The Press-Dispatch
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D-6 Fall Sports Preview Wednesday, August 15, 2018 The Press-Dispatch Chargers focused on getting better every day By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net For the second straight year, the Pike Central High School foot- ball team – which went 2-8 in 2017 while tying for sixth place in the Pocket Athletic Conference at 1-6 – will begin its season with a new head coach. However, Dave Stephens is cer- tainly no stranger to the Char- gers football program. A fter all, he served as the team's offensive coordinator during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. However, with only nine play- ers remaining from the 2016 squad that went 4-6 overall and finished fourth in the Pocket Athletic Con- ference at 3-4, Stephens found him- self looking into a lot of unfamiliar faces when he first met with the team after being hired this past June to succeed Erik Mattingly. "Really, it's like starting from scratch," said Stephens. "They went to a completely different style of play last year, so even the players that I had coached before were like, 'Yeah, that sounds famil- iar," but I wouldn't say they had a strong grasp on things. It was just like learning everything brand new." "The kids are responding well," Stephens added. "We're throwing a lot at them. It's tough for them mentally, but we have team meet- ings, everybody has a notebook, everybody's writing down what their responsibility is. We film practice every day, they get to watch it, we review it. It's a learn- ing process." Right now, according to Ste- phens, the Chargers' primary goal is to improve each and every day. "We define success as a re- lentless pursuit to get better ev- ery day," Stephens said. "Yester- day wasn't so great. We had a lot of guys miss assignments. To- day, they took ownership of it and fixed those technique things they weren't doing yesterday and, to- day, I haven't watched film yet, but from what I saw in real time, five times better than yesterday. That's growth and that's how we define success. It was a successful day." The Chargers will employ a no huddle, spread offense this season. "We've got 18 different types of run schemes we can go to, but we'll limit what we do to five or six schemes a week, and we'll get proficient at what we're doing that week," Stephens said. "We're al- ways looking for what I call "NAG" – numbers, angles and grass. If we can get one of those three advan- tages, that's how we decide what scheme we're going to go with that week." With junior Mario Fields – who carried the ball 95 times for 568 yards and five touchdowns last season – at quarterback, Stephens said the team's strength, offensive- ly, will be its ability to utilize the option. "The quarterback that we have is probably the best run threat I've ever coached in football," Stephens said. "And that's going to open up a lot of things. Because a lot of teams don't have to account for a running quarterback. With our guy, you're going to have to account for him." "We're going to challenge teams to cover us," Stephens added. "And if they don't cover us across the field, we've got guys on the perim- eter that can do some damage, too. And then if you want to bring ev- erybody up, I feel like our quar- terback's got the arm strength – I saw him throw the ball 60 yards the other day – we can attack you vertically." The six-foot-tall Fields, Ste- phens noted, weighed in at 245 pounds. "So, physically, if we can get him to the second level – on a lineback- er, on a cornerback, on a safety – that's a real advantage for us," Stephens said. "He moves like an 180 -pound kid." "Against spread offenses, when defensive coordinators don't have a plan for you, they're going to play a bare front and they're going to cover zero," Stephens added. "You can't do that against Mario Fields. If you play a bare cover zero and he slips one tackle, he's gone for 70 yards for a touchdown. I'll take my chances with Mario one-on-one in the open field versus anybody." Senior Judah Leathco and soph- omore Lars Utterback will serve as back-ups at quarterback. "Judah can do a serviceable job in there," Stephens said. "When he gets his reps at practice, he knows the right reads. He's got some shiftiness to him." "Lars, I'll tell you what, the kid throws a pretty ball," Stephens said of Utterback, who will also play quarterback for the junior varsity team. "If there was a com- petition for throwing a pretty ball, he would win that. He is learning and