Indians upbeat; Crusaders young in backfield
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| These are the seniors on the St. Dominic football team. |
In 2006, the Indians lost their first eight games before battling back to blow out Beaumont, then beating Troy by two points in the regular season finale. But last year Holt marched to a much different tune, winning three of its first four games and finishing 6-4 overall with a 4-2 mark in the Gateway Athletic Conference South Division, which was good for third place. And only a one-point loss to Fort Zumwalt South kept the Indians from placing second in league play.
“Our first season, we kind of struggled, so it was real important last year for us to get out to a good start,” Shields said. “I thought the kids really responded well. All the kids bought in and believed in what we were doing.”Which has Shields optimistic that, despite losing 15 players to graduation, Holt can “keep moving forward.”
“Year three of me and my staff being here, I feel better every year,” Shields said. “The kids retain a little bit more of the system transfers over from year to year, and there’s less of a feeling of having to start over. They just know what to expect.”
One of the Indians’ biggest question marks, Shields said, is in the trenches, where just two starters return on the offensive side. Senior left guard Matt Miles (5-foot-11, 285 pounds) and junior center Roy Wolfrum (6-2, 245) are back, and Shields said senior right guard Jeremy Boschert (6-1, 275) was “a solid backup” last season. The other starters will be junior left tackle Andrew Lazalier (6-3, 205), who moves over from tight end, and junior right tackle Adam McCarty (6-0, 250).
“Those kids have been working hard, and they’re a couple big, physical kids,” Shields said.
The receiving corps is led by the return of senior Blayne Mesplay (6-3, 190), a second team all-GAC South selection last season after leading the Indians with 376 yards receiving on 27 catches and nine touchdowns.
“He’s a big-time receiver, definitely one of the top receivers in the conference,” Shields said.
Shields said some of the other receivers “are going to have to step up,” and the team hopes to get a big contribution from senior Cal Hawkins (5-9, 160), who rushed for 111 yards last season and caught eight passes for 123 yards. Senior Rickey Bailey (6-2, 220) returns at tight end for his third year as a starter. Bailey, also the team’s punter, caught 17 passes for 137 yards last season.
In the backfield, Holt will rely on a committee to make up for the unexpected loss of senior Troy Johnson, who led the team in rushing with 459 yards last season but suffered a torn ACL during camp a few weeks ago and will miss the entire season. But Shields said he feels confident that Holt has a group of running backs whose combined efforts will carry the team’s rushing attack. Junior Nick Grubbs (6-0, 190) is the every-down type of back, senior Zach Conley (5-9, 215) can be a useful short-yardage guy out of the fullback spot, while Hawkins and sophomore Terrance Tate (5-6, 150) give the Indians a pair of home run threats.
“Maybe I’m overly optimistic, maybe I’m wrong, but I think we’ll be OK at running back,” Shields said.
At quarterback, senior Collin Pierce (6-1, 185) will get the starting nod. Last year as a backup, Pierce completed 10 of 19 passes for 76 yards and two touchdowns. He also gained 285 yards on 33 carries, an 8.6 per carry average.
“Collin is very athletic, and we think he will bring a little more athleticism to the table than we had last year,” Shields said.
Defensively, Wolfrum and Boschert will be joined on the line by junior Will Johnson (5-10, 225) and senior Levi Stubbs (5-11, 250).
At linebacker, senior Tyler Martin (5-11, 185) returns to a starting role for the third season. Last year, Martin finished second on the team with 37 solo tackles, along with 25 assists, and also had two sacks, earning second team all-GAC South recognition.
“He brings an edge to the position, and he just plays with an energy and a passion that, you can’t help but be drawn to it,” Shields said.
Lazalier and junior Ryan Price (5-9, 205) will join Martin in the starting lineup.
In the Indians’ 3-3-5 defensive alignment, Shields said two players will fill what he called the “safety/linebacker” spots. One of them will be senior John Oehler (5-9, 190), while the other one is wide open, with a lot of players battling for the starting role. Shields said Hawkins and sophomore Sean Lanham (5-8, 155), the team’s kicker who could also see some time at running back, are making strong cases.
