'13 Team Preview: Miami Trace Panthers
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Last season, the Miami Trace motto was "Rebuilding Tradition" … a season in which they finished with six wins in the South Central Ohio League. With a year under their belt in coach Steve Bartlett's system, along with coming off a year in which they felt they could have done more, this year the Panthers' motto is "Unfinished Business," and they are taking that to heart.
The '13 Panthers have eight players back on offense and seven on defense, as they look to improve on part of their schedule which didn't go so well for them last season, as they finished 6-4 overall and 6-1 in the SCOL.
In '12, MT scored 330 points in their second-place SCOL finish, losing only to Clinton-Massie in league play. Their defense allowed 195 points in 10 games.
"Last year was our first year, so I think with the experience and them knowing me now, I think we're a little further ahead then we were this time last year," Bartlett said. "I don't know if we have [improved] yet or not. It's still kind of early to tell. You never know until you get in the season and you see what's going on. Hopefully we've improved everywhere, but you never know."
One of the players returning to help "finish business" is senior quarterback Jimmy Stroker, as he'll be a three-year starter for MT. In the rushing game, returning are the top three yardage leaders from last year in senior Trevor Haines, junior Jeremiah Jones and junior Austin Dyer. Also making a return is Mikhal Massoripan (a senior) at running back.
"It's good," Bartlett said of having four running backs battle for playing time. "Any time there's competition, it is good. We've also got a young man we think is pretty good who hasn't even touched a ball yet, and that's Russell Miller (a junior). Russell's a very accomplished wrestler, a very accomplished athlete."
As for having a three-year QB leading the offense, Bartlett spoke highly of Stroker.
"Jimmy's a very, very good athlete," he said. "We just expect good leadership out of him. We expect him to run the show out there, and by the end of the year last year, he was doing a real good job of running our offense for us and making sure things happen the way we want them to. We expect him to just keep building on that."
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As for the offensive line, there are three starters back in the trenches in tackle Hayden Bottorff, John Phillips and Dalton Hennes, as Hennes is also one of the highest-ranked students in his class. At center will be Todd Foster, and battling for a starting spot at right guard are junior Gage Baldwin and sophomore Matthew Hottinger.
"They all work hard, and we ask them to do different things because of their abilities," Bartlett said.
MT has already suffered a loss to their offense, as junior tight end Jake Coil will miss the season with a broken ankle suffered in a scrimmage vs. Westfall.
"Jake has another year, and he's a good kid. We're going to miss him," Bartlett said. "We have to find a way to replace him."
The receivers for MT include the Pettiford brothers, Marcel (a senior) and Cedric (a junior), along with returning letterman Derek Markham (a junior).
The defense isn't as set as the offense.
"We've basically got about four or five guys on the defensive line, and we're not 100-percent sure who's going to win these jobs," Bartlett said. "Some of them are two-way players, and you want to try to limit that as much as you can."
The players on the defensive line include: Bottorff, Jeremiah Jones, Corey Coates, Foster and Baley Allen.
"I just expect them to hustle," Bartlett said of his defensive line. "We expect them to just play good, sound, fundamental football."
Then there are the linebackers for the Panthers, where they have two players in Travis Grooms and John Campbell who started 10 games each last season. The third linebacker is Aaron Shull, once he returns from injury.
"Their experience now is pretty valuable because they understand what we expect, and they've had a year under their belt of trying to run the defense," Bartlett said of his veteran linebacker core. "It's been very beneficial for us."
Then there are the defensive backs for MT, where they have a wealth of returning talent in returning starters Trevor Haines (a senior), James Cline (a senior) and Brad Warnock (a junior). Also in the DB mix is Einn White.
"I expect us to be a lot better. With the experience we've got … last year when we'd give up plays, we don't expect to do that this year," Bartlett said. "We expect to be able to make on-field adjustments a little bit better. When you're dealing with a young defense like we had last year – and it was my first year here – there were times it was really tough to get good adjustments in, especially during a ball game."
