B2
Loveland Herald
2011 football preview
August 24, 2011
Moeller faces championship schedule
By Scott Springer
sspringer@communitypress.com
MONTGOMERY – The Moeller Crusaders have carried out preseason practice under the watchful eye of coach Gerry Faust. That’s not a line from the 1970s. It’s the truth. A gold statue Rodenberg of the legendary Crusader coach gazes over the field turf practice field at the Moeller athletic complex. Some wonder if it screams out hoarse comWatkins mands in the wee hours of the night. “Gerry looks over us every practice,” fourthyear coach John Rodenberg said. Thus far, Rodenberg likes Kern the talent he sees climbing the steps and passing the statue each day. “So far we’ve felt pretty good,” Rodenberg said. “We’ve got a good nucleus of returning starters. We don’t have to replace a whole team. We feel we have some good juniors that are going to help us out.” Highlighting Moeller’s talent is senior receiver Monty Madaris. “He’s got a number of Big Ten offers, and I really feel he’ll be one of the better players,” Rodenberg
SCOTT SPRINGER/STAFF
Moeller senior receiver Monty Madaris is the most heavily recruited Crusader, drawing offers from many Division I colleges. Madaris scored nine times last season, three by ground and six by air. He led Moeller with 48 catches for 674 yards. said. “He’s really looked good and worked hard.” At tight end, and fielding MidAmerican Conference offers right now is John Tanner. “He’ll really surprise people,” Rodenberg said."He’s about 6-4, 250. A good looking tight end for us.” To complement the athleticism of Madaris and toughness of Tanner is the speedy junior Keith Watkins. “He’ll really give some people some fits,” Rodenberg said. “He’s a small, scatback-type kid. We’ll limit his carries, but we think he’s a home run every time he touches the ball.” Senior linebacker Dillon Kern will anchor the defense along with fellow seniors Tyler Williford and Cody Elias. “I think he (Kern) is going to
have a monster season at linebacker for us,” Rodenberg said. Big things are also expected of big seniors Eric Lalley (275 pounds) and Kevin Robinson-White (300). As big as the Crusaders are, their schedule and mystique are bigger. To repeat as GCL-South champs is a tall order. “I was looking at our schedule and the composite schedule of those we play,” Rodenberg said. “X, Elder and us play such a brutal schedule. I think it’s who’s healthy at the end of the year. I think it’s going to be a war between us three. We’ll see what happens.”
Game days
Out-of-conference games are no picnic either for the Crusaders. The saying, “To be the best you’ve got to beat the best” is true this season along Montgomery Road. “Unbelievable!” Rodenberg said of his non-conference opponents. “Our last three games are against the state champs of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but the teams we play in the GCL have their work cut out for them too.” At presstime, Rodenberg was still undecided at quarterback. Juniors Ricky Davis and Spencer
No. 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
Name Grade Nick Palopoli 12 Keith Watkins II 11 Derriel Britten 12 Cody Elias 12 Spencer Iacovone 11 Shane Jones 11 Nick Stofko 12 Sam Hubbard 10 Nick MacArthur 12 Ricky Davis 11 Garrett Morrissey 12 Gus Ragland 10 Nick Buehler 12 Joseph Gruden 11 Sam Geraci 11 Matt Reininger 11 R.B. Kelleher 11 Austin MacEachern12 Brian Burkhart 12 Steve Anderson 12 Andrew Kraus 11 Jelan Boyd 11 Nick Hensler 12 Tanner Cook 11 Chris Kessling 11 Tom Paquette 12
Position K RB WR DB QB LB DB DB DB QB RB QB QB QB K K DB DB RB DB DB DB RB DB DB DB
By Tony Meale presspreps@gmail.com
JEFF SWINGER/STAFF
St Xavier football players, from left, Griffin Dolle, Brandyn Cook and Conor Hundley will lead the Bombers’ offense this year.
city.
good, but right now, we’re not very good.” Well, that “not very good” football team happens to be the preseason No. 1-ranked team in the
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 54 55 59 60 61 66
Daniel Hoffer Ethan Frericks Jonathan Bucher Jimmy Rodenberg Mitch Catino Josh Lawrence Joe Eramo Kevin Batory Collin Gorsline Charlie Hodge Nolan Frey Krieg Greco Dillon Kern Keith Rucker Connor Nelson Andrew Schmalz Dominic Starvaggi John Tanner Tyler Williford Ricky Berns Gabe Stiver Jake McCluskey Jacob Cron Nick Szabados Chris Henke Matt Meyers Harrison Smith
11 11 11 11 12 11 11 11 12 11 11 11 12 11 11 11 11 12 12 11 12 11 11 11 11 12 12
DB DB RB LB DB RB RB RB RB RB DB RB LB WR DB RB DB TE LB LB LB DB LB LB OL OF OL
“Throw ’em away,” Specht said in a don’t-do-this-to-me-now voice. “Preseason rankings are simply the result of what you’ve done in the past. We appreciate the No. 1 ranking, but we need to get better.”
