|
|
Home  Sports High School Football Rangers’ league dominance likely to continue
|
Written by Mark Griffin
|
|
Friday, 28 August 2009 11:14 |
|
Coach: Ken James, 24th year, 118-117 Last Year: 9-1 (6-0, TAAC) Forecast: The two-time defending TAAC champion Rangers have won six out of the last eight conference championships, but this squad would like to add “playoff participant” to its resume this season. Northwood was shut out of postseason play in ‘08 despite only one regular-season loss, and the Rangers haven’t been to the playoffs since 2004. James hopes a stellar performance against this year’s schedule, which includes non-conference foes Lakota, Lake, Hopewell-Loudon and Genoa, will be enough to make a playoff run. “I don’t think our (computer) region is going to be as loaded as last year, but we’re going to have to win eight or nine games to get in,” James said. “We wanted this schedule and we challenged ourselves, so we’re going to have at it. We’re young and we’re probably going to be erratic at times, but we’re aware that young teams get better as the year goes on. We’re excited about prospect of how we’re going to improve throughout the year.”
Northwood’s returning starters on offense are senior tackles Kyle Artino and Andrew Pietras, halfback Zach Bermejo, junior split end Mike Schlicher and junior Erik Russell, who has moved from split end to quarterback. Artino, who will be a three-year starter, Pietras and Bermejo were all second-team All-TAAC picks last year. Schlicher is likely to miss some of the 2009 season with a knee injury. Russell moves under center to replace the graduated Kyle Gunn, the TAAC Player of the Year on offense. Russell saw action at quarterback last season and had a handful of catches at split end. “He’s been in our (wishbone offense) system since fourth grade playing quarterback, so he knows the system and where the ball needs to be,” James said. “A lot of people are going to compare him to Kyle, but he’s not in a situation where he has to be Kyle.What he has to do is make sure the ball gets to the right people. “We have plenty of good running backs and good guys on the perimeter. Erik needs to be a like a good point guard - make sure the ball goes where it’s supposed to go. He needs to be smart with the ball.” The Rangers also graduated first-team all-conference lineman Charles Artino, All-TAAC split end Chris Keith, fullbacks Justin Grindle and Nate James and all-conference running back Alex Williams.Bermejo, a second-team All-TAAC pick, should expect plenty of carries this season. A starter a year ago, he averaged more than 10 yards per carry. “He’s got good speed and he’s a strong kid, a physical runner,” coach James said. “He’s a 170-pound kid but he runs with his pads low and runs through tacklers. He has speed in the open but he has toughness to get yards inside. We’re excited about the possibilities for him.” Junior Mike Prothero will alternate at fullback and halfback along with junior halfback Jake Pressley, a first-team all-conference punter. “Prothero will be a good running back to rotate in at fullback and halfback, but he will probably start at halfback,” James said. “He is a great between-the-tackles runner. He is 180 pounds so he’s not a big kid, but he is good at cutting and going vertically after a cut. “Pressley, we like his size (6-2, 185) and he has good speed. He does a good job of getting vertical. He’s got a lot of potential in a lot of areas and he’s one of our stronger kids.” The Rangers lost linebacker Grindle, the conference defensive player of the year, but there are other standouts returning on that side of the ball. “We feel we’re going to have a good, solid defense this year,” James said. “We are going to have a solid front and a good run defense.” Prothero and junior Corey Jones return at linebacker along with senior tackles Max Tunison and Drew Minarcin. Jones was a second-team all-conference pick last season, while Tunison and Minarcin were honorable mention selections. Prothero was a first-team All-TAAC pick after leading Northwood with 96 tackles. Also returning on defense are Bermejo and Jones at linebacker, end Tyler Johnson, Pressley at strong safety and junior John Romstadt t corner.
 |
By: Mark Griffin Contact e-mail:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Show Other Articles
|
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed