Strong core returns for Wildcats this fall
August 17, 2021 at 9:45 p.m.
Strong core returns for Wildcats this fall
By Will Fehlinger-
Coach Wes Gillman, entering his fourth year at his alma mater, feels that could indeed be the case.
“That’s the great thing and a challenge for us, knowing we have the athletes if we stay healthy, we could pull off something like (a sectional title),” he said. “We played with Lawrenceburg for a half, but they wore us out. We’ll handle what we can and attack Lawrenceburg at the time.”
The Tigers are likely aiming for a Thanksgiving weekend game – in other words, the state championship. Loaded across the board, LHS boasts three players who may be seen on Saturday TV starting next year. Garrett Yoon begins his fourth year under center with Notre Dame recruit Ashton Craig protecting him and Dahya Patel catching his throws.
The IHSAA delayed scheduled sectional realignments due to the haphazard 2020 season so FC will be with the same Class 3A, Sect. 31 group that includes fellow Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference members LHS, Batesville, Rushville and Greensburg; others are a strong Brownstown Central squad, Scottsburg and Charlestown. The latter showcases 6-foot-7, 330-pound tackle Kiyaunta Goodwin, considered the best high school lineman in the country and headed for Kentucky.
But there’s business to attend to before the postseason and it all starts Friday at New Castle. Two of the first four games are EIAC matchups – at Connersville Aug. 27 and home with East Central Sept. 10.
The Cats scrimmaged 2A Northeastern Friday night at Wildcat Field and all returns were positive.
“If that had been a game, I don’t know if NE scores because our defense dominated the entire night,” said the coach. “Nothing against them but that’s a school of 400 kids and we told our kids they won’t see another school with a limit of players and physicality. I was pleased overall.”
When Rushville comes for the home opener Sept. 3, fans will see units headed up by FCHS alums Justin Seals (defense) and Tony Pflum (offense); Gillman handed off play-calling duties to Pflum in the offseason.
“Our defense, basically the same crew as last year but a year older and better, will be the strength of the team again,” said Gillman. “They are ahead of the offense right now, but we have the potential for a solid offense.”
Many defenders are 2-way players, and several are seniors. Jacob Schatzle and Tyreke Carr (cornerbacks), Hunter Geis (safety), Bridger Bolos, Kaden Erfman, Austin Hill and Andrew Merritt (linebackers) and Sam Westerfeld (end) are all part of the Class of 2022. Filling out the 3-5 (three linemen, five LBs) are end Bryce Hodapp, backer Peyton McCreary and 300-lb. nose guard Clayton Bolser, all juniors.
“Sam has the ability to have a dominant year and Bryce has been extremely physical this year,” Gillman said of his edge rushers.
Erfman and Hill (tackles), McCreary (guard), Geis, Carr and Schatzle (wide receivers) and Bolos and Merritt (running backs) will stay on the field when FC gets possession. Senior Kristian Prows is part of a receiving corps that will sometimes grow to five on a given down.
Hill and Erfman had previously split tight end duties, but that position will be vacated this year.
“It’s a unique position where you have to be physical enough to block in the run game and athletic enough to run routes and catch balls,” Gillman
explained. “If you can’t do those things or only halfway do them, it’s not worth putting one out there. And we had a huge need for offensive line personnel.”
Starting at the other guard will be senior Brayden Back, next to the only starting sophomore in center Ben Becker.
“Ben has the potential to be the best of those five,” said his coach. “He has a 250-pound body, just now learning to use his strength and technique and he gets the game of football.”
Most of the time, Becker will snap to junior southpaw Brady Morehead, who was forced into a spot start or two at quarterback as a freshman. Behind him on the depth chart is someone the coach knows well, freshman son Quinn.
“Putting him in allows us to move Brady to a slot for his running ability,” said coach Gillman. “Quinn’s very intuitive and knows the offense but it’s an arm strength issue, there are throws he can’t yet make on a varsity field. He would compete but he’s not as physically mature as the upperclassmen.”
The Class of 2025 comes with some hype as the youngsters won over 20 consecutive games in youth league play.
“They’re not necessarily ready for varsity yet and counting on freshmen in any program is not realistic,” Gillman observed. “But they’re going to be solid, and we’ll have to rely on them at some point because injuries always happen. I was really impressed by the JV (vs. Northeastern); they’re going to have to play next year with all our seniors leaving.”
Among the 9th-graders, Jack Dirkhising could see time on the interior lines and Hunter Weartz at receiver or corner. Weartz is currently penciled in as the placekicker.
“I hear people say it all the time that why can’t a school our size find a kicker,” said Gillman. “It’s not for lack of trying because we have almost 50 kids and I’ve seen every one kick. We’re only hitting about 50% on extra points and that’s not good enough. Until we get it to 80 or 90 percent, we’re going for two.”
The dynamic Schatzle will return kickoffs and punts and Bolos will serve as the primary punter. “Our kickoff teams are where we’ll try to get younger, more aggressive kids in,” Gillman noted. “(Junior) Spencer Bath’s one of them. He could earn more time by being really aggressive on special teams; we may put him at corner because he’s worked hard and had a great attitude. (Juniors) Phoenix Simons and Jadon Napier are a couple others.”
The same staff will roam the sideline in 2021. Mike Rauch coaches the defensive line, Randy Bolos the defensive backs, Steve Morehead the linebackers and running backs, Brandon Good the offensive line, Stone Laughlin the receivers and Adam Kelly, Sr. the special teams.
Gillman is among those hopeful the pandemic blues don’t strike again this season.
“If we got through last year, I think we’ll get through this one,” he said. “Our school board has been phenomenal in letting families decide what to do with contact tracing and giving kids the option to wear masks. There might be a week that an opposing school cancels because they don’t have enough players, but I don’t think it will be the case with us.”
