“I’m ecstatic about the fact that we have 42 players out for football,” said coach Mark Cole.
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Ask Gallatin head football coach Mark Cole what he is most pleased about heading into the 2005 season, and he doesn’t know where to begin….or end.
“I’m ecstatic about the fact that we have 42 players out for football,” he begins. “It’s been a long time since Gallatin has been able to field that many kids,” he adds. “The development of our skill players, the timing in our option game and passing game, is as far along as it’s ever been. Equally surprising has been the quality of our defensive play as a whole.”
Coach Cole’s enthusiasm was only slightly dampened by Friday night’s showing in the jamboree at Albany. Gallatin’s 36 offensive plays were scripted ahead of time. The Bulldogs prepared for five-man fronts on defense, which they didn’t see from any team. Cole does not apologize for giving fan a “vanilla” look at the 2005 Bulldogs.
“The outsider is going to say we weren’t very explosive or exciting on offense, but we went in with the idea of working on some specific things,” Coach Cole explained. “We knew Tarkio would be there watching and we didn’t want to show them anything but the basics,” he added. “What Friday night was for us was a whale of a conditioner. We took 72 snaps in less than an hour and twenty minutes,” he said.
Cole said there would be no major personnel changes after the jamboree, though he cautioned that the evaluation process has continued this week, especially in light of starting tackle Daniel Horvatin’s knee problems that have limited his activity. Offensively, the Bulldogs will line up with Nic Burrell at quarterback. In the backfield are juniors Justin Duffy and Derrick Love and sophomore Stephen Wood. Tight ends and receivers include juniors Andrew Adkison, Riley Rains, Brett Wilkinson and Ethan Merrigan, and senior Dillon Bird
The Bulldog offensive line will include seniors Clayton Baker, and Zach Gutzmer, junior Colt Bohannon and sophomores Corey Lee and Jon Brown.
Defensively, Gallatin will show Lee, Gutzmer, Brown and Bohannon along the interior; Baker, Adkison and senior Mark Maillet at ends; and Burrell, Duffy, Love, Rainey and Wood in a linebacker rotation. The biggest battle up til game time was among Merrigan, Rains, Bird, Wilkinson and Andy Ward for three defensive back positions.
Hornet jamboree revealing
Tarkio’s defense did a good job stopping the run against both Hamilton and Braymer in Friday night’s jamboree in Hamilton. The Indians “loaded the box” against Braymer with a 4-4 defense that featured four linebackers within three yards of the snap. What success the Hornets had against the Indians came when fullback Geoffrey Whitt took the handoff off-tackle. The Bobcats were able to score against the Indians on a long touchdown pass. They completed another 40-yard pass during their 12-play series against Tarkio.
Defensively, Tarkio rotated five players, seniors Corey Weber (5-10, 187), Wyatt Farley (6-2, 236), Doug Low (6-5, 184) and Andrew Baruth (6-3, 230), along with junior Taylor Hurst (5-11, 176), in the front four. Linebackers included senior Curtis Wheeler (5-9, 140), junior Mitchell Driskell (5-9, 198), junior Matthew Amthor (5-9, 143) and junior Taylor Hurst (5-11, 176). Sophomores Matthew Brought (5-8, 140) and Tyler Romines (5-6, 136) patrolled the corners. Junior Trent Powell (6-0, 149) lined up at safety, about ten yards off the ball.
Offensively, the Indians lined up in the “I” formation with sophomore Dustin Noland (6-0, 145) at quarterback and Driskell at fullback. Amthor and Wheeler rotated from the deep back and wingback positions. Tarkio scored from about six yards out on Braymer when Wheeler followed Driskell’s lead off-tackle on the right side.
“As far as this Friday night is concerned, we’re going to prepare for everything we saw last year and everything we anticipate them running,” Coach Cole said after viewing film of Tarkio’s performance at Hamilton’s jamboree.
Parity in the GRC?
The time is now for parity in the GRC, Coach Cole believes, though he gives Princeton a slight edge with its corps of seasoned returners. South Harrison earns a “don’t count out” description from the GHS skipper, and Maysville a “watch out for” label.
The Princeton Tigers are expected to make a strong push toward their second GRC football title in three years. Offensively, the Tigers expect to pile up points on the scoreboard with the return first team quarterback Jeff Lutzen (Sr.), first team runningback Clint Moore (Sr.) and second team runningback Nate Moore. Princeton’s only conference loss a year ago came at the hands of defending champion South Harrison by a 13-8 margin.
South Harrison returns 16 letterwinners and 40 players overall, led by captains Matt Shipers (Jr.), Spud Herzog (Sr.), Wes Livesay (Sr.) and Matt Higley (Jr.). The Bulldogs have lost only one GRC game (2003 to Princeton) since the beginning of the 1999 season. Sophomore Brad Madison, brother of MU Tiger redshirt freshman Ryan Madison, is a force to reckon with on the line. Erik Coffey, previously a six-year assistant, was promoted to head coach after the departure of Wes Croy to Trenton, his high school alma mater.
Graduation hit hard in Hamilton, but the Hornets are compensating by shifting experienced players into key positions. Junior Ross Rosenbaum has shifted from runningback to quarterback. Senior Geoff Whitt moves from tight end to fullback. Junior John Burdick moves from guard to a runningback slot to give his team more depth at that spot. Seniors Kyle Eitel, Lee Adams and Chad Claypole have some experience in the backfield. The Hornets return a pair of linemen in Eric Fairchild and Kevin Holt. Dave Fairchild begins his second consecutive season as head Hornet football coach, and 18th overall at Hamilton.
The Albany Warriors are taking things one step at a time, and the first step is to break a 28-game losing streak dating back to Nov. 2, 2001. Finding a way to win means finding a way to score for the Warriors, who averaged less than a touchdown per game through their long, winless drought. Albany can count on filling all 22 offensive and defensive positions with players who started at one time or another last season. Only Gallatin’s Mark Cole has a longer, unbroken coaching tenure in the GRC than Albany’s Jay Eilers. The Warriors will dedicate their new Wayne and Doris Guess Sports Complex at halftime of their opener against Putnam County.
Maysville lost only four senior starters, Aaron Pollard, Steve Bauman, Robby Walling and Adam Pollard, from last season’s squad that finished 2-4 in the league and 3-7 overall. Senior Matt Jundy was first team wide receiver and defensive back, and senior Travis Ellis garnered second team quarterback. Seniors Adam Bridgeman and Derek Cole received second team honors at linebacker and offensive tackle, respectively.