The Bombers had little trouble doing that last year. After a 5-4 regular season, St. X secured playoff wins over La Salle and Colerain, which went a combined 203, before falling to eventual state runner-up Huber Heights Wayne in the regional finals. St. X returns 14 starters – eight on offense, six on defense – from that 7-5 team, including all-state senior running back Conor Hundley, who in the last two years has rushed for more than 2,500 yards. He scored 19 touchdowns as a junior. “I think Conor’s as good – if not better – than any running back in the state,” Specht said, “and I wish colleges would look at it the same way because he’s a special, special player. I think he’s a major-college running back. He’s as good as anyone I’ve coached.” Hundley will be joined by fellow captains Griffin Dolle, a quar-
2011 Crusaders No. 2 5 40 42 85 24 10 21 38 62 47 27 17 58 80 13 49 25 43 98 15 79 19 70 67 11 12 39 44
Name Grade Sean Ahern 12 Bryson Albright 12 Andrew Arand 12 Patrick Armbruster 11 Evan Ballinger 12 Joseph Barrett 11 David Becker 12 Ryan Berning 11 Aaron Berry 11 James Birchak 11 Michael Bossart 12 C.J. Bowman 11 David Braswell 12 Alex Breen 12 Trevor Brinkmann 11 David Brown 11 Donald Bruemmer 11 Sam Burchenal 12 William Burke 11 Nathan Caldwell 11 Jack Cameron 11 Garrett Campbell 11 Ben Carroll 11 Jonathan Cole 12 Brandyn Cook 12 Alex Cussen 12 Brian Daugherty 12 Sam Day 11 Nick Deitz 12
Position DB DL DB LB WR DB DL DB DB/PK DL RB WR WR/RB OL WR DB LB LB TE LB TE OL CB/WR OL OL WR WR DB LB
97 15 14 71 9 51 32 34 40 18 91 6 35 3 34 68 55 89 81 8 85 4 28 9 50 92 84 82 42 60
Daniel DeTellem Griffin Dolle Ti Domhoff Reese Dorger Robbie Dorger Jr. Brian Douglas Cameron Dunn Andrew Elsen Steven Fitzpatrick Tom Fogarty Patrick Foy Ryan Frey Conor Fryer Nathan Gerbus Ben Gerhardt Jake Grace Patrick Hamad Adam Hart Nick Heflin C.J. Hilliard Joseph Huhn Conor Hundley Zachary Imbus Dominic Iori Mark Jacob Alexander Jacob John Jacob Sam Johnson Adam Jones Luke Kasson
12 12 11 11 12 12 11 12 11 11 12 10 11 12 12 11 11 11 12 10 11 12 12 11 11 12 11 11 12 12
DE QB QB DL TE DL/OL WR/RB DE/LB WR WR DL WR CB B CB OL DL/LB TE WR RB WR RB DB/LS DB LB LB DB WR DB OL
Iacovone have been dueling most of August. “One throws it a little bit better and one runs it a little bit better,” Rodenberg said. “They’re two good quarterbacks that could start with anybody in the league.” One or both could take the field in Moeller’s opener Aug. 27 against Pickerington Central. However, Rodenberg will not have them in any tandem rotation.
