Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
The Lake football team will once again feature one of the area’s top running backs in Julian Rodriguez, who looks to guide the Flyers to a state playoff berth behind a veteran offensive line.
“This has been the best offseason that Julian has had since I’ve known him,” Lake’s fourth-year head coach Lane Bishop said. “He was very conscious of what he was doing with his body and lost about 15 pounds since the end of last season. He actually looks like a completely different kid physically. He added a lot of speed.
“After rushing for 1,500 yards and having 20-some touchdowns last year, it would have been easy for him to kind of feel like a made man and not be as motivated. But he understands that we need him to be at his best for us to be successful.”
Despite the big year from Rodriguez, Lake finished 2-8 last year, including 2-5 in NBC play. Special teams and turnovers came back to haunt them. Two kickoffs were returned for touchdowns by Leipsic. They had seven turnovers and gave up several onside kicks against Northwood. They had a one-score lead out of the half against Evergreen and fumbled on the opening drive before later throwing an interception while driving with a minute left. Maumee was a one score loss, and they turned it over twice in the red zone against Otsego.
“That was the first time since I've been at Lake where it's like we felt we could have made the playoffs had we been a little bit better on special teams and been able to take care of the football a little bit more,” Bishop said.
With most of the team back, Lake has made changes this year in hopes of making a playoff run.
“We switched the way that we've been handling our special teams preparation, and we’ve had a little bit of a philosophy change with what we're doing offensively to hopefully help us take care of the football and do some of those little things,” Bishop said. “Our approach to teaching special teams has been a big emphasis.”
Leading the way for Rodriguez are five seniors on the offensive line, including several multi-year starters. Mekhi Gilbert and Matt Nietz are back at the tackle spots. Isaac Romero remains at center, and Logan Studneski is back at guard. Meanwhile the 6-foot-6, 320-pound Andre Thurston will take over the other guard spot for the graduated Andre Fife.
“(Andre is) a pretty big kid, a monster,” Bishop said. “His freshman year, we honestly weren’t sure if he'd ever play varsity football for us. He’s one of those prototypical kids that grew really fast in a really short amount of time.”
The makeup of the offensive line, which helped Lake run for over 1,800 yards as a team last season, is just one example of a veteran roster for Lake, which excites Bishop.
“We have a ton of experience and knowledge, which is not something that we've had since I've been at Lake,” he said. “The first three years, we were playing a lot of young guys and this year we're not really going to be relying on the sophomores or freshmen anymore, which is huge with what we've been trying to do with the program. So having those guys kind of be the heartbeat of our team really is an encouraging feeling. We feel really good about where we're at right now.”
Those offensive linemen will also rotate into spots on the defensive line, where juniors Gabe Henry and Amari Morgan will also see time.
“Gabe started playing more for us late last year,” Bishop said. “He had two sacks against Genoa, and he’s poised to have a breakout year. Amari is going to play nose tackle for us. He’s probably our freakiest athlete. He’s 6-2, 6-3, 330 and moves really well. He's relatively raw still and still needs some developing, but just based on physical traits, he's going to be a difference maker for us.”
Another storyline will be the growth of senior KJ Magers, who enters his second year as the starting quarterback.
“Last year it was a little bit of a new experience,” Bishop said. “He was the new kid on the block, per se, and there were some growing pains and some different things with him just trying to get his feet wet early in the year. He should be a lot more comfortable.”
Another senior, Jaxson Rymers was a First Team All-NBC selection at safety and a second team pick at wide receiver last year, but he’s going to play more of a utility role and could be another threat in the backfield.
“We're going to do some different things with two backs, maybe get under center a little bit,” Bishop said. “He'll be a really nice complement to Julian and having the versatility to spread him out and be able to throw the ball to him adds a nice layer to what we're trying to do offensively.”
Junior Mason York and sophomore Roelino Maya should see considerable time at wide receiver.
Rodriguez will patrol one of the outside linebacker spots among a position group that will include Hayden Hoodlebrink-Stein in the middle and Grady Snoderly as a hybrid, walk-down defensive end/outside linebacker.
Bishop also believes he has one of the best secondary duos in the league with Rymers and York. He said Rymers is one of the “most instinctual, football-brilliant kids he’s ever coached” and York bears an uncanny resemblance to Rymers.
“We actually joked that Mason is a year younger version of Jaxson,” Bishop said. “When they have their helmets on and stuff, they kind of have the exact same body type. They’re two really phenomenal football players.”
At corner, a group of four or five kids should see action, including junior Kashess Echols, Cardinal Stritch transfer Brayden Bennett and senior Zack Keeton, who got a taste of varsity last year.
Overall, Lake is intent on competing for a playoff spot as Bishop said he’s noticed the competitiveness and pride in the program.
“There's a little bit of an edge to the group where enough is enough,” he said. “They’ve been really competitive in practices, and they're fed up with losing. It's a pride thing. There's some fight in our guys that we haven't seen. We’re pushing them harder and you can see it start to form that they’re going to do whatever it takes to win.”
