The Press-Dispatch
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D-6 Fall Sports Preview Wednesday, August 19, 2015 The Press-Dispatch CHARGERS Chargers begin 2015 season with new offense, defense The Pike Central High School football team will open the 2015 season when it visits Evansville Bosse on Friday, August 21. Pictured above are, front row (l to r): Austin ens, Aaron Carlisle, Hayden Cloe and Jagger Montgomery. Third row: Tyce Sorgius, Silas Goff, Cole Yates, Jermia Greer, Luke Vinnedge, Dylan Jones, Clint Boger, Jacob Rice, James Hughes, Lane Doades and Trenton Mann. Fifth row: Judah Leathco, Randy Powell, Eli Coleman and Gage Reibold. Sixth row: Assistant Coach J.J. Howald, Kara Indorf, Delia Krueger, Caleb Miller and Keevon Owens. Jim Capozella photo See NEW on D-7 Making and sharing sMiles! Be a Winner! Stay in school, study hard and prepare for a great future. Board-Certified in Orthodontics for children, adolescents and adults Appointments Monday-Thursday 812-254-4500 15 N. Meridian St., Washington www.lanahelms.com Making and sharing smiles! Lana R. Helms, DDS, MSD, PC PROUD SUPPORTER OF THE CHARGERS ATVs • Side-By-Sides • Motorcycles • Scooters ATVs • Side-By-Sides Motorcycles • Scooters Generators ATVs • Motorcycles Scooters 2501 Newton St. - Hwy 231 N Jasper, IN 47546 www.obcycle.com 866-YAMAHA-6 LARGE SELECTION OF USED UNITS By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School football team will be- gin the 2015 season exactly where the 2014 season end- ed when it visits Evansville Bosse on Friday, Aug. 21. While the Chargers were outscored 27-0 in the opening quarter of a 41-20 loss to the Bulldogs in the first round of the IHSA A Class 3A playoffs to finish 1-9 for the second straight year, they lost just five seniors – offensive/de- fensive linemen Bryce Man- ning and Johnnie Perry, run- ning back/linebacker Mason Petty, running back/defen- sive lineman Dakota Walker and wide receiver/defensive back Garrett Wojtowicz – to graduation last spring. The team's 28 returning players include 12 juniors and 13 sophomores, as well as three seniors, offensive linemen/defensive linemen Matthew Hayes and Austin Woodall and wide receiver/ cornerback Noah Scott. "We lost some really good kids – good kids on the foot- ball field and really good kids off the football field – but we've got a lot of experi- ence coming back," Powell said. "Honestly, we're still probably considered young, even with a lot of juniors play- ing, because we've got a lot of sophomores in that mix, too. But they are all very capable kids." The Chargers begin the 2015 season with new coor- dinators on both sides of the ball. Former offensive co- ordinator Billy Hewig will be in charge of the defense – replacing Chris Kramer, who was hired as an assis- tant coach for the Pike Cen- tral High School volleyball team – while first-year assis- tant coach Dave Stevens as- sumes the offensive coordi- nator duties. "Coach Stevens is running the offense and he's doing a great job with the kids," Pow- ell said of Stevens, who has prior coaching experience at Greencastle, Terre Haute North and Edgewood. "He's a very knowledgeable guy as far as football goes. The kids are very receptive, and have been from day one." Hewig's move to defen- sive coordinator, Powell not- ed, has also been welcomed by the players. "Football's not an easy sport," said Powell, who has a won-loss record of 6 -61 over the past seven seasons. "Sometimes it's hard. Some- times you're sore. Sometimes you're hurting. You may have had a bad play. The thing with these two guys – with one running the offense and one running the defense – is they've stayed very positive with the kids, and I like that. It really helps with morale." "We, obviously, have had some tough seasons, but, for the most part, I think, in stay- ing positive, it's been a work in progress," Powell added. "But I think we're starting to see – and will see this year – the benefits of that coach- ing strategy, just staying pos- itive and just repping and just pushing." Assistant coach Mike Fra- zier, who works with the team's running backs and linebackers, returns, while first-year assistant coach J.J. Howald will work with the team's wide receivers and defensive backs. Powell said that the Char- gers, under Stevens' tutelage, will be changing to a no-hud- dle, spread offense this sea- son. "That's the type offense I ran when I was in high school, and I like it," Pow- ell said. "The thing is, when you're like that, you can dic- tate tempo. If we want to go fast, we can go fast. If we want to slow down and take some time off, we can take some time off." "I know how it was when I played – it was fun for the coaches and I can tell you it was darn fun for the kids," Powell added. "So the kids are having fun with it." Powell's son, junior Aaron Carlisle, returns at quarter- back. Last season, Carlisle completed 49 of 91 pass at- tempts – a 53.8 percent com- pletion percentage – for 472 yards with five interceptions. "He's doing a good job of understanding what we want to do with this offense, and how to run it," Powell said of Carlisle, who will be