The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1158320
The Press-Dispatch Fall Sports Preview Wednesday, August 21, 2019 D-7 CHARGERS FOOTBALL coach David Stephens, Brandon Goeppner and Alan Evans; second row: Lars Utterback, Colson Dillard, Cody Davis, Stephens Kreig and Connor Furman; third row: Wy- Wolfe, Noah McFarland, Corey Goeppner, Bryer Earley; back row: Michael Poteet, Caleb Cherry, Hayden Cloe, Jorden Froderman, Kane Osgatharp, Luke Vinnedge, Jes- REBUILD Continued from page D-6 See CHALLENGE on D-8 Outpatient Physical Therapy If injury is keeping you on the sidelines, we're here to help you recover faster. Call us to see how we can get you back in the game quickly and safely. OUR THERAPY DEPARTMENT OFFERS: Enhancing Lives Through • Licensed qualified therapists at a local, convenient location. • Supersized Nautilus Equipment & Weight Training • Kinetix Enhanced Orthopedic Care • E-Stem (Electrical Stimulation) 309 W. Pike Ave., Petersburg (812) 354-8833 "beautifully accurate arm" and has also shown adequate speed in the run game. "We aren't going to run him a lot, but we are going to run him enough to keep teams honest," he said. Freshman Jagar Dent will serve as Pike Central's backup quarter- back. Dent is a tough player with a great work ethic, who played run- ning back in middle school. "He's dedicated," Stephens said. "He's a little bit more of thrower than passer right now, but he's the kind of guy that we really like. We like a guy who can throw and run. Jagar really fits that mold for us. He brings some of that running back chippiness, but also has the athleticism and ability to spin the rock." Fraser (5'11", 175) has incred- ible vision and will be the team's top running back and earned cap- tain honors. The sophomore has improved tremendously during the offsea- son. He was pressing the hole, running into the back of lineman and outrunning blocks at the be- ginning of summer. "He has really learned to be pa- tient in our zone scheme," Ste- phens said. "Half the time when you're running zone schemes, the running back can make the offen- sive line look good by reading the keys for them once he has the ball. He has really learned to take it front side when it's there and when it closes down, take it backside. Fraser is one-cut back with great acceleration and good toughness. Sophomore backup running back Blaine Pitcher (5'11", 175) has shown he has the ability to hit a homerun as both a receiver and runner. Stephens said Pitcher probably only had 10 carries this summer, but half of them went for touch- downs. "Has a world of talent," Stephens said. "There is no ceiling for him and his ability, and I don't throw that around lightly." Pitcher will likely get passing time at receiver, too. "He is one of our elite-speed guys," Stephens said. "I could see putting him out on the perimeter just because of how fast he his and working with his hands after that." The Chargers may not have a lot of size and experience on the offensive line, but the team does have a lot of speed and quickness. Outside zone blocking will be one of the team's main strengths. "Four of five guys can really move well," Stephens said. "Then we will scheme some other stuff up, but our strength will be our outside zone blocking." The offensive line, as a whole, still has some work to do in the run game and in pass protections on some of deeper drop backs. Stephens said the team does have some good young depth at offensive line, despite not having an elite top-end offense line right now. Freshman Isaac Marchino (6'2", 220) is penciled in to start at left tackle. Marchino has a solid frame to build onto and is a legacy player. "His brother was a good football player for us," Stephens said. "But he's a little bit different. He's a lit- tle bit taller and bigger than Jacob was as a freshman. He's strong be- yond his age. We put a lot on him being a left tackle. It's a big respon- sibility, but we feel like he has the skill set to anchor at spot for us. We are very happy with him." Junior Cody Davis (5'9", 230) returns as the team's starting left guard. Stephens said Davis is the team's resident tough guy. "He's tough as nails," he said. "He has that kind of nastiness you want out of an offensive lineman to finish plays inside. He's quick with power." Senior center Al Evans (6'2", 265) is also a returning starter. Evans played every snap at cen- ter for the Chargers last season. "He's consistent," Stephens said. "He's a good pass blocker and makes all of our calls upfront for our protection checks and things like that. He's the guy who runs the show there and helps others get in the right blocking scheme for the right defensive front they are seeing." The Chargers are expected to start another freshman on the of- fensive line in left guard Corey Go- eppner. Goeppner has good strength for a freshman and can move pretty well. "He is going to get better and better as his physical strength de- velops," Stephens