Friday’s game kicks off at 7 p.m.
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Coach Wes Gillman, entering his fourth year at his alma mater, feels that could indeed be the case.
“That’s the great thing and a challenge for us, knowing we have the athletes if we stay healthy, we could pull off something like (a sectional title),” he said. “We played with Lawrenceburg for a half, but they wore us out. We’ll handle what we can and attack Lawrenceburg at the time.”
The Tigers are likely aiming for a Thanksgiving weekend game – in other words, the state championship. Loaded across the board, LHS boasts three players who may be seen on Saturday TV starting next year. Garrett Yoon begins his fourth year under center with Notre Dame recruit Ashton Craig protecting him and Dahya Patel catching his throws.
The IHSAA delayed scheduled sectional realignments due to the haphazard 2020 season so FC will be with the same Class 3A, Sect. 31 group that includes fellow Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference members LHS, Batesville, Rushville and Greensburg; others are a strong Brownstown Central squad, Scottsburg and Charlestown. The latter showcases 6-foot-7, 330-pound tackle Kiyaunta Goodwin, considered the best high school lineman in the country and headed for Kentucky.
But there’s business to attend to before the postseason and it all starts Friday at New Castle. Two of the first four games are EIAC matchups – at Connersville Aug. 27 and home with East Central Sept. 10.
The Cats scrimmaged 2A Northeastern Friday night at Wildcat Field and all returns were positive.
“If that had been a game, I don’t know if NE scores because our defense dominated the entire night,” said the coach. “Nothing against them but that’s a school of 400 kids and we told our kids they won’t see another school with a limit of players and physicality. I was pleased overall.”
When Rushville comes for the home opener Sept. 3, fans will see units headed up by FCHS alums Justin Seals (defense) and Tony Pflum (offense); Gillman handed off play-calling duties to Pflum in the offseason.
“Our defense, basically the same crew as last year but a year older and better, will be the strength of the team again,” said Gillman. “They are ahead of the offense right now, but we have the potential for a solid offense.”
Many defenders are 2-way players, and several are seniors. Jacob Schatzle and Tyreke Carr (cornerbacks), Hunter Geis (safety), Bridger Bolos, Kaden Erfman, Austin Hill and Andrew Merritt (linebackers) and Sam Westerfeld (end) are all part of the Class of 2022. Filling out the 3-5 (three linemen, five LBs) are end Bryce Hodapp, backer Peyton McCreary and 300-lb. nose guard Clayton Bolser, all juniors.
“Sam has the ability to have a dominant year and Bryce has been extremely physical this year,” Gillman said of his edge rushers.
Erfman and Hill (tackles), McCreary (guard), Geis, Carr and Schatzle (wide receivers) and Bolos and Merritt (running backs) will stay on the field when FC gets possession. Senior Kristian Prows is part of a receiving corps that will sometimes grow to five on a given down.
Hill and Erfman had previously split tight end duties, but that position will be vacated this year.
“It’s a unique position where you have to be physical enough to block in the run game and athletic enough to run routes and catch balls,” Gillman
explained. “If you can’t do those things or only halfway do them, it’s not worth putting one out there. And we had a huge need for offensive line personnel.”
Starting at the other guard will be senior Brayden Back, next to the only starting sophomore in center Ben Becker.
“Ben has the potential to be the best of those five,” said his coach. “He has a 250-pound body, just now learning to use his strength and technique and he gets the game of football.”
Most of the time, Becker will snap to junior southpaw Brady Morehead, who was forced into a spot start or two at quarterback as a freshman. Behind him on the depth chart is someone the coach knows well, freshman son Quinn.
“Putting him in allows us to move Brady to a slot for his running ability,” said coach Gillman. “Quinn’s very intuitive and knows the offense but it’s an arm strength issue, there are throws he can’t yet make on a varsity field. He would compete but he’s not as physically mature as the upperclassmen.”
The Class of 2025 comes with some hype as the youngsters won over 20 consecutive games in youth league play.
“They’re not necessarily ready for varsity yet and counting on freshmen in any program is not realistic,” Gillman observed. “But they’re going to be solid, and we’ll have to rely on them at some point because injuries always happen. I was really impressed by the JV (vs. Northeastern); they’re going to have to play next year with all our seniors leaving.”
Among the 9th-graders, Jack Dirkhising could see time on the interior lines and Hunter Weartz at receiver or corner. Weartz is currently penciled in as the placekicker.
“I hear people say it all the time that why can’t a school our size find a kicker,” said Gillman. “It’s not for lack of trying because we have almost 50 kids and I’ve seen every one kick. We’re only hitting about 50% on extra points and that’s not good enough. Until we get it to 80 or 90 percent, we’re going for two.”
The dynamic Schatzle will return kickoffs and punts and Bolos will serve as the primary punter. “Our kickoff teams are where we’ll try to get younger, more aggressive kids in,” Gillman noted. “(Junior) Spencer Bath’s one of them. He could earn more time by being really aggressive on special teams; we may put him at corner because he’s worked hard and had a great attitude. (Juniors) Phoenix Simons and Jadon Napier are a couple others.”
The same staff will roam the sideline in 2021. Mike Rauch coaches the defensive line, Randy Bolos the defensive backs, Steve Morehead the linebackers and running backs, Brandon Good the offensive line, Stone Laughlin the receivers and Adam Kelly, Sr. the special teams.
Gillman is among those hopeful the pandemic blues don’t strike again this season.
“If we got through last year, I think we’ll get through this one,” he said. “Our school board has been phenomenal in letting families decide what to do with contact tracing and giving kids the option to wear masks. There might be a week that an opposing school cancels because they don’t have enough players, but I don’t think it will be the case with us.”
Friday’s game kicks off at 7 p.m.
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