West Holmes football looks to keep the train rolling
West Holmes is busy preparing for the upcoming football season, which will kick off Aug. 18 with the Knights hosting Triway. Senior captains Jack Marmet, left, Kyle Maltarich, Nate Fair and Gus Warner flank head coach Zach Gardner in this picture.
West Holmes football coach Zach Gardner talks a lot about his program’s culture.
And rightfully so.
Gardner’s Knights have built quite an impressive resume over the past few years: a trip to the Division III state semifinals, back-to-back undefeated regular seasons, three consecutive conference championships, and qualifying for the playoffs four of the past five years including reaching at least the regional semifinals the past three seasons.
Yes, West Holmes has had a lot of success recently. But that doesn’t mean the Knights are about to rest on their laurels.
“Our school and community are incredibly proud of what we have been able to accomplish with our football program,” Gardner said. “We continue to work to build a successful team tradition that everyone from West Holmes can wear as a source of pride.”
West Holmes had the state’s top-scoring offense last season. Two of its top offensive playmakers from last year are gone — quarterback Mason Wolfe, who graduated, and running back Sam Williams-Dixon, an Ohio State commit who transferred to Pickerington North for his senior year.
Losing both obviously hurts. Wolfe torched opposing offenses last year as the general of the offense, and Williams-Dixon is the type of generational talent that doesn’t often come through Millersburg.
But things are far from bleak for the Knights, whose junior varsity team went undefeated last year.
“Our first-year starters have a ton of potential to continue our tradition,” Gardner said. “They have all been developed appropriately, having great success at the lower levels of our program. We will continue to challenge them to reach their fullest potential.”
West Holmes also returns 2,764 yards of offense and 228 points from last season’s team, including wide receiver Kyle Maltarich, a Yale commit who set two school single-season receiving records last year on his way to earning OCC Offensive Player of the Year and Div. IV first-team All-Ohio honors.
“Kyle is such a great young man and player as evidenced by his college plans next year,” Gardner said. “He’s an even better teammate. When your most talented players are your best teammates, that is when you max out your potential as a team.”
Several other key players return from last year’s prolific offense.
“We have a mix of veteran playmakers to accompany promising newcomers to our offense,” Gardner said. “Top to bottom this might be the fastest and most experienced we have had in our receiving corps. We return two bookend tackles to anchor our offensive line.”
Although the offense grabbed most of the headlines last year, WH’s defense also was one of the best in the state last year. Several key players also return on that side of the ball for first-year defensive coordinator Trent Shaffer, a West Holmes grad who previously was head coach at Rittman, a defensive coordinator at Wooster High and an assistant at The College of Wooster.
The Knights will implement a new defensive scheme under Shaffer, switching from a 3-3 stack to a 4-2-5.
“Our philosophy is to mold our schemes around our players’ skills to put them in a position to be successful,” Gardner said. “We are excited about the depth we have up front and have adjusted our schemes to match that.”
Gardner and his players are aware some people around the area might think they’re about to take a step back this season with the loss of Wolfe, Williams-Dixon, All-Ohio linebacker Elisha Baldridge and others. That’s all the motivation they need heading into the season.
“I believe our players and coaches understand the target that we have on our backs, and I think we as a whole are going to embrace that,” he said. “We know there are a whole lot of people who have purchased tickets to see our downfall, and we are going to use that to fuel our work ethic.”
The Knights also have the prospect of breaking several school records to fuel them this season.
They’ve won 21 consecutive regular season games. If they win their first two games of the season against Triway and Orrville, they will break the school record of 22, which was set from 1981-83.
They’ve also won three consecutive Ohio Cardinal Conference titles, which ties the school record. Their only other three-peats occurred during the 1993, ’94 and ’95 and 1999-2001 seasons when they competed in the Mohican Area Conference. If they win the OCC title again this season, they will become the second team in conference history to win four in a row (Wooster, 2017-20).
And they will carry an 18-game home winning streak into this season, with their last home loss coming in 2019.
Needless to say, the stakes are high for West Holmes this season. But the Knights are ready to seize the moment.
“We are incredibly grateful to have a ton of history to play for this year, but at the same time, we need to focus on the hard work that goes into having that level of success,” Gardner said. “So far I am incredibly encouraged by the culture our young men are setting as we work towards the season.”