Seniors Patrick Koons (5-9, 175) and Kenny Jackson (5-9, 150) will start at cornerback, with senior Jack Peglow (5-11, 185), who led the Indians with 40 solo tackles and tied for the team lead with four interceptions last season, returning at free safety for the third year.
With the recent reassignment of districts throughout all six classes in the state, Holt was put into Class 5 District 5 along with Fort Zumwalt South, Washington and Timberland. Holt will face the Wolves in the regular season finale Oct. 31, and it will mark the first meeting between the intra-district rivals since the last game of the 2005 season.
“It should be against the laws of the football gods for us to not play them every year,” Shields said.
“We’re very excited to have a very competitive, very tough district. But it’s definitely a district that, it’s like throwing at a dart board. I think any team can win it. Any team in that district is capable of beating any other team on any given night.”
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Projected starters
Offense
Line: Andrew Lazalier (6-3, 205), junior, left tackle; Matt Miles (5-foot-11, 285 pounds), senior, left guard; Roy Wolfrum (6-2, 245), junior, center; Jeremy Boschert (6-1, 275), senior, right guard; Adam McCarty (6-0, 250), junior, right tackle
Receivers: Blayne Mesplay (6-3, 190), senior; Cal Hawkins (5-9, 160), senior; Rickey Bailey (6-2, 220). senior, tight end
Backfield: Collin Pierce (6-1, 185), senior, quarterback; Nick Grubbs (6-0, 190), junior, tailback; Terrance Tate (5-6, 150), sophomore, tailback; Hawkins, tailback; Zach Conley (5-9, 215), senior, fullback
Defense
Line: Will Johnson (5-10, 225), junior; Levi Stubbs (5-11, 250), senior; Wolfrum; Boschert
Linebackers: Tyler Martin (5-11, 185), senior; Ryan Price (5-9, 205), junior; Lazalier
Secondary: Patrick Koons (5-9, 175), senior, cornerback; Kenny Jackson (5-9, 150), senior, cornerback; Jack Peglow (5-11, 185), senior, free safety; John Oehler (5-9, 190), senior, safety; Sean Lanham (5-8, 155), sophomore, safety; Hawkins, safety
Special teams
Kicker: Lanham
Punter: Bailey
Kuntz injury a blow for Crusaders
Ten years ago, the St. Dominic football team was left dazed after an 0-10 season, it's first as a varsity.
In 2002, St. Dominic hired Bob Leonard to be the varsity head coach. The Crusaders finished 0-10 again.
But three straight winning seasons have erased those bad memories. In the past three years, the Crusaders have a record of 20-10 and seem to be able to replenish the varsity ranks when graduation takes its annual toll. That's partly because the campus was renovated with a state-of-the-art football/soccer stadium a few years ago, partly because Leonard and his superb staff keep their players' grounded to the iron in the weight room.
Breaking in a new quarterback to replace Anthony Springer would have been easier if senior Tim Kuntz hadn't suffered a non-football related injury to his back and is likely out for the season, according to Leonard. Kuntz and Will Mulligan were a successful running back tandem for the Crusaders last season and almost equally split 1,855 yards rushing. They combined for 22 touchdowns, of which Kuntz had eight.
Springer, one of 14 starters on both sides of the ball lost to graduation, passed for 1,069 yards and nine TDs and his graduation opens the door for sophomore Evan Merz, who at 6-foot-5, 210 pounds already stands out in a crowd. Leonard said that Merz has all the requisite tools to be a successful varsity QB, he just needs the experience.
"He's got a big arm, and he was the quarterback on our undefeated freshman team. What really caught our eye, was how hard he competes. We're really excited about him."
A pair of juniors will start in the Crusader backfield and both are 200-pound-plus power runners. Tyler Jenkins (5-7, 205) averaged 5.6 yards per carry in 21 attempts last fall and is the starting halfback. Chris Ebers (5-10, 218) was a starter at linebacker last year and is now the fullback. He also averaged more than five yards per carry in limited action in 2007.