said. "The fu- ture is bright for him. He is going to have some learning to do." Sophomore Gunnar Early (6'1", 220) will start at right tackle and is probably playing a little out of position, but coaches like what he brings to the equation. Stephens said Early is playing offensive line for the first time at the high school level, but probably has the ability to reach block any defensive end in the conference. Early does need to clean up some technique issues in his game, like proper footwork and angles. "Once he gets those things mas- tered, the sky is the limit with his ability," Stephens said. Early joined the Chargers' 800 -pound club after he add- ed more than 100 pounds to his bench, 170 to his squat and 75 to power clean during the offseason. Sophomore Caleb Zazzetti could also play some offensive line this season. "He's a guy that we don't want to have to play there, but in a pinch, we know we can," Stephens said. "He doesn't really have an offen- sive linemen's body, but he's our next best available player to put in, but we are going to try to avoid that if we can." New defensive coordinator Jes- se Spurgeon brings a good pedi- gree of knowledge from the colle- giate level to Pike County. He most recently served as Earl- ham College's special teams coor- dinator and defensive backs coach before the program went defunct because of funding issues. "He's had some opportuni- ties," Stephens said. "I was lucky enough to talk him into coming to Pike County and it's going to help us so much." Stephens said even if the team doesn't execute tackles when they should, schematically, they should still have an advantage from being in the right position. "I'm excited to have him," he said. "The kids are excited to learn from him. He knows so many great drills and he even helped some of our other coaches become better. We are very fortunate to have him. I'm very excited about where our defense is going as far as scheme- wise and what he brings to the ta- ble." If Charger defenders want a chance at sacks in 2019, then they will have to do a better job of put- ting offenses in passing situations. Opponents ran the ball 93 per- cent of the time against Pike Cen- tral last season. "We have to get teams passing the ball more," Stephens said. "To get us more opportunities for turn- overs and other things like that." The Chargers plan to rotate at least eight different players on the defensive line, but any discussion would have to start with McCarter, who will return as the Chargers' starting left defensive end. "He's a really good offensive player," Stephens said. "But he has the ability to be elite as a de- fensive end." Stephens said he believes Mc- Carter has the skills, intelligence and work ethic to play college foot- ball. "I could see him playing at Franklin and some of these better Division III schools in the state," Stephens said. "We don't always have those kinds of guys." McCarter does a good job of set- ting the edge and rarely gets reach blocked. Marchino and Corey Gopher will rotate at the other defensive end position, while Early and Da- vis will hold down the defensive tackles spots. "Speed, quickness and our get offs are going to have to be our strength," Stephens said. "If we are going to have success, we will have to get those things. "We don't have 270 and 280 -pound dudes inside," he con- tinued. "We are going to have to get some movement upfront and use our speed and quickness. We aren't just going to sit there and take on double teams. We are go- ing to line stunt and make things harder for teams by making big lineman play in space." Evans also is another player ex- pected to contribute from the de- fensive line. Fraser and Kreig will start at the Chargers' inside linebacker spots. "They're really good at reading their run keys," Stephens said. "A lot of teams that we play in our league rely on backfield deception. If we can trust that we are reading our under keys and read keys and not paying attention to backfield, then we will be just fine." Fraser had 79 tackles a season ago, which was more than any oth- er freshman in program history. He was also the junior varsity running back and basically accu- mulated those defensive statistics in just seven varsity games. "His talent was undeniable," Stephens said. "We needed him on varsity." O'Neal will play at outside line- backer after starting at safety the past two seasons. Reasons for the move are his great instincts and that he already hits like a linebacker. Stephens said he believes it's a win for Pike Central anytime he can get O'Neal matched up in space. O'Neal may be a bit undersized for the position, but the Chargers' coaches believe he makes up for that with his technique and quick- ness to the football. Dent and Zazzetti are expected to rotate in at linebacker, but cor- nerback should be one of the rare areas where the Chargers can use their strength to their advantage, with Zazzetti and Dent expecting