Friday, August 22, 2008 11:10 PM CDT
Trojans remain a question mark (intentionally)
By RICK DAWSON, Staff Writer
rdawson@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON -- It all started with Andrew Shick’s saga three years ago, and Brian Halsey’s preseason attitude has never been the same.
Shick, better known as a basketball player to that point, decided to join Charleston’s football team his senior year. Word spread quickly, and Scott Alberssen, the coach at Taylorville, seized upon it before the teams met in the season opener.
Only Alberssen, good friends with Halsey off the field, has been notorious for withholding info about his team prior to the first week.
“He’s always kind of done that,” Halsey said. “I never really did it. With Internet now and access to newspaper articles and Illinois High School Sports online, that kind of came around maybe in ‘05. Andrew Shick, it was his first time out and somebody in our community kept posting that we had a 6-foot-8 wideout who was doing this and doing that, and he was able to jump on that and create a game plan. I thought, you know, people are going to find out. I just don’t want to hand it to him.”
If you’re thinking this is all a little quirky, your thoughts would probably fall on deaf ears. The devil is on the loose, and gathering a complete Trojan football synopsis is now about as easy as performing brain surgery.
Not that everything about Charleston is so easy to hide, or that Halsey would care to conceal every detail. A good number of key players from last year’s Class 5A quarterfinal qualifier (15 starters on offense and defense) are gone, including quarterback Eric Gentry, linebackers Ross Daily, Michael Campbell and Nick Guinto and a number of solid performers at skill positions.
A few do return, however, two of the most significant of them senior siblings Jamel and Mario Johnson, whose combined talents promise to keep opponents guessing. Jamel, listed at a sturdy 6-foot-6, 235 pounds on the roster, caught 38 passes for 824 yards and 11 touchdowns last year and Mario, the smaller of the two at 6-foot, 195 pounds, rushed for 534 yards and eight TDs on 86 carries. Both are returning linebackers.
Halsey doesn’t envision using them much differently.
“Jamel’s an athlete,” he said. “The plays he made last year, we see him in the same capacity, stepping up and doing big things for us on both sides of the ball. He’s a playmaker. He made some tremendous catches and some highlight film scores last year, big plays and big hits on defense. I don’t foresee his role changing.
“We’ve got some tremendous backs joining us this year. We’ve got Mario. Mario scored four touchdowns at Taylorville last year, three on offense and one on special teams. He returned kicks. He’s phenomenal.”
Most of the newcomers, including those in the backfield, are under wraps, although some of them, like offensive lineman Jon Stallons or running backs/linebackers Matt Simpson and Billy Davis, emerged in some capacity during last year’s playoff run. Others, like three-year center Jeff Barber, were already expected to be there.
The starting quarterback is a giant question mark. Ryan Hale, a former quarterback who shifted to wide receiver in 2007, is taking snaps again, along with fellow senior Taylor Bartlett. Neither has seen much varsity action.
“Hale and Bartlett are competing and doing a nice job,” Halsey said. “Right now, kind of similar to the backfield, I’m kind of leaning towards a quarterback by committee and tailback by committee.
“I’m very pleased with our offensive line. It keeps getting better, actually, in particular Tim Hiser and Myles Batson, two sophomores that are handling their business well. I’ve been very, very critical of them in practice and they’ve responded. I’m not going to blow smoke. I’ve been hard on them to see if they can handle the varsity level, and they’ve done a nice job. I can’t wait to watch them play.”
One of the most notable changes on defense is the absence of previous coordinator Jerry Calandrilla. When Calandrilla decided to take an administrative job at Sullivan, Brandon Johnston was tabbed to replace him. Unlike past assistants like Jon Adkins, a quarterback under Halsey who is now a student manager at Eastern Illinois University, Johnston, who played at Cambridge High School and Augustana College, is not an area native.
As a former assistant to Tim Dougherty at Edwardsville, he does provide youth and energy.
“Personally, it’s a big loss,” Halsey said. “Jerry was with me for eight years. We were very close. He’s like a brother to me, close confidant, right hand if you will. But in terms of schemes I’m not worried because we do things in segments and in systems. It’s my system that he ran and we’ve plugged in Brandon to pick up where Jerry left off.”
The starting lineup on defense is, for now, a mystery. It is still a group consisting of several upperclassmen, although one with little experience. Special teams was a huge concern – Charleston didn’t convert an extra point until the third week – until the third kicker to be used, John Pogue, helped matters. Pogue is back for his senior year.