The receiving corps might have been hit hardest by graduation as all five Crusaders with more than 100 yards are gone. Into the breach step wideouts Ben Logel and Austin Kiel, just a sophomore. Leonard said Logel runs consistently good routes and Kiel has a ton of ability and caught a lot of Merz's passes on the JV. Senior Sean Berg (6-6, 215) gives Merz a huge target at close range and Leonard likes how his blocking has improved.
Senior Kyle Hahn (6-7, 295) and junior Alex Bathe (6, 225) are the only returning starters along the offensive line. Bathe is right guard and Hahn is the left tackle. Leonard said that Hahn's speed and strength had improved tremendously in the off-season and combined with his size, colleges are starting to take notice too.
"That helps excite (Hahn)," Leonard said.
Center Nick Bauer (5-11, 225), guard Nich Sachs (5-10, 230) and Ethan Draves (6-4, 260) are the three newcomers to the offensive line. Leonard said Bauer had "waited his turn" to start and was making the most of the opportunity.
"We've been strong across the front for a few years, and these guys are not as strong, but they're real athletic," Leonard said.
A totally new secondary will protect the skies for the Crusaders. Cornerbacks Matt Aubuchon (5-10, 155) and Mitchell Tiller (5-7, 155) are clones as they are not flashy but consistent. Alex Toler (6, 175) and Ryan Hoff (5-11, 175) or Kiel are the new safeties. Hoff and Kiel are neck-and-neck for one of the safety jobs.
Linebacking experience is one area the Crusaders are not short in supply. Three of the four starters return: Ebers, Calvin Carter (5-10, 195) and Jenkins. Junior Steve Meglio (5-9, 165) is new to the unit.
Hahn moved from defensive end to nose tackle and Leonard feels his size will create matchup problems on the opposing team's interior and will try to shoot him through the 2-gap.
Danny Matusiak (5-11, 230) and Bathe are the defensive ends; Leonard said Matusiak was a pleasant surprise because he didn't play last year and he's quickly worked his way onto the starting unit.
The Crusaders didn't make a field goal last year and Mulligan kicked all 27 PATs. Kiel is the new 48-minute man as he will start on offense, maybe defense and be both the kicker and punter.
Even with all of their losses to graduation and injury, the Crusaders stand a better chance at making the playoffs for the first time in their history because of two MSHSAA decisions: expanding the number of playoff teams by almost twice the number and moving them out of the same district of Timberland and Hannibal. Leonard said he respects the new teams in their district but won't lose any sleep from not having to game plan for 3,000-yard rusher Montee Ball and the Wolves with a playoff berth on the line.
"We're not real sorry to get away from those two teams," Leonard said. "I'm really glad we had a full contact camp or we'd really be scrambling to get so many young players ready in such a short amount of time."
Projected starters
Offense
Backfield: Tyler Jenkins (5-7, 205), junior, running back; Chris Ebers, junior, fullback; Evan Merz (6-5, 210), sophomore, quarterback
Receivers: Ben Logel (5-10, 165), junior; Austin Kiel (6-2, 175), sophomore; Sean Berg (6-6, 215), senior, tight end
Line: Nicholas Bauer (5-11, 225), senior, center; Alex Bathe (6, 225), junior, guard; Nicholas Sachs (5-10, 230), senior, guard; Kyle Hahn (5-11, 175), senior, tackle; Ethan Draves (5-10, 218), senior, tackle
Defense
Line: Alex Bathe (6, 225), junior, end; Danny Matusiak (5-11, 230), junior, end; Kyle Hahn (5-11, 175), senior, nose tackle
Linebackers: Chris Ebers, junior, inside; Calvin Carter (5-10, 195), junior, inside; Tyler Jenkins (5-7, 205), junior, outside; Steve Meglio (5-9, 165), junior, outside
Secondary: Matt Aubuchon (5-10, 155), senior, cornerback; Mitchell Tiller (5-7, 155), senior, cornerback; Alex Toler (6, 175), junior, safety; Ryan Hoff (5-11, 175), senior, safety; Alex Kiel (6-2, 175), sophomore, safety
Special teams
Kicker: Kiel
Punter: Kiel
