Changing gears: Black River football team to feature new offense
Black River has long been known as a run-first football team.
The Pirates opened up their offense some last year, incorporating more passing plays than previous years.
This year, though, they’re going to run an offense that is much different from what they’ve done over the past several decades.
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Gone is the grind-it-out Wing-T offense.
Replacing it?
A spread shotgun pistol formation.
“We want to spread the field and get the ball to our athletes in space while still pounding between the tackles with our running backs,” said fourth-year Black River coach Kyle Clark, whose team finished last year with an 8-4 overall record.
Senior wideout Tyler Mrakuzic is one of those athletes who will get plenty of touches on offense. An All-Ohioan on defense last year, Mrakuzic set single-season school records in receptions (47), receiving yards (744) and receiving touchdowns (eight).
Joining him at the starting wideout spots will be Nathan Urbas and Kenny Boggs, while Jonathan McKean is the projected starter at tight end.
Eric Groesser is slated to take over at quarterback, replacing the graduated Andon O’Neal.
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Charlie Wells and Blake Hopkins are projected to take most of the snaps at running back.
“We have very physical runners and athletic guys in our wide receiver positions,” Clark said. “We also have a dual-threat QB this year.”
Projected starters along the line are tackles Nick Krymowski and Cooper McKean, guards Ryan Graves and RJ Bentley and center Caison Conrad.
“Our offensive weakness is our kids learning a new offensive scheme, along with having a lot of new starters along the offensive line,” said Clark, whose team averaged 26.6 points last season.
Groesser will also handle the kicking and punting duties. He earned All-Ohio honors as a punter last season, averaging just under 38 yards on 18 punts.
On defense, Black River returns five starters from a unit that allowed 17.3 points in 2021.
Mrakuzic leads the way from his safety position after recording 70 tackles and a team-high seven interceptions last season. He’ll be joined in the secondary by fellow safety Hopkins and cornerbacks Alex Sotherland and Urbas.
Hopkins led the team in tackles last season with 95, including 18 for a loss.
“Our [defensive] strength will be our defensive backfield,” Clark said. “This is the area of our defense where we have the most experience returning.”
Up front, Shayne Davis and Owen Chapman will man the defensive end positions with Conrad lining up at nose guard.
Jonathan McKean and Wells are the projected starters at outside linebacker, while Justin Moody and Graves are slated to start at the inside spots.
After finishing third in the Lorain County 8 with a 5-2 record last season, Clark expects the same or better this year.
“I feel as if we can match or exceed our third-place finish from last year,” he said.
Black River opens the season at Hillsdale on Aug. 19.
Reach Chris at csnow@times-gazette.com
On Twitter: CSnow_TG
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Black River High School 2022 football preview
