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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Old faces in new places this season at Symmes Valley
Symmes Valley Vikings football 2008
Purchase this photoWILLOW WOOD, Ohio -- Symmes Valley's options this season finally cover more than the offense the Vikings run.
Coach Rusty Webb wanted to move Cody Bland, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound athlete, from the line to the backfield at some point in his career. The senior finally gets that chance as he'll line up at fullback and get up a head of steam before he plows into an opponent.
"The transition's gone very smooth," Webb, in his eighth season as head coach, said at media day. "He's picked up things very well. He goes full speed no where he's at."
That move means Symmes Valley has players up front, starters and backups, who can clear a path for Bland and his backfield mates and slow down opposing offenses as well. Some of the Vikings are bigger than what Webb and fans are used to seeing.
Jesse Hill, 270 pounds. Deron Bryant, 295. Jordan Wells, 270. Billy Bloomfield, 280. And Cory Hakes, 300.
"We've got good size. Quickness is what we're working on," Webb said. "We're young up front. No seniors. Hill, we're looking for big things. We can rest some people, we have depth. When we sub on offense, we might run five in and take five out."
Up front the depth charts reads: Left end, Ethan Wilson, Wayne Meade; left tackle, Wells, Garrett Crawford; left guard, Steve Lunsford, Grant Foster, Josh Holderby; center, Hakes, Garrett Foster; right guard, Hill, Bryant, Jarrad Booth; right tackle, Bloomfield, Mike Reed; right end, Gage Patterson, Justin Payne.
Kyle Bowen and Cody Myers are the quarterbacks. Halfbacks are Evan Herrell and Tyler Easthom (left) and Hunter Boggs and Jesse Graybeal (right).
"We think we can be balanced," Webb said. "We have a back who can get it inside and they block for each other. We've got more speed than we've had the last couple of years."
Webb wants to keep it simple for his quarterbacks.
"Manage the game, manage the offense," he said. "We don't want to burden them down with having to make decisions on every single play. Other kids must step up. It's a tough offense to get down. There are a lot of reasons why people do very little of it. You have to decide what to take away. We're more diversified. The passing game is better. You have to cover us sideline to sideline."
On defense, the Vikings feature a 4-4 look. Tackles are Hill, Bowen, Wells and Bryant. Bland, Easthom, Garrett Foster and Booth are inside linebackers. On the outside are Boggs and Jacob Patterson. Battling for the secondary spots are Wilson, Graybeal, Herrell, Payne, Cody Myers, Bo Arthur, Scott Dial and Nathan Dockery.
Bland will handle punts and placekicking.
"I feel we're a quicker team," Webb said. "We wanted to get as much speed on that side as possible. We were very young last year. Take the very out. The juniors had significant playing time. I look for them to step up. We're going to the ball better, but we still need to get more people there. We need to be more aggressive."
Symmes Valley (3-7 in 2007) is in the Southern Ohio Conference. Webb believes Sciotoville Community is the team to beat.
"They have to be favored. They've won it the past two years," he said. "Until someone knocks them off."
The Vikings open at home against Racine Southern.
We're going in the right direction," Webb said. "We must get in better shape. We have to play with intensity for 48 minutes. We can't take a play off."
