High school football: Parowan Rams 2011 preview

Note: Parowan finished with a 5-5 overall record and a 2-3 record in the 2A West region last year. It lost to Grand, 29-16, in the 2A first round.

Parowan coach Matt Labrum has known for a few years now that this particular class of seniors and juniors wasn't going to be very large. The reality of the situation hit hard this summer when Parowan couldn't get enough kids to sign up for camp.

Naturally, Labrum is quite concerned heading into the 2011 season.

"I think we would compete OK in a 1A level, but it's going to be a tough for us in this new 2A division," said Labrum.

Last year Parowan had a decent-size group of seniors with 15 and was pretty successful with a 5-5 record. This year just about every senior and junior will start, and the majority will be counted on to play both ways.

Football has never been a big sport at Parowan, but it appears to be waning more so than normal right now.

"I don't think we have the support we need community wise. It seems to be more into cross country and track and different things that way," said Labrum.

A decreasing enrollment isn't making things any easier. Labrum believes Parowan could be on the 1A bubble in the next UHSAA realignment cycle in two years, but even if it's not he wonders if concessions need to made for the smaller 2A schools.

Even though the numbers paint a pretty bleak picture for Parowan, Labrum is ready to dive right in and see how this team responds.

"The big things is we just need to continue to get better as a team. We're going to be young, and we're going to make mistakes. We'll have guys in key positions who are a little younger. We need to look at ourselves and evaluate ourselves as we go throughout the season to make sure we're getting better," said Labrum.

"It's going to be tough to compete in some of the games, but I hope we step up every time and give our best effort. As long as you give your best effort you can come off the field with your head held high."

Konai Bloomfield, Carson Robinson, Jesse English, Caylor Mathews and Kaden Bentley are five of the seniors Labrum is counting on to make big contributions both offensively and defensively.

Parowan Rams at a glance

Coach: Matt Labrum is entering his fifth year at Parowan High School having compiled a 17-26 career record thus far. He's a graduate of Union High School.

Offense