Friday, August 14, 2009 11:14 PM CDT
17 return from Cumberland's Class 2A playoff team
By MIKE MONAHAN, Staff Writer
mmonahan@jg-tc.com
TOLEDO -- Cumberland is hoping for a school record third straight trip to the football playoffs and this year the Pirates have 17 returning from last year’s 5-5 Class 2A playoff squad. The 17 returning is the most since the 2005 team, which also had 17. In addition the number of players participating has risen from 42 to 48, which is the most in coach Todd Butler’s 10 years.
The team has seven seniors, 17 juniors, 11 sophomores and 13 freshmen on the squad.
“Our strength is in our senior leadership,” said Butler, who enters his 10th season with a 40-46 record. “We only have seven seniors, but from top to bottom they are great leaders. They lead by example also. They are out there working hard and expect others to work as hard as they do.”
Among the returning players is first team all-Little Illini Conference defensive back Silas Gabel, who is the second leading returning tackler on the team averaging 9.2 per game. He was also the team’s top receiver, catching 25 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Cole Miller also returns after throwing for 547 yards last season.
Adam Markwell is another senior returning. Last year he had 55 carries for 281 yards in three games before suffering a broken fibula during the 20-15 win over Marshall in a game that he had 21 carries for 137 yards and defensively, six tackles and a fumble recovery.
Clay Wilson, a junior, is the top returning defender. He averaged 9.9 tackles per game last year. He was also a running back last season.
“We have all the skill players back,” said Butler, a Cumberland graduate. “Silsas Gabel, Adam Markwell, Cole Miller and Clay Wilson are going to be counted on quite a bit. We are looking for big things out of Markwell, Gable and Miller. Those are the three seniors that will have a lot to do with the success of this team.”
Miller, Gable, Wilson and Jim Kruse are the captains of the team which has eight assistant coaches in Kevin Maynard, Bill Ault, Lucas Watkins, Daniel Huffman, Kenny Keyser, Ash Edmunds, Andrew McClain and Alex Koebele.
Other seniors are Cole Carlen, Nathan Feeneley, Eddie Jewel and first-year player Tyler Kuhn.
“Clay Wilson didn’t miss a day this summer and he will be in the backfield,” said Butler. “Dalton Bauguss, Eddie Jewel and Jaton McMechan are the tight ends and the three have done a nice job of learning to block at the point of attack.”
Kruse, who is to be a four-year starter, moves from center to left tackle, while Seth Repp has moved from left tackle to right tackle as the Pirates look to replace two first team all-LIC linemen John Breese (first team offense and defensive linemen) and Payton Baker, who averaged 12.4 and 14.1 tackles per game, the top two in the JG/T-C area.
“We have spent a lot of time on all three phases (offense, defense and special teams),” said Butler. “We are putting the pieces together on defense trying to find out where the kids will fit best. Baker and Breese were a big part of the team last year. Cole Carlen has come in and looked really good at outside linebacker. He had an injury last year and was not able to play. We are looking for good things out of him. Braden Shaffer had a hand injury last year and came back late in the season and made a big difference on the team. This summer in a 7-on-7 he broke his collarbone. We expect him back mid-season. Competition has been good and it makes everybody work hard. Our defensive backfield should be really strong with Dalton Bauguss, Silas Gabel and Kendal Butler, who led the conference in interceptions last year as a freshman.”
On the offensive line the Pirates are looking at Dalton Kemper, who started last year as a sophomore, Kruse and Repp with sophomore George Strong and Jaton McMechan battling for center and sophomore Jackson Green and Jonathan Edwards looking for playing time as well.
“Jackson Green can play any of the five spots,” said Butler. “He is intelligent and versatile. He could probably play any of the 11 spots on the field. He is smart enough and athletic enough to do it. Dalton Kemper has done a super job on the line and we are looking for big things out of Kruse and a lot of leadership on the line of scrimmage. Seth Repp has started on and off since his freshman year.”
Last year’s kicker Brendon Ritchie has competition with Kuhn.
“They are battling for the job,” said Butler. “Ritchie came back with a lot stronger leg and has been kicking since third or fourth grade football. So many times in the past couple of years instead of counting on an extra point we had to go for the two-point conversion and that puts you down for a little disadvantage. We feel like we are pretty solid in the kicking game with one of those two players.”
Butler, who said freshmen Cole Brummer, Tyler Godden and Jamin Repp are all battling for time at the varsity level, feels that the conference could have four teams vying for the title.
“Marshall has everyone back and Casey is always going to be tough,” said Butler. “Red Hill and we saw Lawrenceville a couple of times in the summer and they are heading in the right direction. I think it is going to be more even.”
As for the Pirates goals Butler said they are, “to be in the playoffs, contend for the conference title and show consistent improvement. We feel like this is one of those seasons where we are pretty blessed with a lot of good athletes and depth and we feel like we can be pretty successful.”
Contact Mike Monahan at mmonahan@jg-tc.com or 238-6854.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
|
|
