CENTRAL CATHOLIC LEAGUE
At a glance 2013 SCHEDULE Aug. 30.........at Pickerington North Sept. 6 .......vs. Eastmoor Academy Sept. 13 ..................vs. Big Walnut Sept. 20 .........................at Hartley Sept. 27 ...vs. Columbus Crusaders .................at Thomas Worthington *Oct. 4 ........................vs. DeSales Oct. 11..........................vs. Ironton Oct. 18............at Kings Mills Kings *Oct. 25.....................at Watterson Nov. 1 ..............vs. Marion Harding 2012 RESULTS (6-4 overall, 0-2 CCL-Silver) Pickerington North ...........L, 55-20 Eastmoor Academy .........W, 27-23 Beechcroft......................W, 20-18 Toledo Rogers...................W, 41-0 Columbus Crusaders.......W, 37-13 *DeSales .........................L, 28-16 Canal Fulton Northwest ...W, 37-21
Kings Mills Kings..............L, 21-17 *Watterson ......................L, 21-17 Marion Harding .................W, 35-7 *League contest INSIDE THE CARDINALS •Coach: Jeff Pharion, fifth season •Top players: Ryan Bailey (QB/DB), NiQuille Bell (WR/DB), Andy Deak (RB/LB), Ben Hale (WR/DB), Michael Hamrock (RB/LB), David Heil (OL/DL), Sean Hennessey (TE/DE), Gabe Klingler (FB/DL), John Quinn (LB), Graham Plageman (WR) and Nathan Puthoff (OL/DL) •Key losses: Russell Bateman (LB), Evan Brown (WR), Brandon Burdine (OL), John Colosimo (K/P), Sean Fitzmartin (RB), Joe Flynn (WR/DB), Jack France (OL),Andrew Kyser (OL), Philip LaFleur (LB), Jonathan Radney (RB) and David Shuster (WR)
Andy Deak, shown making a tackle against Watterson last season, is one of four returning starters on the Cardinals’ defense. JOSHUA A. BICKEL/THISWEEKSPORTS
St. Charles
Senior class to carry weight for Cardinals
By SCOTT HENNEN THISWEEKSPORTS.COM
Coach Jeff Pharion doesn’t mince words when he talks about the senior class of his St. Charles Preparatory School football team. “We have a ‘big’ senior class, and we have a lot of them as well,” said Pharion, whose team has 24 seniors. “We’ve had big senior classes before, but usually they are smaller guys, like running backs and wide receivers, but this group has size. We have 10 linemen in this class, and that’s a lot in comparison to what we normally have.” Leading the way up front are senior tackles David Heil (6-foot-6, 295 pounds) and Nathan Puthoff (6-5, 285). Two of five returning starters on offense, Puthoff has verbally committed to Kent State and Heil has received interest from several Division I colleges. “As a senior you have more respon-
HAWKS
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sibility,” said Heil, whose team finished 6-4 overall last season and 0-2 in the CCL-Silver Division behind Watterson (2-0) and DeSales (1-1). “I learned a lot from last year’s seniors about what we have to do to help the younger guys. Now we’re the ones showing (the underclassmen) how to do things.” Senior quarterback Ryan Bailey (6-1, 190) returns after completing 52 of 94 passes for 685 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions. He also rushed for 164 yards and five touchdowns on 38 carries. “I’m definitely more confident coming in. I’m on the same page with the coaches when it comes to the offense,” Bailey said of running the Cardinals’ spread attack. “Ryan has great confidence and we’ve only added a couple new things for him,” Pharion said. “He’s been a commanding presence for us and he was elected captain by his teammates,
ing in Region 16, the Hawks have dropped to Division V and were placed in Region 17 after the OHSAA’s expansion to seven divisions. Also on the schedule are City League-power MarionFranklin (Sept. 13 at home) and a pair of CCL-Silver opponents in St. Charles (Sept. 20 at home) and Watterson (Oct. 4 away). Hartley travels Nov. 1 to meet Ready, which it beat 428 a year ago for the CCL-Gold title. “I think we have a deep team,” said Burchfield, whose team will face the Silver Knights at Hilliard Bradley. “We think a lot of the teams we’re playing and we like our team. Obviously we’ll be one of the contenders to win the state title in Division V.”
