High School Football Preview: Maywood Hayes Center Wolves

NORTH PLATTE, Nebraska (KNOP) – With the season right around the corner, our football preview roadshow takes us south to Hayes to take a look at the Maywood Hayes Center Wolves.

After a tough schedule last year, Maywood Hayes Center is coming off a two-game, six-game season in 2023 and is looking to turn things around. One thing that has already changed for the Wolves is their new head coach Tanner Collins. Collins was an assistant a year ago before switching positions.

From Collins' balanced team, which ranges from freshmen to seniors, he expects hard work, toughness and – most importantly – discipline from his guys.

Most of the time, it is not Coach Collins who disciplines his players; his own players discipline each other and hold each other accountable for their mistakes, which Coach Collins really likes at this stage of fall camp.

“We have a great group of seniors. It's become a player-led kind of team, which I think is huge for us, with the older kids holding the other kids accountable. I think that makes a big difference. I like our schedule, I think everyone on our schedule is tough, but I think we can compete with anyone, and when you get into a fierce battle in the fourth quarter, who knows what's going to happen,” Collins said.

Even in the locker room, players come together and form a bond, and the Wolves' small but mighty senior group keeps the team focused. Senior quarterback and linebacker Kody Schwenk knows how important it is for him and the other four seniors to provide leadership, and that started this summer.

“We made sure everyone got into the weight rooms and to all the summer camps we could. Everyone represented themselves really well. I was really happy about that, and if someone wasn't there, we talked to them to get them there. And most of them were there every day, so that was really nice to see,” Schwenk said.

The Maywood Hayes Center opens the 2024 season on August 29 at home against the Wilcox-Hildreth Falcons.

Click here to subscribe to our daily KNOP News 2 summary and breaking news alerts sent directly to your email inbox.

All rights reserved.