Spencerville’s Carter Layman attempts to get past Elida’s Tori Thomas last season. Layman returns for the Bearcats after having 21 receptions for 215 yards and a TD last season.
Don Speck | The Lima News
SPENCERVILLE — First-year Bearcats varsity head coach Kyle Koenig knows about building a program with a strong foundation.
In high school, he played for Marion Local’s Tim Goodwin, being a part of three state championship teams. He then went on to be an assistant at Spencerville under Chris Sommers, who won multiple Northwest Conference championships as the Spencerville and Delphos Jefferson head coach.
“They have two different styles of coaching and both of them work really well for them,” Koenig said. “Coach Goodwin is very much a perfectionist and I think that is a big thing. We want to get something right. If we screw something up in practice we need to stop and we need to address it right away. Another thing is that losing isn’t acceptable. You learn a lot from losing but nobody wants to lose. He has a great way of finding ways to motivate kids and making sure that we learn from our losses and that we are able to fix them right away and go from there.
“Chris on the other hand, he’s an Energizer Bunny. Chris brings energy and I think that kind of brought energy to some of his teams that he has coached in the past where the dog days of summer and kids are having trouble to get out here … he had the energy and because of that the kids picked up the energy because he was bringing it.
“Both those things right there are really things I want to take away from those two coaches.”
Koenig decided to install a new offense and defense this season.
After employing Wing-T and spread offenses, Spencerville will use the I formation.
“I felt like a happy medium in between both being able to do both the spread and being under center would really benefit us,” Koenig said. “Always having tight ends and things like that kind of play the numbers game. I felt like it would be more beneficial, and it’s something the kids were more familiar with. We could do a lot of the same plays out of the Wing-T run-wise as you do out of the I formation, and it was something that was familiar to them. They would be able to adjust to it fairly quickly, and I thought that would give us the best chance to be as successful as we can be.”
One of those who will be adapting to the new offense is senior Nate Coulter, who received first-team all-NWC and second-team all-district honors last season after leading the conference with 70 receptions for 946 yards and seven touchdowns.
“I think our boys will know how to do it,” said Coulter, who is slated to log time at running back. “I think if the coaches believe in it, we’ll get the job done.”
Also back is junior wideout Dylan Short, who had 24 catches for 389 yards and three TDs and senior Carter Layman, who had 21 receptions for 215 yards and a TD.
Senior teammate and offensive lineman Zakk Harter likes the I because “we get to run the ball.”
Along with Harter, among those returning on the offensive line is all-NWC honorable mention selection junior Trevor Whitney.
Along with the switch to the I, Spencerville will have a new quarterback with the graduation of Josh Henline. Carder Orr, who earned a varsity letter as a sophomore, returns and sophomore Grady Smith could also be in the mix.
Spencerville is also changing to the 3-4 defense.
“When I played in high school at Marion (Local), we were always in 3-4 there,” Koenig said. “It kind of was something I was really familiar with and I would understand … and be able teach the rest of the coaching staff what we are looking for in certain situations. I feel like most of the time we had more big guys than we do skill guys but this year we are pretty well matched on that level. So, I felt like we had enough skill guys to really be able to make that shift to the 3-4.”
Koenig said with the “3-4 you can do a lot of blitzing. You can kind of cause some havoc for other quarterbacks and for other offenses. I felt like that was going to be a big advantage if we can cause some confusion for the other teams while we were playing.”
“We experimented with it a little big last year,” Harter said. “Everyone’s getting after the ball.”
Those back on the defensive side include Layman, who was named honorable mention all-NWC at defensive back.
After going 1-9 last season, Koenig said he is trying “to get that fun back into the aspect of playing for Spencerville.”
Some of his approaches include “at practice, making it competitive and fun. Getting the kids to do some different drills and make it a more active practice. Interacting with them more off the field. See the personal side of things a little bit more.”
Coulter emphasized for the team to have “grit.”
He believes in “building brick by brick, getting better every day, staying really committed to the process and not giving up.
“I think the biggest thing is dedication. Just being here every day. Being here on time. Just the little things. Paying attention when you aren’t on reps. Really giving full attention to schemes.”
He’s excited about the “brotherhood with the team. Getting wins after all we fought through in camp and last year’s hardships. Just being able to come out on top with everyone I fought with.
“I want to win. We didn’t have a lot of those last year and it can get a little discouraging. I just want to win really.
“I am looking forward to see how the kids we have returning have developed over the past year.” Koenig said. There were many young kids last year that received a lot of varsity experience. The players have approached each day with enthusiasm and seem to be really having fun with the process so far this off-season.
“We are also looking at some smaller numbers within the program this year … so we need to be in shape and ready to go when Week 1 hits. We are very fortunate that the four seniors that we do have, have some varsity experience from years past and they can lead us by example in different situations throughout the year.
“After going 1-9 last year, expectations around the program are not very high when it comes to people on the outside. I think when you look at this team during the season you are going to see a different competitive level in them, and you are going to find a group of kids that really enjoy the game of football and enjoy being around each other which will help create a solid foundation for our program for the coming years.”
Harter defines success as “everyone doing what they can. One-hundred percent effort and more than that. Get people to compete. Always encourage each other to try harder.”
More high school football previews
TEAM PROFILE
Coach: Kyle Koenig (first season)
Division: V
Last year’s record: 1-9 (0-7 NWC)
Ticket information: spencervillebearcats.com/Content2/194
Returning 2022 varsity letter winners include: Nate Coulter (Sr., RB/WR/DB), Carter Layman (Sr., RB/DB), Maddox Jurek (Sr., TE/LB), Zakk Harter (Sr., OL/DL), Caden Orr (Jr., QB/DB), Gavin Schwartz (Jr., OL/DL), Trevor Whitney (Jr., OL/DL), Josh Schindler (Jr., OL/LB), Dylan Short (Jr., WR/DB), Zach Looser (Soph., RB/LB)
Promising newcomers include: Kyle Heckman (Jr., WR/LB), Grady Smith (Soph., QB/DB), Reggie Jones (Soph., RB/DL), Will Sensabaugh (Fr., WR/DB), Brady Dunnigan (Jr., OL/DL), Nathan Wood (Jr., WR/DB)
2023 schedule
(Kickoffs scheduled for 7 p.m.; subject to change)
Aug. 18 — at Ridgemont
Aug. 25 — Paulding
Sept. 1 — Riverside
Sept. 8 — at Columbus Grove
Sept. 15 — Bluffton
Sept. 22 — Leipsic
Sept. 29 — at Allen East
Oct. 6 — Ada
Oct. 13 — at Crestview
Oct. 20 — Delphos Jefferson
Reach Mike Purdy at 567-242-0451.
