PERRY TOWNSHIP – New faces. Same expectations.
Perry head coach Seth Evans knows he has some rebuilding and looking for some new faces to step up on and off the field to help Perry continue the success the Commodores have had the last five years.
Since 2015 Perry has not had a losing season and has made the playoffs the past four seasons. The Commodores finished 6-5 and 5-2 in the Northwest Central Conference.
But in order to keep the wins coming, Evans has his work cut out for him on both sides of the ball after losing a solid senior class. The cupboard is not bare though, as he has 12 returning starters on the roster.
“It is going to be more of a slowdown and teaching this year,” Evans said about preseason. “We lose nine guys and seven of the nine guys were two-way starters and five of the nine guys were all-conference players, so we lost a lot of guys that were on the field.
“We are young and the guys are willing to learn. But it is going to take a little bit from that senior class that is used to success right away to understand that it is going to take a lot longer than it has in the past.”
On offense, the most glaring hole will be at quarterback. Evans must replace all-NWCC and All-Northwest District quarterback Ryan Yingst who was a four-year starter.
Evans admits prior to two-a-days he does not know who will be behind center. Senior Ayden Simpson and sophomore Isaiah Mcfadden are battling for the starting job.
“Both are working really hard at it and they are doing what I am asking them to do,” Evans said. “Our expectations are really high but we have to be realistic as well.”
Replacing Yingst is a top priority and Evans said he feels that across the board this team is solid in all areas.
Evans said the team will rely on seniors Isaiah Sanders who is a vocal leader and will play receiver and defense back. Evans also points to players like juniors Jason Thomas and Jamarion Byrd and sophomores Kimari Glenn, Mason Hadding and Boss Harrison.
“We have some younger guys that are really going to step up,” Evans said. “I have no complaints. We are just as athletic as we have been; they just don’t have the experience. It is learning a new spot. That is the thing. We are just as athletic but they have never done it before at the varsity level.”
The offensive line brings back three of the five starters, however, two of those starters were all-conference performers. Back are the starting two tackles and Elijah Caudill, a senior.
“Are we going to move everybody, no, but we can create lanes, we can create gaps and try to give our athletes some success,” Evans said.
Depending on who starts as quarterback, Evans said they will try to tailor the offense to that player’s strength and adds because neither has the arm strength of Yingst that will have a shorter, intermediate pass attack, along with the running game.
“To be honest with you I know Isaiah and Ayden’s strengths, but we are still finding them out and we don’t know how well they can run the ball yet,” Evans said. “We won’t really know their full strengths and weaknesses until we get into a scrimmage but throwing the ball-wise we don’t all have cannons as Ryan did so the intermediate, short game is probably where we will start and we are getting better at it as we speak.
“The offensive mindset right now is to try to get our athletes the ball as quick as we can so they can make a play. That has been my mantra. I mean we are not throwing it 50 yards down the field with a flick of the wrist so it is different.”
Defensively, one of the major personnel changes is not with the players but on the coaching staff after Evans brought in Frank Crea to handle the defense. Crea spent time last year helping Lima Senior and has been successful both as an assistant and head coach.
“There are holes to fill on the defensive side of the ball,” Evans said. “We kind of switched our defense a little bit this year. He is over here with us and we are going to run a 3-5–3 and it fits as a roster way better. We have a lot of skilled linebackers and defensive backs and so this is the best for us. I am excited about it. He (Crea) is a good coach and he has been doing it longer than I have been alive, so all that experience is really going to help.”
Evans is looking on improving the team’s tackling, something that hurt the Commodores last season.
One area that Evans is looking to work on is special teams and admits the team did not work on it extensively last year due to the time constraints and it came back to hurt the Commodores in several instances.
“I threw it on the back burner and didn’t do it in camp,” Evans said. “I did it during two-a-days through scrimmages but I don’t know if I put much emphasis on it and with a little number of guys we have, I tried to give some starters some breathers and that, but put in a big bind against Delphos Jefferson and then it really put us in a bind against Elgin and it is stuff like that where you say I am not doing that again.”
Evans sees the first three nonconference contests as a time for the Commodores to prepare for the NWCC. Up for Perry in the first three weeks are Lehman, Allen East and Delphos Jefferson.
“Our first goal is we want to win our conference and that starts week four so we really look at those first three games as not necessarily as warm-up games but to make sure we are almost perfect by week four.”
PERRY
Coach: Seth Evans
Years at School, record: 2nd (6-4)
Last year’s record: 6-4
Division: VII
Returning Letterwinners: Ayden Simpson (Sr.), Isaiah Sanders (Sr.), Elijah Caudill (Sr.), Jvontae Cousey (Sr.), Omarion Gardner (Sr.), Braylon Ardner (Jr.), Jason Thomas (Jr.), Kadin Jones (Jr.), Jamarion Byrd (Jr.), Boss Harrison (Soph.), Kimari Glenn (Soph.), Isaiah Mcfadden (Soph.), Diego Williams (Soph.), Noah Cox (Soph.)
Promising Newcomers: Connor Reed (Soph.), Brodin Eickholt (Fr.), Chris Brownlow (Sr.), Sylas Johnson (Fr.), Mason Hadding (Soph.)
Season Outlook: Compete for a league title and contend for a playoff spot
SCHEDULE
August 19 –at Lehman Catholic
August 26 – Allen East
September 2 – Delphos Jefferson
September 9 – Elgin
September 16 – at Hardin Northern
September 23 – Upper Scioto Valley
September 30 – at Ridgemont
October 7 – Waynesfield-Goshen
October 14 – at Crestline
October 21 – at Ridgedale
All games start at 7 p.m.