Bartlett had one final thought on his team.
"I want them to play hard and act like gentlemen," he said. "That's my biggest expectation of them."
The '13 Panthers have eight players back on offense and seven on defense, as they look to improve on part of their schedule which didn't go so well for them last season, as they finished 6-4 overall and 6-1 in the SCOL.
In '12, MT scored 330 points in their second-place SCOL finish, losing only to Clinton-Massie in league play. Their defense allowed 195 points in 10 games.
"Last year was our first year, so I think with the experience and them knowing me now, I think we're a little further ahead then we were this time last year," Bartlett said. "I don't know if we have [improved] yet or not. It's still kind of early to tell. You never know until you get in the season and you see what's going on. Hopefully we've improved everywhere, but you never know."
One of the players returning to help "finish business" is senior quarterback Jimmy Stroker, as he'll be a three-year starter for MT. In the rushing game, returning are the top three yardage leaders from last year in senior Trevor Haines, junior Jeremiah Jones and junior Austin Dyer. Also making a return is Mikhal Massoripan (a senior) at running back.
"It's good," Bartlett said of having four running backs battle for playing time. "Any time there's competition, it is good. We've also got a young man we think is pretty good who hasn't even touched a ball yet, and that's Russell Miller (a junior). Russell's a very accomplished wrestler, a very accomplished athlete."
As for having a three-year QB leading the offense, Bartlett spoke highly of Stroker.
"Jimmy's a very, very good athlete," he said. "We just expect good leadership out of him. We expect him to run the show out there, and by the end of the year last year, he was doing a real good job of running our offense for us and making sure things happen the way we want them to. We expect him to just keep building on that."
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As for the offensive line, there are three starters back in the trenches in tackle Hayden Bottorff, John Phillips and Dalton Hennes, as Hennes is also one of the highest-ranked students in his class. At center will be Todd Foster, and battling for a starting spot at right guard are junior Gage Baldwin and sophomore Matthew Hottinger.
"They all work hard, and we ask them to do different things because of their abilities," Bartlett said.
MT has already suffered a loss to their offense, as junior tight end Jake Coil will miss the season with a broken ankle suffered in a scrimmage vs. Westfall.
"Jake has another year, and he's a good kid. We're going to miss him," Bartlett said. "We have to find a way to replace him."
The receivers for MT include the Pettiford brothers, Marcel (a senior) and Cedric (a junior), along with returning letterman Derek Markham (a junior).
The defense isn't as set as the offense.
"We've basically got about four or five guys on the defensive line, and we're not 100-percent sure who's going to win these jobs," Bartlett said. "Some of them are two-way players, and you want to try to limit that as much as you can."
The players on the defensive line include: Bottorff, Jeremiah Jones, Corey Coates, Foster and Baley Allen.
"I just expect them to hustle," Bartlett said of his defensive line. "We expect them to just play good, sound, fundamental football."
Then there are the linebackers for the Panthers, where they have two players in Travis Grooms and John Campbell who started 10 games each last season. The third linebacker is Aaron Shull, once he returns from injury.
"Their experience now is pretty valuable because they understand what we expect, and they've had a year under their belt of trying to run the defense," Bartlett said of his veteran linebacker core. "It's been very beneficial for us."
Then there are the defensive backs for MT, where they have a wealth of returning talent in returning starters Trevor Haines (a senior), James Cline (a senior) and Brad Warnock (a junior). Also in the DB mix is Einn White.
"I expect us to be a lot better. With the experience we've got … last year when we'd give up plays, we don't expect to do that this year," Bartlett said. "We expect to be able to make on-field adjustments a little bit better. When you're dealing with a young defense like we had last year – and it was my first year here – there were times it was really tough to get good adjustments in, especially during a ball game."
Bartlett had one final thought on his team.
"I want them to play hard and act like gentlemen," he said. "That's my biggest expectation of them."