The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1014770
The Press-Dispatch Fall Sports Preview Wednesday, August 15, 2018 D-7 sometimes, as opposed to three re- ceivers and a tight end." On the opposite side of the ball, the Chargers will utilize what Ste- phens describes as a "new school" 4-3 defense. "It has some elements of a 4-2- 5 to it because we have some abil- ities to drop safeties down and give us a multi-front, multi-back end look," Stephens said. "We'll have the ability to roll into differ- ent coverages to give us a sche- matic advantage versus whoever we play. It won't be a completely different defense, but we'll have adjustments built into the defense we have now." Davis, Evans, Zeb Frasure, McHargue and Rice, along with sophomore Aiden Mullins and freshman Gunnar Earley, will ro- tate in and out of the game on the defensive line, Stephens said. "We're going to have three dif- ferent combinations of defensive linemen," Stephens said. "Our ones versus maybe our second group of defensive linemen may be a physical mismatch, but the the- ory behind that is, come third and fourth quarter, I'm running fresh bodies at you over and over again, and you're a kid from another high school and you're on snap 96, and I've got our guy on snap number 22. Then, all of a sudden, those things even out." "I feel like we've got enough quality defensive linemen to run three groups in and be stout," Ste- phens added. "That's how we're going to handle our defense – keep fresh and keep pressure on them." Junior Colin Craig, after taking one year off from football to play tennis last season, returns and will play at strong outside linebacker. "He's a big long guy who can play sideline to sideline, the kinds of guys we like to have," Stephens said. "We like big, long guys." Fields, at least starting out the season, will serve as the middle in- side linebacker. "The moment I feel comfort- able with somebody else, Mario won't be playing there anymore," Stephens said. "He's that impor- tant to us, that I want him to try to focus on one side of the ball, if he can. But, right now, Day One, Game One, Mario's our middle linebacker." Junior Brandon Goeppner will line up at the weak side inside line- backer position. "The great thing about football and life is you never know how kids are going to develop," Stephens said. "He was kind of undersized. He was a (defensive) back. He's grown a little bit." "I talked to him about playing (weak side inside) linebacker, and I said, 'Congratulations Go- eppy, you've moved to (weak side inside) linebacker," Stephens add- ed. "He said, 'All right.' He was ex- cited and up for the challenge. You just never know how it's going to be, but he has exceeded my expec- tations there. I look forward to him having a great season at (weak in- side middle) linebacker." O'Neal, meanwhile, will play on defense at strong safety, while ju- nior Tyler Kirby will serve as free safety. "He's super athletic," Stephens said of Kirby, who advanced to the state track and field meet this past spring in pole vault. "He's a kid that when we want to person- nel things and get the ball in his hands, he's explosive, and fast." At times, Stephens said, Kirby will move to strong safety to give O'Neal a break, and Eli Coleman will take over at free safety. "We can rotate those guys in a couple of different ways, because the responsibilities are exactly the same," Stephens said. "They're completely interchangeable in our base coverage." Leathco will line up on the short side of the field as the boundary corner while Powell will line up on the wide side of the field as the field corner, with senior James Hughes also seeing action there as well. "James is a kid that I think, over the course of the summer, has done enough to earn some spot time," Stephens said. "I'm hoping that he keeps progressing because I would love to take one of those two-way starters and turn them in- to a one-way starter." Also expected to see a lot of ac- tion on defense are Wyatt Frasure and Earley, Stephens said. "Wyatt is a kid that can be back- up safety, back-up linebacker – he can be the back-up at like five dif- ferent positions," Stephens said. "Gunnar's a freshman who is not built like a freshman – 6 -foot tall, 185 pounds," Stephens continued. "Freshmen just aren't built like that. We'll probably put him as one of the defensive line rotation, just because he has natural athleticism and natural burst, and there's less to diagnose at the defensive line position. You can kind of just let your athleticism take charge, and he's got a lot of that, and he's got a lot of aggressiveness." Whenever Earley is playing on the defensive line, Stephens said that he hopes to be able to use him to give Fields some relief at middle inside linebacker. Rice, who punted for the Char- gers last season, will also assume the team's place-kicking duties, ac- cording to Stephens. "The other day in practice, Brax- ton kicked a 50 -yard field goal," Stephens said. "Then we put him at the 25 -yard line, which ends up being a 42-yard field goal, and he hit four out of six from there, and had plenty of leg on each of them. When he misses, it's not