West Holmes football team looks to ‘raise the bar’
Under head coach Zach Gardner, center, the West Holmes football program has grown in size and in stature, as the Knights shared the Ohio Cardinal Conference title last season. This year they will look for more.
Optimism is sky high for the West Holmes football team during summer workouts and with good reason.
The Knights return a big group of key contributors from last season’s 7-3 team, which shared the Ohio Cardinal Conference title with Ashland and Wooster and reached the Div. III, Region 10 semifinals.
“We lost a very close game to Tiffin Columbian (34-24), which went on to win the regional,” fifth-year Knights coach Zach Gardner said. “We felt that we were right there to win a regional. Our slogan this year is ‘Raise the bar.’ We want to do things that have never been done at West Holmes, like win a regional title. We were part of a three-way tie for a league title. Now we want to win the league title outright.”
The Knights are loaded with returnees at the skilled positions and got even stronger after the transfer of a pair of talented rising sophomores from Loudonville. During most of the summer, the Knights are reporting to the high school stadium for voluntary workouts Monday through Friday from 8:30-10:30 a.m. Approximately 70 players grades 9-12 have been a part of the practices.
“This is year five of running our program here,” Gardner said. “The kids understand what’s expected of them; our culture is set. There’s no excuses why we can’t continue to have success and to build on this for years to come. We’re really excited about the number of kids that we have in our program, and we have an amazing coaching staff here. Everyone has put a lot of hard work into this, and we’re at the point now where we’re continuing to get better. We’re going to see league titles and playoff runs consistently around here.”
Everything will start this season with senior quarterback Noah Clark. Even though Clark shared time with since-graduated Peyton McKinney, the dual-threat quarterback still passed for 826 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions while carrying the ball 95 times for 322 yards and four scores.
“Everything that we talk about culture-wise, Noah Clark exemplifies that from his toughness, to selflessness, to giving great effort,” Gardner said. “He’s just a leader. He’s played a lot of snaps of varsity football, and we’re excited that he will get the opportunity now to go out there and gain the individual accolades that he probably deserves after all of the team things that he’s done for us.”
Also among the top returnees are seniors Garrett Eastep (WR-S), Tucker Kaufman (WR-DB), Walker Graham (C-LB) and Matthew Weaver (G-DL), along with juniors Bret Shearer (RB-LB) and Elisha Baldridge (LB).
Eastep caught 57 passes for 760 yards and seven TDs while Kaufman hauled in 16 passes for 220 yards.
Sophomores Sam Williams-Dixon (RB-WR) and Kyle Maltarich (WR-QB) were key performers at Loudonville in 2020 before opting to move over to the Knights. Williams-Dixon carried the ball 168 times for 1,142 yards and 11 TDs while adding 29 receptions for 300 yards and two more scores.
Maltarich, the son of Knights alum and longtime area coach Kevin Maltarich, caught 17 passes for 353 yards and five TDs.
“Any time you get quality individuals like those two, who work hard and understand being a part of a team atmosphere, man that’s a bonus,” Gardner said. “They’re both very athletically gifted, and we’re happy to have them as part of our football family.”
Everywhere Gardner goes in Millersburg, he feels the buzz surrounding his program.
“We had 130 kids at our youth camp this summer,” he said. “It’s just a great environment to be in. Kids are really excited around here about playing football, from seniors down to second-graders. We feel like we’re establishing a program that’s going to serve the kids, and that’s going to transition into success on the field.
“We just have to keep working hard, keep getting better. We’ve got a lot of guys coming back, and we’ve had a lot of success, but we have to earn it all over again. We’re going to face adversity along the way, and we’ve got to handle that. We’re looking to hit the ground running and earn some success.”
Official practices will begin Aug. 1. The Knights will host Tri-Valley in a scrimmage on Aug. 7 at 10 a.m. and then host Indian Valley on Aug. 13.
West Holmes will open the regular season by hosting longtime backyard rival Triway on Aug. 20.