STEVENS POINT, Wis. – As the UW-Stevens Point football team winds down preseason, one thing is evident throughout the squad, the excitement level may be at an all-time high.  Head coach Greg Breitbach enters his fourth year with the Pointers and has leveraged the past year plus to position his team for success.
 
"Everybody's really, really happy to be back and have the opportunity to play the game we all like to play," said Breitbach.  "The excitement level for our practices, we don't take them for granted, and I can see that in the eyes of our coaches and players."
 
Under center, the Pointers are set to hand the ball back to Max Herro (Dousman, Wis./Kettle Moraine).  Herro took over the starting job the final five games of the 2018 season and started the opener in 2019 before suffering a season ending injury.  He is back healthy and poised to resume where he left off in 2018 throwing for more than 1000 yards and eight touchdowns in his five starts.
 
Behind Herro, the quarterback room is full of capable and eager talent.  Trey Schroeder (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) enters his second year with the team and brings the pedigree of a winner.  He went undefeated and led his Deforest High squad to a state title his senior year.  Ryan Carmichael (New Franken, Wis. /Kewaunee) and Will Cotter (Columbus, Wis./Columbus) add quality depth at the position.
 
"Our quarterback room is in really good shape," continued Breitbach.  "The last time he (Herro) played a full game, he was the WIAC Player of the Week and he was three years younger. It's fun to see him playing with that kind of confidence and energy."
 
The Pointers' backfield will have a bit of a different look since the last game in 2019.  Vercion Gammel (Milwaukee, Wis./Lincoln) has emerged as a fast and physical option to begin the season.  Seth Forbes (Manawa, Wis./Little Wolf) also has risen on the depth chart to be a key out of the backfield.  Gammel and Forbes, although in their second and third years at UWSP, are poised to play their first game with the Pointers this season.  Jeffrey Williams and Jermaine Moore, Jr. provided quality depth at running back.
 
Jahi Stigall (Chicago, Ill./DePaul College Prep) shifts from the backfield to a receiver role in 2021.  He brings a veteran presence to the offense and has succeeded everywhere on the field scoring touchdowns on the ground, through the air and on special teams.
 
Joe Hare (Arlington Heights, Ill./St. Viatore) and Ernie LaSpisa (Wauwatosa, Wis./West) played in 2019 and added needed experience at the position. Markell Outlaw (Riverdale, Ill./Donald E. Gavit) has switched to the offense and will be a major contributor at wide receiver. Joe Aguilera (Dorchester, Wis./Abbotsford) and Jeremy Kobe (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) will also contribute at the position.
 
Devin Baldridge (Gilberts, Ill./Hampshire), one of the leaders in receiving yards among returners, shifts to a tight end role.  He is physical and will be a key to the offensive success.
 
All offensive success will be enabled by the UWSP offensive line.  Four upperclassmen slot in as leaders on the line with Coleton Armstrong (Florence, Wis./Florence), Ben Gosenheimer (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose), Michael Kubicki (Marshall, Wis./Marshall) and Nick Retterath (Medford, Wis./Medford Area) all in at least their third year with the program.  Reece Garrigan (Gillett, Wis./Suring) and Ruger Johnson (Viola, Wis./Kickapoo) also have a number of years with the program.  Jake Johnston (Brown Deer, Wis./Brown Deer), Zach Reimer and Cesar Rios (Menasha, Wis./Menasha) have emerged to be effective and reliable offensive linemen.
 
"Any time you are going to build a football program, it has to start up front," commented Breitbach.  "If you can't handle it physically on the o- and d-lines, you are going to struggle in football.  Our first recruiting emphasis was offensive line and we've retained six of those seven guys.  They have a significant amount of snaps playing on the offensive line."
 
The UWSP defense is arguably the strength of the team.  With a pair of all-conference selections in Berkley Corvino (Weston, Wis./DC Everest) and Kameron Kryzanski (Thorp, Wis./Thorp) leading the way.  Corvino headlines a defensive front that Breitbach touts as the best in his tenure at UWSP.  Corvino led the Pointers in tackles for loss in 2019.  He joins Dakota Carriveau (Oconto Falls, Wis./Oconto Falls), Wayde Ernstmeyer (Reedsburg, Wis./Reedsburg Area) and Michael Singer (Amherst, Wis./Amherst) to bring a ferocious pass rush from UWSP's defensive front.
 
Kryzanski led the Pointers in tackles in 2019, the third-most among all WIAC defenders. Paired with fellow upperclassman Michael Stephenson (Madison, Wis./East), the duo give UWSP a high level of experience and leadership on defense.  Avery Fagerberg (Elko, Nev./Grantsburg) and Jacob Klatkiewicz (Hales Corners, Wis./Whitnall) add versatility, experience and quality depth at linebacker.
 
UWSP's defensive backfield is also fraught with veterans.  Gavin Tachick (Waunakee, Wis./Waunakee) and Reese Wiggins (Carpentersville, Ill./Harry D. Jacobs) will patrol the safety positions.  Jawahn Downing (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale South) also brings invaluable experience with the third-most tackles among returners from the 2019 defense. Jacob Morgan (Milwaukee, Wis./Thomas More) and Tyler Van Ess (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) step up to lead at cornerback with newcomers Larry Boh (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) and Pat Wade (Racine, Wis./Horlick) set to bring fresh energy.
 
"We've got some depth there," continued Breitbach.  "We've got a bunch of guys that can compete. I feel good about where we are at, but you don't know what you have until you go out there and play."
 
The kicking game is led by all-conference returner Victor Ponterio (Melrose, Wis./Melrose-Mindoro).  He earned all-league honors in 2018 and returns in 2021 with a renewed energy.  Punting duties have fallen on Carter Unger (Waukesha, Wis./South), but competition from newcomers only looks to up the quality of play for the incumbent.
 
"We are a program that has had the WIAC Special Teams Player of the Year two years in a row," touted Breitbach.  "That job is heavily sought after.  We got some talented people, we just have to figure out the best fit back there."
 
Off the field, defensive coordinator Sean Dugan returns for his fourth season on the staff to provide leadership and stability.  Jake Kulig joins the staff from a DIII powerhouse Mary Hardin-Baylor and the Pointers have brought in Ryan Sayre, a former wide receiver at Colorado State.
 
Beyond that, Breitbach has assembled a stable of Pointer veterans on his coaching staff.  Taylor Lucas, a two-time academic All-American as a player for UWSP, returns to coach the o-line.  Pete McAdams, a defensive coach for UWSP in the 1990's, joins Breitbach's staff again in 2021.  Eric Bromeisl (Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell Central), Michah Childs and Coy Coffey all played for the Pointers in recent years. 
 
"I think we are doing something right when these guys want to come back," stated Breitbach.
 
Beginning with this Saturday's season opener at Mayville State, the Pointers head on the road for the first two non-conference games.  The home opener is Sept. 18, a non-conference contest against UW-Stout and the annual Pink Game, kicking off a three-game homestand.
 
"Anybody in this league can beat anybody any week," stated Breitbach referring to the conference slated that begins Oct. 2. "The way it sets up, in the order it sets up, we fell like that is an advantage to us, but you never know because everybody's good."