SPORTS

Football: Improved Ceramics eyeing Week 11

Sam Blackburn
Reporter

CROOKSVILLE – Improving leadership and physical strength were paramount in coach Chad Mickey’s first offseason.

Crooksville’s second-year head coach saw his team close 4-2 in its final six games in 2014, when the ground game was humming.

To get to a new level, however, the Ceramics needed more.

Mickey formed a leadership council for select members of the team, where they met weekly to discuss the contents of a book they read together.

The strength gains were a model of improved numbers in weight training, with the linemen particularly making significant strides.

It’s those linemen who hope to lead the Ceramics to their first postseason since 2004 — the school’s longest trip between postseasons since the playoff system was introduced in 1976.

“I’m excited to see what our kids can do up front offensively because of what they can do in the weight room and the kind of weight they can push, and they can move,” Mickey said. “None of them are guys who can’t get off the ball and can’t do things.”

Top rushers Jeffery Patrick and Nate Daniels are gone from an offense that finished third in the area with 2,118 yards and 27 touchdowns.

But the line, which returns three starters and another that saw extended time, figures to aid the transition of new faces in the backfield.

Senior tackle Joel Taylor, a first-team All-Southeast District selection, is joined by senior guards Will Fisher (5-foot-8, 225) and Mac Bowen (6-0, 260), senior center Lane Tokie (5-9, 232) and junior tackle Josh Holcombe (5-10, 250).

Sophomore Traise Claytor (5-8, 205), junior Austin Kierns (6-3, 212) and senior Dalton Steele (5-10, 190) provide depth.

Slotbacks Chaz Love (5-9, 175 Jr.) and Daulton Finck (5-7, 145 Sr.) and junior fullback Alan Wolfe (6-1, 215) will try and ease the losses of Patrick and Daniels, who combined for 1,489 yards and 15 TDs.

All three earned letters last season, with Love and Finck doing most of their damage on defense, while Wolfe was a prominent backfield blocker. Sophomore Gavin Rodgers (5-8, 160) also will contribute.

The players feel a full year of knowledge in the Navy flexbone, once a foreign concept when Mickey took over, has expedited the improvement process.

“We’re running the same things but we all know it,” senior tight end Dalton Banik said. “Last year we were asking what to do on every play. Now we can focus on firing off the ball and being physical and pay more attention to detail.”

While the running game fuels the offense, sophomore quarterback Landon Hinkle could be the key to the team breaking through.

He was 36-of-61 passing for 461 yards and six TDs in seven games as a starter in 2014, but Mickey admittedly didn’t trust him in key situations.

That is no longer the case.

“You’re talking about a kid who lettered in three varsity sports as a freshman, and there’s a reason for that,” he added. “He doesn’t lose a sprint. He’s not going to be one of those guys who is going to rest on the fact that he’s very talented — he works. ... He’s a sophomore, but I expect him to play like a senior.”

Banik, a returning starter, senior letterman Blake Wilson (6-0, 180), sophomore Carson Gussler (5-10, 150) and senior Bruce Thompson (6-2, 190) are his top targets.

The defense has returned to the 5-2 alignment that once was the hallmark of many great Ceramic teams, an effort to improve a run defense that allowed 4.6 yards per carry.

Love, an outside linebacker, and Finck, a safety, will again be critical contributors. Love led the team in tackles for loss and Finck ranked among the area’s best with four interceptions.

Mickey called Love, a 5-9, 175-pound leadership councilman, “an alpha-male war daddy.”

“(Love) is our best player,” Mickey offered. “He’s going to be a handful for people.”

Joining Love at linebacker are junior Tommy Bolyard (6-1, 180) on the outside and Banik and junior Austin Burgess (6-1, 190) inside, with junior Austin Dalrymple (5-8, 155) offering depth.

Taylor and Tokie will man the tackles and Claytor nose guard, with Holcombe and junior Hunter Foster (5-11, 201) the backups.

Finck and Wilson are returning starters at safety, with junior Tanner Watson (5-8, 130) and Gussler new starters at cornerback.

Junior Gunner Lindell is the backup safety; Thompson and senior Jordan Driggs (5-10, 165) are the backup corners.

“As excited as I am to see our improvement offensively, I’m excited to see how we play defense,” Mickey said. “I know we are stronger than we were year ago.”

sblackburn@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

740-450-6723

Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR

No.

Player

Pos.

Ht.

Wt.

Gr.

2

Chaz Love

RB/LB

5-9

175

Jr.

4

Nate Maynard

WR/DB

5-6

115

Fr.

5

Brayden Glannemann

RB/LB

5-3

120

Fr.

6

Jordan Driggs

WR/DB

5-10

165

Sr.

7

Austin Burgess

RB/LB

5-10

190

Jr.

8

Trey White

QB/DB

5-10

145

So.

10

Landon Hinkle

QB/DB

6-0

160

So.

11

Mike Baughman

QB/DB

5-5

125

Fr.

12

Blake Wilson

WR/DB

6-0

180

Sr.

13

Evan Miller

WR/DB

5-4

115

So.

15

Tanner Watson

RB/DB

5-8

130

Jr.

20

Austin Dalrymple

RB/DB

5-8

155

Jr.

22

Garrett Hewitt

RB/LB

5-6

180

So.

23

Daulton Finck

RB/DB

5-7

145

Sr.

25

Gavin Rodgers

RB/DB

5-9

160

So.

28

Bruce Thompson

WR/DB

6-2

190

Sr.

30

Gunner Lindell

WR/DB

5-11

165

Jr.

31

Kaiden Hoops

RB/DB

5-9

130

Fr.

32

Dalton Banik

WR/LB

5-10

190

Sr.

33

Brandon Nightengale

WR/DB

5-9

140

Jr.

34

Tommy Bolyard

TE/LB

6-1

180

Jr.

35

Chip Russell

K

6-0

180

So.

38

Hunter Glass

WR/DB

5-7

110

Fr.

42

Walker Harris

RB/LB

5-7

150

Fr.

48

Alan Wolfe

RB/LB

6-0

215

Jr.

52

Lane Tokie

OL/DL

5-9

232

Sr.

54

Hunter Foster

OL/DL

5-11

201

Jr.

55

Austin Kierns

OL/DL

6-3

212

Jr.

57

Kaden Hamilton

OL/DL

5-6

160

Fr.

58

Will Fisher

OL/DL

5-8

225

Sr.

59

William Johns

OL/DL

5-9

130

So.

60

Joel Taylor

OL/DL

6-3

220

Sr.

63

Tyler Deliberato

OL/DL

5-10

225

So.

64

Mac Bowen

OL/DL

6-0

260

Sr.

66

Traise Claytor

OL/DL

5-8

205

So.

70

Josh Holcombe

OL/DL

5-10

250

Jr.

72

Dalton Steele

OL/DL

5-10

190

Sr.

74

Alex Deliberato

OL/DL

5-10

180

So.

76

Matt Colvin

OL/DL

5-11

232

So.

77

Brodie Strate

OL/DL

5-9

190

So.

78

Chance Murphy

OL/DL

5-7

220

Fr.

80

Dalton Moore

WR/DB

5-9

140

Sr.

82

Carson Gussler

WR/DB

5-10

150

So.

84

Dakota Bowers

WR/DB

5-6

110

Fr.