from lack of leg. If we can harness that leg power, I feel completely confident in his ability to kick." With Rice playing both ways on the offensive and defensive lines, Stephens said that senior Ben Hess or sophomore Sam Coleman will handle some of the kicking du- ties as well. Having the ability to kick field goals, Stephens said, gives the Chargers yet another weapon on offense that could prove the differ- ence between winning a game and losing a game. "Some of these schools that you play in high school don't have a placekicker," Stephens explained. "If we can get three points, some- times three points is as good as six points. We get a touchdown and a field goal against a team that doesn't have an option for a field goal, they're going to have to get 14 to beat your 10." "I'm real excited about that, be- cause I think we're going to be able to move the ball down there," Ste- phens added. "And then if Brax- ton's the real deal, then it's going to be really beneficial for us." Stephens said that Leathco and O'Neal will handle most of the team's kick returning duties, along with Wyatt Frasure. "We're going to play defense, but as far as punt returns, we're going to field and secure the punt," Ste- phens said. "We're going to make sure that we have that punt se- cured. That's first and foremost on my list. If we get some return yardage out of it, that's a bonus. But all I really care about is them fielding the ball." Stephens said that he was look- ing forward to the challenge of competing against PAC foes – in- cluding 2A State Champion South- ridge and 3A sectional runner-up Gibson Southern – this season. "The great thing about this conference is that you're going to play a good team every week," Stephens said. "There aren't any down weeks. Maybe you're not playing a state championship cal- iber team every week, but you're going to face great competition, and there's some really good coaches in this conference." Stephens said that he expects the Chargers to not be easy pick- ings for PAC opponents this sea- son. "We're going to, hopefully, look to not be a circle win," Stephens said. "That's what I want to be- come this year. I was told before that certain teams wouldn't pre- pare for Pike Central, and they would spend two weeks game plan- ning for their opponent the follow- ing week. I want to make sure ev- ery team in our conference has to game plan for us. Because, if not, you might get 40 (points) put on you. And I think that's where we can be Year One." "Then, after we get our full off- season, and we get on some level footing, I'll put our school, our fa- cilities, our support from the com- munity and our coaching staff up against anybody in our confer- ence," Stephens added. "We have the real support of the administra- tion. To me, we've got great facil- ities, and every single thing that I've asked for, the school has giv- en me. Every person I've reached out to in the community has re- sponded favorably, and a lot of them have asked, 'What more can I do? ' We've done two fundraisers, and the community came out with overwhelming support to help us provide things." "So I'm excited about what we've got," Stephens added. "I think the conference is tough, but make no mistake about it, we're going to be a team on the rise, and we don't expect to be bottom third of the pack. That's not what I came here for. I didn't come here to be an al- so ran. I came here to mess up the big boys' party. And it's going to happen. At some point, we're going to beat somebody that somebody's going to see on John Harrell's web- site and ask, 'Is that score right? ' And, yes, it'll be right." In the meantime, however, Ste- phens said that he, his coaches and players will continue to focus on getting better each and every day. "I'm not worried about Indianap- olis Lighthouse East," Stephens said, referring to the Chargers' opponent in their season opener on Saturday, Aug. 18. "Right now that isn't my challenge. My chal- lenge is, tomorrow, can we have the best practice that Pike Cen- tral can have? That's where we're at right now. We're so inwardly fo- cused on improvement, and that's where it needs to be. So if there is a theme for the year, it's, 'Hey, we're going to keep it compartmental- ized, we're going to win each day, and we're going to treat each day as its own game day.'" FOOTBALL Randy Powell, Braxton Rice and Lane Doades. Second row: Tyler Kirby, Colin Craig, Alan Evans, Brandon Goeppner, Mario Fields, Zeb Frasure, Connor O'Neal and Charkosky, Samuel Jones, Lars Utterback, Colson Dillard and Sam Coleman. Fifth row: Isaiah Culbertson, Wyatt Frasure, Harley May, Gunnar Earley, Jared Coombs pictured: Adam Jones, Blaine Pitcher and Assistant Coach Jorden Froderman. Ed Cahill photo BETTER Continued from page D-6 C & Z Roofing 1-812-582-2440 Cody Caldemeyer Shingle • Metal • Guttering FREE ESTIMATES c.zroofing14@gmail.com Good Luck Team! 350 W. Main, Petersburg • Next to Double J Collision Call for Carry-Out or Faster Service (812)354-2606 HOURS: Tues. - Sat. 5p.m. to 9p.m. • Closed Sunday & Monday A FAN FAVORITE Joe Mama's Pizza Pizza • Sandwiches • Salads • Carry-Out Dining Room & Carryout Available!