Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
Ponitz graduation 2012
Home > Blogs > High School Huddle > Archives > 2010 > August > 03
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Football preview: Brookville
This is another in a series of capsules previewing area high school football for the 2010 season:
BROOKVILLE (D-IV, Region 16)
League: SWBL Southwestern
Coach: Mike Hetrick (10 years)
2009 record: 2-4, 5-5
Key returners:
Austen Alber, sr., OL
Connor Domsitz, jr., OL/DL
Cameron Dunn, OL/DL, sr.
Jake Harrison, sr., QB
Chad Webster, sr., RB/LB
Dylan Whorton, sr., WR/DB
Eric Wolfe, sr., OL/DL
Extra points:
The Blue Devils are pulling a reverse from the 2009 season: The offensive line is a strength for ‘10 - led by three seniors - and the backfield comes in inexperienced. Harrison, though, does provide some stability.
“Last year going into the year we lost about our entire line and had two or three backs back. Now we have our line back, but our backfield is kind of inexperienced except for our quarterback,” Hetrick said.
Road Warriors serves as the team theme for the season. The first four games are on the road, as are six of their 10 overall. Last season, Brookville played just four games on the road going 2-2.
The team finished .500 last season, but the Blue Devils went 0-5 versus teams with winning records. That’ll have to change for Brookville to recapture the magic from a 10-0 season and playoff appearance in 2008.
“We’re Division IV and playing in the big-school division. Out of the 14 teams we’re about the 11th-smallest school. We’re butting heads with the big schools, which is what we like, but it always makes it a little tough on us,” Hetrick said.
BROOKVILLE
Fri., Aug. 27 at Tri-County North
Fri., Sept. 3 at Carlisle
Fri., Sept. 10 at Preble Shawnee
Fri., Sept. 17 at Eaton
Fri., Sept. 24 Dixie
Fri., Oct. 1 Oakwood
Fri., Oct. 8 at Monroe
Fri., Oct. 15 at Bellbrook
Fri., Oct. 22 Franklin
Fri., Oct. 29 Valley View
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Football Preview 2010
Football preview: Marshall
This is another in a series of capsules previewing area high school football for the 2010 season:
MARSHALL (D-IV, Region 16)
League: Dayton City League
Coach: Earl White, 10 years
2009 record: 4-0, 7-3
Key returners:
Timothy Cook, sr., LB
Desmond Dixon, sr., LB
Avontae Penn, sr. QB
Quincy Surles, sr., RB
Donovan Taylor, sr., DB
Extra points:
White has the numbers memorized.
“It was 5,745 yards in 10 games,” he said.
That was the Cougars’ rushing total last season, an astonishing performance that made Marshall one of the area’s most feared offensive teams. The team didn’t lose a game on the field, but we’ll never know how it would have performed in the playoffs.
Adding to the mystery of Marshall’s season was the team’s forfeiture of its first three games for using an ineligible player, which bumped it to 10th in the D-IV, Region 16 computer points, two spots away from the postseason.
That brings two significant questions entering this year: Can Marshall match its rushing prowess of a year ago, and can the program overcome the crushing loss of a perfect regular season to no postseason?
Leading the rushing attack will be Surles, the only one of Marshall’s four feared running backs returning this season, and Penn, who will enter his second season as the starting quarterback. The Cougars will add senior DeAntre Reece, senior Tavon Crist and sophomore Denzel Norvell to the running back rotation. Penn will likely run a little more this year as well, White said.
(Last year’s three senior running backs are all playing in college - Tavion Wright and Brandon Walker at Grand Rapids Junior College and Dionte Oliver at Central State.)
White said he’s particularly optimistic about Norvell.
“He played a little varsity last year as the starting nickel back, so he knows how to hit,” White said. “He could be a really good player for us.”
As for the forfeits, White said some frustration remains but the team has no choice but to it put it in the past.
“It was a real hard pill to swallow, but we’re trying to move on,” White said. “We’re telling the kids that we would be more disappointed if we flopped this year than in not making the playoffs last year.
“Another way we look at it is we didn’t end the season with a loss. We’re going on the promise that we didn’t lose last year.”
