Friends, Sterling get together in big opening KCAC matchup

Friends football coach Monty Lewis has a pretty basic formula for evaluating wins and losses.

“I’m not trying to turn it into a cliche, but I’ve always felt like coaching is directly related to close losses,” Lewis said. “And players are responsible for blowouts. So last week is on me, I could’ve done better and we ended up losing to a pretty good team on the road.”

And that’s where Lewis sits headed into a whale of a KCAC opener on Saturday as No. 24 Friends (1-1) hosts defending KCAC champion Sterling (0-2) at 7 p.m., one week removed from a 23-20 loss at Peru State on a field goal in the last minute.

Friends opened the season with back-to-back road games, winning 33-7 at Doane in its season opener.

“I think those trips are going to pay dividends for us, pay dividends on Saturday,” Lewis said. “The parity in our league is amazing. And we’re fortunate that we get such a big game right off the bat. It forces you to mentally live in the now. We’re not looking at the schedule and thinking about teams we should beat or looking at a red-letter game.

“Boom, right in front of us, is a game we have to bring that championship level to.”

History shows Lewis isn’t exagerrating when he talks about championships in the first week of conference play. In the last decade, five KCAC champions had one loss and five went undefeated, including Friends in 2008.

Last season, Sterling opened up conference play with a 31-0 loss to Friends before reeling off eight straight wins for the first KCAC title in school history.

“Our players absolutely understand how critical this is,” Lewis said. “Because if I’m Sterling, I”m probably thinking this is payback for last year.”

One big question mark for Friends is the inconsistent play of senior quarterback and Andover native Aaron Hansen.

Hansen went 8 of 13 for 191 passing yards and three touchdowns against Doane, but saw his productivity take a hit when Friends had to lean on him against Peru, going 13 of 28 for 176 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Hansen threw for 1,109 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions last season.

“He understands there are a handful of mistakes he needs to eliminate,” Lewis said. “It’s just one little thing here or there and he’s really close.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2014 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Friends, Sterling get together in big opening KCAC matchup."