backed up by sophomore Clint Bo- ger. "He's taken a leadership role that I think he needed to take. He's not a huge rah- rah guy, but he likes for ev- erybody to be on the same page, and he's made himself open to teammates." "He's grown up," Powell added. "I see it at home, and that's something that I'm seeing on the field, and it's a good thing. Any time you switch, you make a change, you're not sure how people are going to take it, and he's taken a real positive approach with this. He's done a really good job there." Also returning is junior tailback Jaylon Owens, who set single-season school re- cords for rushing yards (1,316 yards), point scored (90) and touchdowns (14) as well as well as the school re- cord for longest touchdown run (92 yards). "He's a solid player, and the thing is, he loves foot- ball; he's a gamer," Pow- ell said of Owens, who also caught nine passes for a to- tal of 24 yards. "He's going to run hard and, in this offense sometimes, it's too hard, be- cause you can miss certain things when you're doing that. But he's explosive. He's a guy that it's nice to get the ball in his hands and just let him be an athlete." "He's a three-sport ath- lete, and he could proba- bly play any three sports out here and be really good at them all, just because he wants to work at it," Powell said. "The sky's the limit with that young man." Rejoining Owens in the backfield will be junior H- back Colton O'Neal, who rushed for 658 yards and three touchdowns while catching a team-high 15 pass- es for a total of 89 yards. "As far as space goes, if you get him in space, he's an ath- lete," Powell said. "He's got speed. He doesn't back down from hits. He gets after it. He can play in the backfield if we need him to. We can line him up out in the slot, at the wing, wherever. He's another kid that we have that, if you get the ball in his hands and let him use his athleticism, he's dangerous." Powell said that he was pleased with the prospect of having the threesome of Car- lisle, Owens and O'Neal for two more seasons. "It's fortunate for us that we get a couple more years out of them," Powell said. "Those are nice tools to have in trying to build a program." "I think the kids under- stand or know that those are the three guys that are go- ing to try to lead us into bat- tle," Powell added. "None of the three are going to back down from anything. I'm just excited about what they have to offer." Junior Chase Davis and sophomore Jermia Greer will also see action in the Char- gers' backfield, Powell said. "Jermia came in and worked hard this summer," Powell said. "We used him probably more defensively than we did offensively. He's going to help us out on that side." Returning at tight end will be junior Jacob Marchino, who caught five passes for a total of 78 yards last season. "Jacob's doing a good job out there," Powell said. "He is understanding what his jobs are. He's going to be out on routes but he understands, too, that we're going to need him to help in the blocking scheme. He's doing a good job with that. We've been very happy with the prog- ress made there. He can get us those tough six or sev- en yards, and he runs solid routes." Scott will line up at one wide receiver position, Pow- ell said. "He is a kid that played some defense for us and manned the quarterback duties at the JV level," Pow- ell said. "We kind of moved him outside to help out with some depth, and he's stepped up and done a really nice job. He does a nice job blocking and he can run routes and catch the ball." Junior Hayden Cloe will man the other wideout post, according to Powell, where he will be backed up by fresh- man Judah Leathco. "He's starting to grow in- to that body," Powell said of Cloe. "He actually has be- come a pretty dangerous indi- vidual. He's got some height. He's gotten stronger in the weight room." Powell said that sopho- more Christian Alvey – who returned to Pike County after moving to Orange County for his freshman year – will see some action at wide receiver as well. "We're using him more defensively than we are of- fensively, but he'll get some time," Powell said. "He's a football player through and through. He loves the game. He's going to help us." On the offensive line, ju- nior Kane Osgatharp will line up at left tackle. "We just couldn't be happi- er with his work ethic," Pow- ell said. "He's one of those kids that he always wants to make sure he's doing it right. He's one of those kids, after practice or on a break, who's asking questions, and that's a sign of a kid that just wants to get better." Lining up to Osgatharp's right at left guard will be sophomore Silas Goff. "There's going to be some strong kids lining up across from him, but something we always tell him is we don't think there's going to be anybody line up in front of him that's ever going to be stronger than he is," Powell said. "We're talking an over 500 -pound squat and over a 400 -pound bench press. He's just a really strong kid and, with that, he's got the ability to run a little bit." Sophomore Luke Vinnedge, meanwhile, will handle the team's center du- ties. "In this offense, not every-