MARSHALL
Fri., Aug. 27 at Greenon
Fri., Sept. 3 Chaminade Julienne
Fri., Sept. 10 Jefferson
Fri., Sept. 17 at Greenville
Fri., Oct. 1 Meadowdale
Sat., Oct. 9 Columbus Bishop Hartley
Fri., Oct. 15 at Belmont
Fri., Oct. 22 at Dunbar
Fri., Oct. 29 Ponitz Tech
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Football Preview 2010, Football capsules
Football preview: Northmont
This is another in a series of capsules previewing area high school football for the 2010 season:
NORTHMONT (D-I, Region 4)
League: GWOC Central
Coach: Lance Schneider (12 years)
2009 record: 3-2, 6-4
Key returners:
Cameron Belton, so., QB
Jeremy Campbell, jr., DT
Eric Downing, sr., OL
Chavez Leath, sr., DL
Josh McClain, sr., WR
Brandon Reaman, sr., WR/RET
Kaleb Ringer, jr., LB
Jordan Taylor, sr., WR
Paul Winkler, sr., RB
Extra points:
The Thunderbolts will quickly find out if they’ve dug themselves a deep playoff hole or secured a spot in Week 11 after the first three games vs. Colerain at UC’s Nippert Stadium (in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown), then hosting Princeton and Moeller. That’s easily the toughest opening weeks of a season Northmont has ever put together.
“A part of it is out of necessity because it’s hard to find people to play,” said Schneider, whose Bolts played perennial D-I state title contender Cleveland St. Ignatius the last two seasons.
“We go 0-3 and people will line up to play us.”
Schneider committed Northmont to be a state contender midway through his tenure, and lining up a formidable non-league schedule was only part of the master plan. The other part was ratcheting up the defense and essentially grounding the Air-Schneider offense. And for the most part that has worked, until missing the playoffs for only the second time in nine years last season.
“People think of us as offensive guys, but the last 8-9 years we’ve stacked our guys on defense instead of offense,” Schneider said. “Really, when Elder beat us (33-7) in 2003 in the playoffs, I figured out football then. How are we ever going to get out of Region 4? We needed multiple personnel groupings and formations and playing GCL football, basically.
“That was the epiphany that I got and I’ve stayed true to it since then. Those are the teams that you have to beat. Two years ago we lost 13-10 to Elder and should have won the game. We’ve made great strides.”
If Northmont is to return to the postseason, it’ll have to get big-time play from Ringer, the third of four brothers and a nephew of former CJ standout and current Titans RB Javon Ringer. An outstanding LB prospect, he’s destined to be Northmont’s next national recruit.
Besides Ringer, the defense is loaded with proven returnees, including the entire front seven. The down side is the entire secondary is new.
The offense has been turned over to sophomore QB Cameron Belton, the youngest brother of former Northmont standouts and DDN D-I players of the year Clay and Chase Belton. Schneider likens Cameron to the best of both, inheriting Clay’s ability to pass and Chase’s off-tackle presence and running back speed.
The Bolts are solidly entrenched - with Centerville and Wayne - among the area’s best three D-I programs and there’s no reason - after the first three weeks - that the Bolts should deviate. In the past 12 years more than 100 former Bolts have played college ball, including 25 at the D-I level. Defensive back CJ Barnett is a redshirt freshman at OSU, the most high profile of 23 former Bolts playing at the next level this fall.
“If you want to count (rookie) Kurt Coleman with the (Philadelphia) Eagles, that’s 24,” said Schneider.
It was just two seasons ago that Northmont was 10-2 and lost only to D-I state winner St. Ignatius and D-I state runner-up Elder.
“Football is a big deal here, as it should be,” Schneider said.
“We’re not just playing football at a high level locally, we’re playing on a national scale when we play these kinds of teams like St. Ignatius and our first three games this year.”
NORTHMONT
Sat., Aug. 28 vs. Colerain at UC’s Nippert Stadium, 8:15 p.m., Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown
Fri., Sept. 3 Princeton
Fri., Sept. 10 Cin. Moeller
Fri., Sept. 17 at Sidney
Fri., Sept. 24 at Lebanon
Fri., Oct. 1 Beavercreek
Fri., Oct. 8 at Centerville
Fri., Oct. 15 at Fairmont
Fri., Oct. 22 Wayne
Fri., Oct. 29 Springfield
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Football Preview 2010