grasping, and I think he's go- ing to be a good guy for us. He just needs a little more development." Senior Eli Coleman will handle the bulk of the Chargers' running back duties, Stephens said. "Eli has really committed him- self to the weight room," Stephens said. "When nobody else was in here lifting, Eli was out lifting on his own, I think before he even thought about playing football. He just physically has gotten very strong the last year. And he's re- ally accepted the coaching. He's been a sponge for things." Another player that will also see action at running back will be freshman Wyatt Frasure. "I'm going to have to kind of tem- per my excitement because, you know, some guys just pop," Ste- phens said. "Wyatt is one of those kids. I don't know what he's aver- aging in practice, but probably 25 yards a carry. It's just like he has that God-given, home run ability to him. He's going to be good for us as well. He'll get some touches." Leathco – who caught two pass- es for 20 yards as a junior – and fel- low senior Randy Powell will play at wideout for the Chargers this season, Stephens said. "Judah is the guy that we'll iso- late by himself, that we'll try to get one-on-one matchups on the pe- rimeter," Stephens said. "We feel confident in his ability to win those match-ups." "Randy is a lunch pail kind of guy," Stephens continued. "He does exactly what he's supposed to do, over and over again. Never too high. Never too low. Does what we ask him. He's our best block- ing receiver, but still has the abili- ty to beat his man one-on-one and get some catches, so you can't go to sleep on him, either." Junior Connor O'Neal, who rushed 32 times for 152 yards and one touchdown while catching seven passes for 61 yards and one touchdown last season, will be the Chargers' slot receiver. "We will look for ways to create a match-up nightmare with him," Stephens said. "We'll formation things and we'll get him matched up on middle linebackers. We'll find ways to get him in space ver- sus guys who we think can't run. He's got shiftiness, he's got sud- denness, and he's got quickness and power to him. I look forward to scheming up plays to get him the ball." The offensive line will be com- prised of senior Braxton Rice at right tackle, sophomore Josh McHargue at right guard, junior Al Evans at center, sophomore Cody Davis at left guard and se- nior Ethan Rembe at left tackle, Stephens said. "I feel like we've got five in there right now that I'm really confident in," Stephens said. "They work well together. They're doing a good job." Stephens said that he was par- ticularly excited about the 5 -foot-8, 220 -pound Davis. "I think he's got the kind of dis- position you need to have to be an effective lineman," Stephens said. "We talk about playing not to the whistle, but to the echo of the whis- tle, and he's the guy who lives out playing to the echo of the whis- tle. I'm glad we're going to have him for a while, because he's fun to coach and I love his aggressive- ness." Zeb Frasure, a 6 -foot-1, 240 -pound junior, will also see ac- tion on the offensive line. Junior Levi McCarter, mean- while, will play at tight end. "He's one of the better receiv- ing tight ends that I've had," Ste- phens said. "We haven't done cer- tain things with tight ends in the past because of their lack of mobil- ity or whatever. He's 6 -foot tall, 190 pounds, and can move. He's got some wiggle to him, and has soft hands. So there's another threat that we have. I feel like it's almost having a fourth receiver in there, The kids are responding well. We're throwing a lot at them. It's tough for them mentally, but we have team meetings, everybody has a notebook, everybody's writing down what their responsi- bility is. We film practice every day, they get to watch it, we review it. It's a learning process." -Head Coach Dave Stephens CHARGERS Pictured above is the 2018-19 Pike Central High School football team. They are, first row, left to right: Ben Hess, James Hughes, Eli Coleman, Judah Leathco, Randy Ethan Rembe. Third row: Ethan Stenftenagel, Caleb Zazzetti, Josh McHargue, Levi McCarter, Cody Davis and Cameron Smith. Fourth row: Aidan Mullins, Nicholas Charkosky, and Will Wilkins. Sixth row: Head Coach Dave Stephens and Assistant Coaches J.J. Howald, Caleb Cherry, Kane Osgatharp, Michael Poteet and Mike Frazier. Not pictured: See BETTER on D-7 Go Chargers! 245 S. Glezen Center St. • Petersburg, IN 812-354-9909 Glezen Revival Center Wyatt Seed Company, Inc. P.O. 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