a playoff game in each of those seasons and most teams across the state cannot say the same.
The Lakers finished the year at 6-5 despite not getting the result they wanted on Thanksgiving, falling to Pembroke.
The Lakers had a strong senior class this year which will be hard to replace. They will lose both their offensive and defensive MVPs to graduation, running back Phil Lashley and middle linebacker Matt Powell. Each of them were Patriot League All-Stars twice.
On top of this, their offensive line is going to look a lot different. In addition to Powell, Gavin Hamilton, Frank Perfetuo, Reed Grenon and Nate Thacker were all seniors this year, so there will be much turnover there.
Under center, the Lakers will have their third quarterback in three years next year. This was Tanner Boyd’s first and final season under center.
The Lakers had three quarterbacks listed on their roster this year with the other two being Jake Waters, a junior, and Jesse Miller, a sophomore. Waters proved himself as a valuable asset defensively this year, recording multiple interceptions while Miller competed for the starting job with Boyd during the preseason, so the Lakers have at least two options there.
Regardless of who is under center for the Lakers, they will have Diamani Williams and Bobby Ohlson back to throw to, the team’s wide receivers from this past season.
Defensively, the team will also be without four-year letterman Liam Kelleher, who recorded over 50 tackles this past season.
The Lakers have about nine months off before their preseason starts next August.