2011 Crusaders
Despite No. 1 rank, St. X football looks to get better SPRINGFIELD TWP. – Mixed feelings. That’s probably the best way to describe Steve Specht’s outlook on preseason rankings. Nice compliment, great source of pride – Specht but what, truly, do they mean? “You don’t win football games based on preseason rankings,” the St. Xavier High School football coach said. “Like I told our guys, we’re not very good right now. I think we can be
Aug. 27 Pickerington Central, noon Sept. 2 Hamilton Sept. 10 Northmont, 7 p.m. Sept. 16 St. Xavier, Ky. Sept. 23 St. Xavier Sept. 29 La Salle, 7 p.m. Oct. 7 @ Elder Oct. 14 Indianapolis Cathedral, Ind. Oct. 22 @ St. Edward, 2 p.m. Oct. 28 @ Trinity, Ky. All games are 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
7 88 17 26 99 95 20 64 46 77 26 66 59 93 46 28 16 36 56 41 54 53 47 10 69 44 48 37 29 23
Trey Kilgore Kevin King Samuel Kissinger Andrew Kroeger Jeff Kuley Ryan Lair Timothy Mahoney Jacob Martin Brian McCurren Bradley Mercer Randy Merchant Matt Mersman William Miller Sean Miller Braden Miller Kevin Milligan Matthew Mooney Sheridan Murphy Michael Muskopf Sean Nutt Brian O’Toole E.J. Parchment William Pensyl Zach Perry William Piening Rob Rankin Matt Reagan Kevin Reilly Sam Reilly Weston Rich
11 11 12 11 12 11 12 12 11 12 11 11 12 11 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 11 12 12 11 11 12 11 12
WR/QB WR DB DB DL DB/LS DB OL DL OL RB DL OL DE WR WR QB RB OL RB DL DL DB DB/PK OL WR DB DB WR DB
22 18 45 90 65 83 31 13 84 86 25 63 75 27 12 29 DB 52 21 30 3 33 DB 94 35 72 11 87 49
Robbie Ries 11 Nick Roemer 12 Scott Rudy 11 Hank Rumpke 12 Zachary Ruter 11 Mitchell Sander 11 Andrew Schad 11 Seth Scherer 12 John Schulcz 12 Ryan Shaw 11 Alex Shirk 11 Cameron Stair 11 James Stall 12 Spencer Stroube 12 Nick Sullivan 12 Jalyn Sutton-Jackson
DB QB/PK RB OL OL WR DB WR TE WR DB DL OL DB QB 12
Stephenson Swan 12 George Thacker 12 Jamiel Trimble 11 Ryan Waddell 11 Andrew Westerbeck
OL DB DB DB 12
Jack White 11 Mark Williams 12 Nicholas Wittrock 11 Jack York 11 Nicholas Zerbe 11 Michael Ziegler Jr. 12
DL DB OL DB WR TE
67 68 70 72 73 74 75 77 78 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 88 89 90 91 92 94 95 97 98 99
Trevor Schnedl 12 Dante West 12 Desmond Newbold 12 Blake Chambliss 11 Connor Lotz 12 Matt Noble 11 Alex Gall 11 Nick Allen 11 Ben Fraley 12 Michael Means 12 Max Foley 11 Nick Burandt 12 Kevin Schmitt 11 Steve Lair 11 Justin Casey 11 Evan Jansen 11 Monty Madaris 12 Casey Pieper 11 L.J. Driscoll 11 Kaleb Nypaver 11 Brian Markgraf 12 Colin Meinzer 11 Brandon Marsh 12 Eric Lalley 12 Chalmer Frueauf 10 Kevin Robinson-White12
OL DL OL OL OL OL OL DL OL WR WR WR WR WR WR TE WR WR DL DL DL DL DL DL DL DL
Game days
Aug. 27 @ Springfield, 8:15 p.m. Sept. 4 @ Pickerington Central, noon Sept. 9 @ Colerain Sept. 16 Trinity, Ky. Sept. 23 @ Moeller Sept. 30 Elder Oct. 7 La Salle Oct. 15 St. Edward, 2 p.m. Oct. 22 @ St. Ignatius, 2 p.m. Oct. 28 @ St. Xavier, Ky. All games are at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. terback, and Brandyn Cook, a center who has verbally committed to Pittsburgh. Other returners include senior lineman Alex Breen and junior wideouts Kevin Milligan and Trey Kilgore. Defensively, St. X will be led by Miami University-recruit Nathan Gerbus, who is moving back to linebacker after playing two years at defensive end. “There are a lot of great defensive players in the city,” Specht said, “but I’ll put Nathan up against any of them.” Other senior playmakers include free safety Andrew Arand, cornerback Sean Ahern and defensive end Bryson Albright, who has also verbally committed to Miami. The Bombers, with their typically tough schedule, travel to Colerain for a Week-3 clash Sept. 9. Although the Cardinals, ranked No. 2 in the city, haven’t lost at home since 1999, Specht relishes the opportunity to play a nonleague local – especially outside of a showcase event. “Now that’s high school football in Cincinnati,” Specht said. “I’m going to argue year in and year out that we need to get more local games. I wish to God we could get back to that, but I don’t know that we ever will.” The Bombers have taken two straight against Colerain, and even If they don’t make it three, the game figures to be close; ten of Specht’s 17 career losses have come by five points or fewer. “Week 1 through Week 10, we’re going to be challenged,” Specht said. “I don’t think we’re very good, but I like where we are. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”