Inexperienced Lancaster banking on unproven players to grow up in a hurry
LANCASTER - A year ago at this time, the Lancaster football program went through a major overhaul when Bryan Schoonover took over for long-time coach Rob Carpenter, who retired after coaching the Golden Gales for 23 seasons.
Lancaster finished with a 4-7 overall record and qualified for the playoffs in Schoonover’s first season at the helm. Heading into year two, Schoonover and the Gales will have to overcome a lack of experience as very few starters return, as well as a challenging schedule.
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However, there is still enough rising talent to keep the Gales competitive until some of the unproven players find their way.
“I like the work ethic of this team, but we have a lot of inexperience,” Schoonover said. “One of the things I like about this team is they show up every day and I can’t praise them enough for how hard they work. They are focused on getting better and they give great effort.
“We are just trying to make sure that we have continuous growth in everything that we do. You can’t predict what wins and losses are going to be, but you can control attitude and effort, and that’s one thing we talked to our kids about. We just want to make sure that we are working hard as we need to, are we being a day-to-day football team, and are we trying to get better every day? If we do those things, everything else will take care of itself.”
Like every year, one of the biggest keys will be how well the Gales’ offensive line plays will dictate the success of the offense, which runs the wing-T.
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Lancaster has two returning seniors – Kody Hoffman and Austin Tiller - leading the way on the offensive front. The Gales have several talented underclassmen who are hoping to provide the lift they need in the running game.
They include senior Jack Brandenburger, junior Tyler Forrest, and sophomores Gavin Farmer, Seth Carson, Connor Christopher and Adley Karns. Senior Ryan Walker returns at tight end, with junior Darius Dancy and sophomore David Thomas providing depth.
“We just want to come out and be aggressive and give 100 percent every play and play our hardest,” Hoffman said. “Everything starts with us up front and we understand that. We have to play physically if we want to succeed. We have some younger guys that need to step up and we need to get them going. We all have to understand the main thing is playing as hard as we can on every play.”
Senior quarterback Trace VanGundy, who started late in his sophomore season, returns for his third year under center. He has looked solid in the preseason, running, and throwing the ball.
He will have a bevy of running backs to hand the ball off to, including seniors Brayden Diyanni and Alex Miller, and juniors Brenden Simcox, Xavier Goss, Gunner Richards, JD Thomas and David Roby.
The receiving core is led by returning senior Tyler Holland and juniors Jackson Burke, Dylan Byrd, Isaiah Wesson and Joe Beatty.
While the offense has shown flashes of being solid in its first two scrimmages, the defense has shown it can fly to the ball and make plays.
However, the challenge will be keeping guys fresh because a lot of the players on offense will also have to play defense. Adding as much depth on both sides of the ball will be paramount.
The defensive line will consist of Dancy, Hoffman, Brandenburger, Tiller, Dylan Decot and Ross White, while the linebacker group will be manned by Thomas, Goss, Kelton Fisher, Gavin Smith, Miller and Cody McCoy.
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Simcox, Holland, Byrd, Burke, Wesson Roby, Richards, Beatty and Kyrell Jackson should all see time in the secondary.
“We are going to have to have guys be ironmen type guys who have to play on both sides of the ball, so we have to be able to stay healthy,” Schoonover said. “We have done some things well in our two scrimmages, but we have to execute better, and it’s all about getting the inexperienced guys more game reps. Those guys need to understand it’s all about being a worker and understanding what the process is and wanting to get better every day.”
The Gales will play three of their first four games on the road, beginning with Friday’s matchup at Pickerington North. They return home in Week 2 against Marysville before heading back on the road again against Olentangy and New Albany.
Schedule
Aug. 19: At Pickerington North
Aug. 26 Marysville
Sept. 2: At Olentangy
Sept. 9: At New Albany
Sept. 16: Hilliard Darby
Sept. 23: At Central Crossing
Sept. 30: Groveport
Oct. 7: Reynoldsburg
Oct. 14: At Pickerington Central
Oct. 21: Newark
Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on Twitter @twil2323.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Inexperienced Lancaster banking on unproven players to grow up in a hurry
