West Holmes football team poised for another big year
Senior wideout Kyle Maltarich had a record-setting season last year. The Yale commit set school single-season records in receiving yards (1,345) and touchdown receptions (21) and caught 65 passes.
West Holmes’ football team has advanced to at least the regional semifinals in each of the past three seasons.
The Knights have a solid chance to get back to that point — and possibly beyond — this season, but they will have to do so without several key pieces from last year’s team.
They will carry a 21-game regular-season winning streak into their season opener against Triway on Aug. 18. A win over the Titans would tie the school record of 22.
So there’s plenty to play for right from the start.
West Holmes had the state’s top-scoring offense for any division last season but lost several key pieces from the unit. The main losses were prolific quarterback Mason Wolfe, who graduated, and Ohio State running back commit Sam Williams-Dixon, who transferred to Pickerington North for his senior year.
Morgan Smith is slated to take over at QB for Wolfe. The junior completed 22 of 36 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions while rushing for a score in limited varsity action last season. He also guided the junior varsity team to a 9-0 record.
Smith will have plenty of talented receivers at his disposal as seniors Kyle Maltarich and Nate Fair and junior Logan Zollars all return as starters at the position.
Maltarich, a Yale commit, set school single-season records in receiving yards (1,345) and touchdown receptions (21) and caught 65 passes. The speedy and athletic Maltarich earned Division IV first-team All-Ohio and Ohio Cardinal Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Zollars caught 39 passes for 614 yards and eight TDs while Fair caught 28 passes for 435 yards and six scores. Sophomore Lynn Cline, who started week 10 against Mount Vernon as a freshman, is the other projected starter.
Sophomore Brock Gallion, junior Bryer Parrill (Licking Valley transfer), junior Blake Weiss and senior Graham Martin also will see time at receiver.
Senior Jack Marmet returns as a starter at H-back/tight end.
Senior right tackle Gage Brown and junior left tackle Morgan Eastep are back as the bookends of the offensive line. They’ll be joined by first-year starters Hayden Smith (junior, left guard), Darren Gallion (junior, center) and Braylen McKinney (junior, right guard).
Other linemen who will see time include senior Gabe Averbukh, junior Cole Porter and sophomore Max Coakley.
“We have certainly developed a sense of pride about our offense,” Knights coach Zach Gardner said. “You can sense the confidence and understanding from our players of how to work hard in the offseason to produce our desired results.”
West Holmes is changing its defensive scheme this season under first-year defensive coordinator Trent Shaffer, switching from a 3-3 stack to a 4-2-5.
The Knights have to replace graduated All-Ohio linebacker Elisha Baldridge, who led them in tackles last season, but return several starters on that side of the ball.
With a 4-2-5 scheme, defensive line play is important. And West Holmes has the pieces up front to make that scheme work.
That starts with defensive ends Elijah Williams-Dixon (junior) and Marmet, who started at linebacker last season. Williams-Dixon, a third-team All-Ohioan last year, was third on the team in tackles (107) while racking up 11 sacks, 21 tackles for loss and forcing four fumbles. Marmet was second on the team in tackles (119) and recorded 3 ½ sacks and three tackles for loss.
A bunch of players will see time on the defensive line including Eastep, Brown, Averbukh, senior Grant Miller, junior Hunter McCluggage, Smith, senior Chase Hughes and McKinney.
Senior Gus Warner returns at one of the linebacker spots. He was fifth on the team in tackles last season with 91. Senior Mason Shankel (71 tackles last season) and Porter will share time at the other LB position.
Junior Zach Shepler (23 tackles) is slated to start at outside linebacker while Maltarich (67 tackles, team-high seven interceptions) and Zollars (42) return as starters at the safety positions. Fair and Cline also will see time at safety.
Martin (39 tackles), senior Logan Van Sickle, Parrill and Brock Gallion are all competing to win the two starting corner positions.
“Looking back analytically at the points we gave up as a defense last season, over 50% of those touchdowns came as a direct result from technique breakdown in our secondary,” Gardner said. “Executing the fundamentals of your position properly has been an extreme emphasis for us this preseason.”
McKinney and soccer players Alex Pringle (junior) and Tristen Middaugh (senior) are competing to fill the team’s various kicking roles.
“Truth be told, the biggest position battle we have is who will fill our kicking roles,” Gardner said. “We have had several players working very hard at their craft since June, and the competition is wide open.”
West Holmes has won three consecutive OCC titles and is looking to become the second team in conference history to win four in a row (Wooster, 2017-20). A four-peat would hold greater significance than just that, as the Knights have never previously won four consecutive conference titles.
“The league as a whole should be very competitive this season,” Gardner said. “There is an abundance of well-coached programs in our conference. Our job is to take every opportunity we can to get better so we can be in contention for a league championship.”