Logan Rahe (5-11, 190). Hartley runs an odd stack as its base defense, with Zang, junior Patrick Heinmiller (6-0, 185), Bennett and sophomore Quri Hickman (5-11, 205) at linebacker. Hickman is a transfer from Madison Christian. The Saxton brothers should be joined in the secondary by Mercier, sophomores Rian Anderson (6-2, 175) and Richard Jones III (5-9, 155) and freshman Jake Ruby (510, 180). Hartley has five opponents it did not face a year ago, including defending Division V state champion Coldwater on Sept. 6 at home. Coldwater defeated Kirtland 10-9 in the championship game after finishing as state runner-up the previous three seasons. While Coldwater is compet- julrey@thisweeknews.com August 29, 2013
so he’s a good leader.” Seniors Joe Montgomery (3 catches, 45 yards) and Graham Plageman (5 catches, 31 yards) return as starting wide receivers and senior Sean Hennessey (5 catches, 80 yards, 1 touchdown) is back at tight end. One wild card for the Cardinals is junior NiQuille Bell, who lined up at running back, wide receiver and quarterback last fall. The 5-9, 185-pounder rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. “We’re going to have NiQuille all over the field,” said Pharion, who is in his fifth season. “He’s a special kid. We might have him line up out wide, at tailback or even as quarterback in some ‘wildcat’ sets. We don’t want to confine him. We want to get the ball to him in space.” Pharion said the Cardinals will use a tailback-by-committee approach with seniors Michael Hamrock (511, 225), John Quinn (5-10, 190) and
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Senior Deandre Golden (60, 195) rushed for 398 yards last season for Watterson but will sit out the first five games after transferring. Also at wide receiver along with Culbertson (14 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns) should be juniors Anthony Havens (5-11, 165) and Connor Lancia (6-2, 195) and senior Austin Carnes (5-9, 170). Senior Myles Fowler (62, 185) is a transfer from Westland who will sit out the first five games. Eblin had 13 catches for 251 yards and four touchdowns. Joining Brady Taylor on the offensive line are seniors Andrew Hurd (5-11, 235) at center and Jacob Koch (6-3, 215) at left guard. Seniors Nick Skordilis (511, 230) and Andy Rinehart (6-
George Sims (6-0, 210) and sophomore Jacob Nowell (5-7, 185). They replace 2013 graduates Sean Fitzmartin (1,376 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns) and Jonathan Radney (738 rushing yards, 6 touchdowns). “Sean Fitzmartin was built powerfully, but these guys are bigger,” Pharion said. “We have four powerful backs. We’re going to pound the ball, but we also have some good receivers.” Returning starters on defense are senior Andy Deak at linebacker, senior Ben Hale at free safety, senior Gabe Klingler at defensive end and Quinn at linebacker. Hale, who has verbally committed to Bowling Green, had two interceptions, 66 tackles and 10 pass-breakups last season. Quinn led the team with 121 tackles, eight for losses, and Klingler had 39 tackles and a team-high 3.5 sacks. Deak had 60 tackles with 2.5 sacks.
2, 235) competed during the preseason at right guard. Senior Zach Jarrett (6-3, 260) takes over at right tackle for 2013 graduate Luke Hackney, who is playing for Ashland. Yoho was special mention all-district and finished 69 of 133 passing for 1,085 yards with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. “The big difference is that we’ve got 17 seniors and this is the second year in our system,” Cutler said. “They understand the language and the learning curve is not what it was. (Yoho) has matured greatly. He went from a teenage football player to a young man.” Culbertson is back to lead the defense at cornerback after being one of the area leaders in interceptions with nine. Lancia returns at safety and Bailey and Chapman are back at linebacker. Skordilis, junior
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“We have Klingler back at end and two of our top linebackers are back,” Pharion said. “Plus, we have Ben Hale at free safety with the way he plays the ball.” Sophomore Will Groeber will handle kicking and punting duties. The left-footed kicker replaces 2013 graduate John Colosimo, who averaged 36.5 yards per punt and made 11 of 16 field goals and 27 of 29 extra points. “We want to make sure that our special teams start off strong,” said Pharion, whose team opens Friday, Aug. 30, at Pickerington North. “Will is a talented young kicker and it’s just a matter of him getting his feet wet at the varsity level.” St. Charles has dropped from Division I, Region 3 to Division II, Region 5 in the new seven-division playoff format implemented by the OHSAA. shennen@thisweeknews.com
Tre Windham (6-2, 235) and sophomore Kyle Usner (6-3, 200) also should contribute on the defensive line along with BradyTaylor. JuniorAlvin Knox (5-11, 210) is back at middle linebacker after totaling a teambest 74 tackles and Carnes returns at cornerback after intercepting five passes. Golden and Fowler are others who should contribute in the secondary when they become eligible. JuniorAiden Dulin was honorable mention all-district after making one field goal and 40 extra points and again will be the kicker. Lancia, who also made honorable mention alldistrict, averaged 36.5 yards per punt. Culbertson, Havens and Fowler all should return kicks and punts, with Koch and Carnes serving as long snappers. Ready – which had bounced between Divisions IV and V in recent years before the expan-
sion to seven divisions – beat Newark Catholic 34-20 in its opener last season en route to a 6-0 start. The Knights lost to Hartley 42-8 in their regular-season finale, marking the third consecutive year the regular season ended with a setback to the Hawks. “They’re all tough kids,” Cutler said. “Every day they get a little more disciplined and focused on preparation. I was an assistant when we won the whole thing in 2000 at (Upper Arlington) and this group prepares like that group. They eat right and they live right. They lift like crazy and go through practices with high intensity. … We have high expectations. Our goal is to win all of our games and get into the playoffs. That is the standard we live by.” julrey@thisweeknews.com
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