Last year’s group was also often befuddled by disciplinary issues before coming together late. Halsey is trying to avoid similar problems by focusing on academics early, requiring study tables after practice and taking what he calls “the college approach.”
“We’ve built the car, we’ve run a couple of laps,” he said. “Now we need to get it in a race and see how it competes before we make adjustments and go any further.”
Contact Rick Dawson at rdawson@jg-tc.com or 238-6855.
2008 Charleston football
ROSTER
Taylor Bartlett, 6-1, 175, sr., QB/DB
Ryan Hale, 6-1, 165, sr., QB/DB
Jason Shores, 6-3, 170, jr., QB/DB
Austin Heise, 5-11, 135, so., QB
Gentry Bennett, 5-7, 165, sr., RB/LB
Mario Johnson, 6-0, 195, sr., RB/LB
Billy Davis, 6-0, 205, jr., RB/LB
Austen Pankey, 6-0, 185, jr., RB/LB
Matt Simpson, 6-0, 200, jr., RB/LB
Paden Eveland, 5-10, 165, so., RB/LB
David Heller, 5-10, 220, so., RB/DL
Cody Paap, 5-9, 165, so., RB/LB
Kyler Tryon, 6-0, 160, so., RB/LB
Kris Wesley, 5-9, 170, so., RB/DB
Todd Bollinger, 5-10, 175, sr., WR/LB
Tyler Fisher, 6-0, 165, sr., WR/DB
Oscar Gruber, 6-0, 165, sr., WR/DB
Christian Hupp, 5-8, 140, sr., WR/DB
Jamel Johnson, 6-6, 235, sr., WR/LB
Schyler Thompson, 6-1, 195, sr., WR/LB
Dylan Doughty, 6-4, 180, jr., WR/DB
Adam Drake, 6-2, 170, jr., WR/DB
Adam Held, 6-0, 175, jr., WR/DB
Jon Marucco, 5-11, 170, jr., WR/LB
Codey Rennels, 6-0, 160, jr., WR/DB
Gerad Centers, 6-1, 195, so., WR/DB
Phillip Chouinard, 6-0, 160, so., WR/LB
Levi Ebbert, 6-0, 180, so., WR/LB
Brandon Fitzpatrick, 5-6, 125, so., WR/DB
Lucas Hayes, 5-11, 140, so., WR/DB
Taylor Kerz, 5-6, 135, so., WR/DB
Alex Baji, 5-9, 205, sr., OL/DL
Jeff Barber, 6-1, 195, sr., OL/LB
Justin Coffey, 5-10, 255, sr., OL/DL
Sean Cunningham, 5-11, 200, sr., OL/LB
Noah Decker, 6-3, 205, sr., OL/DL
Dustin Fuller, 6-2, 250, sr., OL/DL
Ronnie Hellman, 5-11, 220, sr., OL/DL
John Pogue, 6-0, 235, sr., OL/LB/K
Dakoda Braden, 6-4, 210, jr., OL/LB
Zak Buchanon, 6-0, 285, jr., OL/DL
B.J. Glidewell, 6-0, 230, jr., OL/DL
Charlie Hayes, 5-10, 200, jr., OL/DL
Matt Rogowitz, 6-0, 210, jr., OL/DL
Jon Stallons, 6-3, 275 jr., OL/DL
Kyle Winn, 6-1, 205, jr., OL/DL
Myles Batson, 6-2, 260, so., OL/DL
Zach Burton, 6-2, 285, so., OL/DL
Tim Hiser, 6-1, 280, so., OL/DL
Wyatt Schaljo, 6-0, 210, so., OL/DL
Hunter Thomson, 5-10, 200, so., OL/DL
Brandon Browning, 5-9, 125, sr. K/P
SCHEDULE
Aug. 30 – TAYLORVILLE, 7 p.m.
Sept. 5 – MOUNT ZION, 7 p.m.
Sept. 12 – at Paris, 7 p.m.
Sept. 19 – NEWTON, 7 p.m.
Sept. 27 – at Robinson, 1 p.m.
Oct. 3 – SALEM, 7 p.m.
Oct. 10 – at Effingham, 7 p.m.
Oct. 17 – at Olney, 7 p.m.
Oct. 24 – at Highland, 7 p.m.
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