Off-season filled with change

It has been an off-season of change for the Jay County High School football team.

The most obvious change, and an unavoidable one, is the loss of almost all of the skill players from one of the most potent offenses in the state. Billy Wellman, Dexter Shreve, Brandon Reynard, Adam Garringer and Lance Franklin all graduated after leading an offense that scored at least 20 points in every game and cleared 30 six times.

The other major moves by the Patriots were made in hopes of getting their record back above .500 after ending a streak of three straight winning seasons with a 3-7 mark last year.

The on-the-field change comes in the form of a new defensive system - the 3-4. Instead of the standard four linemen and three linebackers, the Patriots will instead use three lineman and four linebackers.

"We thought we've got more guys that can run sideline to sideline than we've got big defensive linemen," said JCHS coach Shane Hill, "so the 3-4 allows us to get the defensive lineman out there that we need but get the speed out there that we have.

"It should be an exciting defense because we're going to blitz a lot and bring a lot of pressure and hopefully confuse some offenses ..."

Hill said he's excited especially about his inside linebackers, Dillon Easton and Jacob Cauffman. The new formation will allow those two, as well as outside linebackers Eric Beougher and Tyler Claycomb, to be more versatile.

All four linebackers will be new to the starting lineup.

"(The 3-4 defense) really uses those linebackers as smoke and mirrors. It brings them on the blitz and then sometimes drops them into coverage," said Hill. "You never really know who's coming or where they're coming from. ... To me, the 3-4 defense is kind of like the spread offense. It's a lot of misdirection and a lot of deception ..."

The other change the Patriot coaching staff made during the off-season was to put an increased focus on leadership.

Since November, the coaching staff has taken the seniors, four at a time, through a 12-week leadership program.

Hill said one of the biggest keys for the 2009 Patriots' success will be playing together as a team.

"We were telling guys to be leaders and we were expecting guys to be leaders, but we hadn't taught them how to be leaders," said Hill of previous seasons. "It's kind of difficult for a 17-year-old kid to be a leader if he doesn't know what he's supposed to do. ... It has been a big emphasis for us ..."

Hill said he expects linemen Colton Prescott and Matt James, both seniors, and junior quarterback Zach Cash, to be key leaders.

He also will look toward seniors Michael Daniels and Ben Vance, the only two players returning to the skill positions on the offensive side of the ball.

Daniels returns to the running back position, where he split time with Franklin a year ago. He finished as the team's leading rusher with 581 yards and five touchdowns in 100 attempts.

Vance was the No. 4 receiver last season, catching 14 passes for 196 yards and seven TDs.

"They've got to be, not just playmakers for us, but they've got to be guys who hold it together when it's not going so well on Friday night," said Hill. "We're not going to be able to score probably like we did last year ... This is going to be a grind-it-out type of offense. ... We can't get frustrated and we can't get down ..."

Other receivers will be Adam Coats (two receptions in 2008), Drew Houck, Joe Lochtefeld and newcomer Patriots Williams. Kyler Blowers and Dillon Hutzler will join Prescott and James on the line, with one offensive tackle yet to be determined.

"A lot of new faces will be out there," said Hill. "There are lots of names that people won't recognize, but hopefully by the middle of the season they'll be well known."

Several of the offensive lineman will rotate on the defensive line along with Matt Taylor. Seniors Tyler Aker and Cody Thompson will play safety, and Vance and Coats will line up opposite each other at the cornerback slots.

The top returning tackler on the squad is Prescott, who made 27 stops last season.

Hill complimented his relatively inexperienced squad for its work ethic during the summer months. He said he's looking to have a winning season for the fourth time in the last five years.

"Our big focus is just to have a winning season," he added. "We'd like to win the conference ... as we always would. We'd like to be able to be competitive when we get to sectional.

"But we'd like to get five wins. We want to go into the sectional 5-4 at least ...

"I think that would be a great season for this team."[[In-content Ad]]