A few mistakes can change the outcome of a football game. A few mistakes every game can change a season.

The 2013 Collinsville Kahoks finished 1-8 for the second consecutive season. They lost two games by a combined three points. In two games that ended in a lopsided score, CHS was within a touchdown late into the second half. Penalties and turnovers were the difference in the games, and the difference between a respectable record and another frustrating campaign.

Second-year Head Coach John Blaylock said a reduction in unforced errors is very important, and something on which they have continued to work with the team.

“If we can take care of our business, if we reduce turnovers, if we reduce penalties and errors, there are plenty of games out there that I know we can win,” Blaylock said.

The Kahoks will be in the second year of Blaylock’s run-oriented offense scheme. Working in the system for another year may allow the players to focus more on playing and less on learning.

Despite losing nine offensive starters, Blaylock said the team has improved in at least 10 of 11 positions. Returning starters Jordan Miller and Jamal Wellmaker are better, faster and stronger version of themselves, Blaylock said. The other nine starters are as good or better than their predecessors, in part, because they have another year of experience in the system, Blaylock said.

Miller at fullback and Wellmaker at a wingback are part of a deeper backfield in 2014. Zach Hammel-Brown will claim the other starting wingback position. A pair of starting linebackers, Max Lyons and Eric Finch, will serve as backups at the wings.

When Devin Burch went down with an injury last year, CHS struggled to replace him at the wing position. That should not be an issue this season.

“We will have four legitimate wings this year,” Blaylock said. “Last year we had big problems when Burch went down and we didn’t have good solutions. This year, we have solutions.”

Distributing the ball to the fullback and wingbacks will be Jordan Reichert, who started two games as a sophomore last year and tied for the team lead in touchdown passes with two. But ball control, not passing, is the focus of the Kahoks offense.

“If we limit the game to eight possessions for us and eight possessions for them, more than likely it’s going to come out as a win for us,” Blaylock said.

A 6-foot-2, 196-pound converted linebacker, Reichert is not afraid to run the ball inside or take contact while pitching to a back, Blaylock said. Reichert also has a high football IQ and commands the field very well, Blaylock said.

On the rare occasion the Kahoks toss the pigskin, Marshun Kyles, Trevore Sanders and Jeremiah Danford will be the primary targets. Sanders and Danford will split time at one wide out and Kyles, the possession receiver, will man the other side. Ricky Fields and Lawrence Gilmore will also battle for playing time.

Blocking for the guys in the backfield will be right tackle LaRon Johnson, right guard Tim Burke, center Tanner Hails, left guard JT Thomas and the winner of the camp battle for left tackle. Kyle Hostetter, Nick Scholl and Chandler Miller are fighting for the starting position.

The 2014 version of the CHS offensive line is smaller than last year, but that suits Blaylock perfectly. His trap blocking scheme favors athletic linemen that are very smart, have very good feet and are very fast, Blaylock said.

The defense on last year’s team surrendered fewer than 20 points only one time. The team’s offensive struggles carried over to the defense, which surrendered a large number of late points on at least two occasions.

Seven of 11 defenders return from the 2013 squad. Some, such as Lyons, who moves in from safety to linebacker, will be playing a new position.

Other tentative defensive starters include corner backs Jamal Wellmaker and Jacob Gass. Wellmaker will be a two-way starter, something Blaylock has said he likes to avoid. The situation with Wellmaker is different.

“He is probably the most in shape athlete that we have,” Blaylock said, “If anyone can handle it, he can.”

In addition to Finch and Lyons, other linebackers include Nathan Jackstadt, who had two sacks against East St. Louis in 2013, and Trevore Sanders. Mark Garcia and Connor Highlander are competing for playing time at inside linebacker.

Division I prospect John Burns will man one defensive end position and Dorian Wren the other. At 5-foot-8, 207-pounds Quincy Gaithing will appear undersized at nose tackle, Blaylock said, but he is “strong as an ox and quick,” Blaylock said. “He’s going to be an excellent nose tackle.”

Blaylock does not want to speculate about a record for this 2014 Kahoks. With the exceptions of Edwardsville and East St. Louis, there is a great deal of parity in the Southwestern Conference, Blaylock said.

Win or lose, after a game Blaylock knows that he can count on his players to have given everything they could to win the game. The players help each other and hold each other accountable, Blaylock said.

“It’s a younger group, but it’s a group of kids that I can feel very good about taking the field with,” Blaylock said.