After two years with the gun-slinging quarterback Frank Wieland, the ADM Tiger Football team handed the reigns off to Sam McCartney for the 2016 season after much consideration from head coach Mike Whisner.

McCartney would be put to the test quite early against a perennial powerhouse in the Dallas Center-Grimes Mustangs last week as the the Tigers opened up their season. In that early test, while the final score outcome wasn’t what he had hoped for, the senior quarterback showed his skills under center and proved his leadership abilities to lead the Tigers in 2016. Raccoon Valley Radio spoke with head coach Mike Whisner and received his thoughts on his senior quarterback for week number one.

“He’s a very good leader and understands the game on the field and that was his first game guiding his team under pressure. He takes it very seriously and he’s a pretty quick learner and now (to improve) we need to work on the things he did well and some things he can do better at. I think he’s doing fine and obviously other teams are going to be keying on him because he’s a major part of the offense,” explained coach Whisner.

McCartney showed his poise in the pocket taking to the air 28 out of the 60 plays total in their last game, and finding 8 different ADM receivers as he did so. McCartney also had a good showing on the ground for an overall good first start to his time at quarterback. Round two for McCartney and the rest of the Tiger football team starts this Friday as they unvail their new and improved Tiger football stadium taking on the Ballard Bombers in non-district play. Catch the Tigers and their senior quarterback this Friday by tuning into K107.9FM for pregame at 7:00 followed by kickoff at 7:30.