The last thing Dan Studer wants to see this season is a trainer running onto the field to take care of an injured player. That’s because depth is a luxury his Lexington Minutemen football team does not have in 2013.
“Our biggest challenge this season is keeping our kids fresh,” stated the second-year head coach. “We have a lot of kids playing both ways and we don’t have much depth.”
Lexington, coming off last year’s 5-5 season (3-4 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference), has 47 players from all four grades and may have as many as eight players performing on both sides of the ball on any given Friday night.
The Minutemen do return experience with eight starters back on offense and seven on defense, though key slots at running back and linebacker need to be filled.
Lexington’s offense, which a year ago featured a pair of power running backs, will be more diverse this year, led again by senior quarterback Trent Richwine (6-0, 180).
“We have a good corps of returning wide receivers and a quarterback who is an exclusive player,” Studer said. “We don’t have a speedster like last year, but we have guys who are quick on their feet, run good routes and we have a quarterback who can get them the ball.
“Trent is a pretty elusive runner,” Studer said. “He is probably the fastest kid on the team and is very mobile. We will move him around a bunch. Trent doesn’t have a super strong arm, but he is accurate, good with his reads and understands what defenses are trying to do. He is a calm, cool and collected kid.”
Richwine will operate behind an offensive that returns four starters in senior tackle Zach Temple (6-4, 240), senior guard Andrew Gear (5-11, 195), senior center Kendall Kuhn (5-11, 195) and junior tackle Alec Schaaf (6-4, 245). Junior guard Jason Zeides (5-11, 210) joins the front wall this season.
Lex will operate primarily from a shotgun formation with one RB close to Richwine. A trio of players will share time there , including senior Jordan Dalton (5-11, 190), junior Ryan Cooper (5-10, 200) and junior Xavier White (5-8, 165).
Cooper is a power runner, White is elusive and Dalton is a mix of the two, according to Studer. “We’re pleased to have an array of running backs who can give the defenses different looks,” Studer said.
Lexington has three returning senior wide receivers, including Nick Leasure (6-1, 175), Bryan Truax (6-2, 175) and Gio Masi (5-10, 165). Senior Andrew Sneeringer (5-11, 165) will be the fourth wideout.
On defense, Lexington will deploy the same 4-2-5 it used in 2012. Likely starters in the defensive line are Temple and Gear, joined by junior Will Jean-Gilles (6-2, 190) and senior Joe Plew (6-0, 250).
The linebackers will both be new, but experienced, with Kuhn in one slot and Dalton or Cooper filling the other.
The secondary will have Masi and Leasure at the corners with Richwine and Truax likely joined at safety by senior Nick Arnold (5-10, 165).
Masi will handle FGs/PATs and punting again this season with Truax on kickoffs.
Studer said Mansfield Senior is the team to beat in the OCC this season, followed closely by Madison and Ashland.
“All three of those schools have tough kids, great coaching and numbers through the roof,” Studer said. “They always come ready to rock you … like every team in the OCC. But those three have a lot on the backburner and should be good for years to come.”
Lexington opens the season Friday with a non-league game at Ontario.
