SANDWICH – James Coleman had to catch himself after he stated his goals for this spring season.

Coleman, Sandwich’s senior running back, was second on the team in rushing last season for an Indians group that narrowly missed the playoffs with a 4-5 record.

He has his sights set on a 1,000-yard season, a standard milestone for running backs under normal circumstances, which could be a heavy lift in this abbreviated six-game football season.

“I am going to try to be on pace for it,” Coleman said. “We’ll see how it all plays out, see what happens. It’s a toss-up with what’s going on.”

Coleman is one of only eight seniors on a young Sandwich team coming off its second straight 4-5 season, an achievement all the more impressive given the Indians were playing in a tougher, reconfigured Interstate Eight Conference.

In 2019, Coleman ran for 770 yards and four touchdowns, second on Sandwich to Nic Lidinsky, and led the team in kickoff-return average at 18.8 yards.

Besides individual aspirations, Coleman said he’s shooting for at least three wins this spring, and potentially a winning record, which would be Sandwich’s first since 2012. But Coleman’s not getting ahead of himself in these wildly unusual times.

“Me personally, I’m just taking it game by game,” he said. “I’m just grateful to have a chance to play at this point.”

Sandwich, fortunately, will get a chance to play right off the bat.

When La Salle-Peru had to cancel their Week 1 game because it’s in COVID-19 quarantine, Sandwich quickly added Aurora Central Catholic for a home game Saturday, March 20.

“We had three schools contact us, ACC within 2-3 minutes of L-P canceling,” Sandwich coach Kris Cassie said. “It’s going good so far, considering the insanity. We’ve been fortunate that we haven’t run into any cases, any quarantine. We get the guys in as much as we can, turnout has been good considering.”

Indeed, Cassie reported that the numbers are looking up for the spring and summer and fall retention has been excellent.

Max Coldwate will anchor Sandwich’s defensive line, with Evan Wilson and Jacob Heilemeier as outside linebackers. The secondary will be led by Coleman, Drew Theurer, Cole Mansur and Ryan Dabbert.

Theurer also is taking over at quarterback for his brother, Jack, who graduated off last year’s team.

“It’s been nice, if I have any questions I can go ask him, we live in the same house, learned a lot from him,” Theurer said. “I like being the leader of the team, I like controlling the huddle. It puts a lot of pressure on me, but I like the pressure.”

Cassie believes he has a natural leader coming up through the sophomore ranks, as fullback Seven Tornga has been named a team captain. Dan Reedy is another sophomore whom Cassie likes.

“We think very highly of Seven,” Cassie said. “He shows exemplary leadership, someone we can build this program around. When Sawyer [Allen] decided not to come out for football, we needed a captain. It felt like the right time. Seven will be with us this year and two more years. He rallies the sophomores to the weight room.”

Coleman admitted that the two weeks’ practice time before Week 1 is a little bit of a rush compared with normal seasons, but Theurer believes the Indians are set for Saturday.

“From the summer, I feel like we really picked up from where we left off,” Theurer said. “It’s looking like we’ll be ready.”