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| SUMMIT PHOTO BY MATT FOY
Deonte Lewis pulls in a pass during Waldorf's first live scrimmage of the year.
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Welcome to the New School
Waldorf prepares to usher in a new era of Warrior football
By Matt Foy
Of The Summit
FOREST CITY - It has been 39 years and eight U.S. Presidents since someone other than David Bolstorff was head football coach at Waldorf. Welcome to a new era.
Greg Youngblood is charged with not only following a local legend and a hall of fame coach but also of ushering Waldorf football unto prosperity for the first time as a four-year program.
If the first week of practice was any indication, the coach isn't shying away from the task or having problems with getting anyone to listen to his message. Even in the waning minutes of Saturday afternoon's live scrimmage - the first of the year - each call the coach made to his defense was met with enthusiastic response from all 11 men who were still playing hard no matter how ready to drop they were.
Based on their enthusiasm and energy level, you never would have guessed those players had marched through a week of two-a-days under the brutal August sun.
"I'm pleased with where they're at right now, the way they're working," Youngblood says. "We're still getting some guys in shape, and we've got to get to that point where we can play hard for four quarters. We're not there yet, but we're working at it."
The Waldorf players won't only be adjusting to football physically, they've also got a ton of mental preparation to take on.
Youngblood, who was hired from Taylor University (Ind.) as Bolstorff's heir apparent and spent one season as assistant head coach, has installed new schemes on offense and defense.
Oh, and there's also the pressure of trying to become the first Waldorf four-year team to win more than three games.
Offense
Forget everything you know about how Waldorf has moved in the past. From now on, the team plans on breaking opposing defenses down 1-2-3.
Starting this year, Youngblood, assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Eric Prins and their staff are putting their faith in the team's newly installed bread and butter: the triple option.
The triple option, though not necessarily complicated, is one of the toughest plays to defend when executed correctly. In an effort to master the art of the triple option, the Waldorf coaching staff has studied the work of triple option guru Paul Johnson, famed coach of Georgia Southern and now the United States Naval Academy.
Like Johnson's teams, Waldorf will run primarily out of the flexbone formation, which features a fullback lined up directly behind the quarterback, two slotbacks lined up outside the tackles and two wide receivers.
The basic triple option play looks like this: the quarterback takes the snap, and depending on how he reads the defense, either hands off or fakes to the fullback up the middle. If he keeps the ball, he sprints to the outside, flanked by a slotback in motion. The quarterback can run it himself, lateral it to the slotback - at any point in the play so long as he doesn't toss the ball forward after passing the line of scrimmage - or throw a pass. Basically, it's all about keeping defenses from locking onto a single player and making them pay for cheating or guessing wrong.
Most of the time, the option will result in a run play. Though Youngblood is confident that his teams will be able to win games through the air or with balance, establishing the run will always be the first priority.
Though the triple option can be run out of unbalanced or wingback formations, Youngblood says Waldorf will line up in a balanced formation (one slotback and one receiver to the outside of each tackle) most of the time. He believes this will allow the Warriors to use motion to their advantage against balanced defenses and attack the weak side of unbalanced defenses.
The beauty of the triple option is it can be unstoppable when executed correctly. When poorly executed, like any scheme, it can get ugly. That's where studying and practicing until the play is second nature is so important.
"We've got to execute," Youngblood says. "It fits our personnel, but if we don't execute, it doesn't matter what we run."
Quarterbacks
Entering the season, the Warriors have a three-man open competition at the quarterback position. The winner of the battle between sophomores RocTerrius Hobbs and Ryan Kerns and freshman Scott Gregson will have a great burden on his shoulders, as the quarterback's decision-making is a huge factor in how well the triple option works.
Hobbs began last season as the starter but went down with a season-ending knee injury in the second game. As a freshman, he completed 18-of-31 passes for 108 yards with no touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He is the team's second leading returning rusher with 32 yards on 19 carries.
Kerns split time with Josh Palmer, who does not return, and completed 23-of-54 for 122 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.
All three quarterbacks showed good things in the first week of practice. It remains to be seen which quarterback will start on opening day and if he will share time or not.
"We'll have to see how that pans out," Youngblood says. "Being the first week of practice, we'll have some more evaluation.
"Right now, each one of them has different strengths. If a guy really steps up and shines, (naming him the lone starter) could happen, or if two guys are pretty equal - at that point we'll have to make a decision on how we want to go. In another week or two, we'll know more."
Fullbacks/Slotbacks
With four games remaining in the 2006 season, Waldorf coaches packed away their run/pass balanced attack and decided to see if Marcus Lewis could be broken. Averaging a whopping 33 carries in those four games, the junior running back piled up 151 yards per game and proved he could take any beating opposing defenses could dish out.
Now a senior, Lewis, a fullback in high school and as a sophomore at Waldorf, is moving back home to fullback, where he is poised to once again be the focal point of the Waldorf offense after finishing with 1,022 yards and 5 touchdowns last year.
"I worked really hard this offseason to make sure my senior year goes out like I want," Lewis says. "I'm ready."
Though Nate Lidtke is the only other non-QB to return with positive rushing yardage - all 3 yards of it - Lewis will be aided in the rushing attack by a still-developing set of slotbacks who will look to pile up yardage on option tosses.
Among the leading candidates is junior speedster Erskinte Henderson. The team's leading returning receiver (20 catches, 206 yards) now has a chance to shine as a dual threat.
"He's a pass threat and now also a run threat, we like that at lot because we can get the ball in his hands more often," Youngblood says of Henderson.
The rest of the slotback picture, as well as the fullback picture behind Lewis, is still unknown, with returning players and newcomers fighting it out. Freshmen Colton Harms and Deonte Lewis could figure into the mix at fullback and slotback, respectively.
So far, the switch to the triple option has the team's offensive centerpiece feeling good about his teammates - "I like our slotbacks," he says. "These guys have really quick feet." - and the prospect of spending more time in the end zone.
"I like it a lot so far," says Lewis. “One of our goals is just to score in the 20s each game. We've had some problems with that, but now I think we have the plays and the players to do it now."
Wide Receivers
The flexbone triple option is a run-first scheme, but good wideout play is extremely important nonetheless. If things are going to work, the Warriors need their receivers to be capable blockers in the run game and receiving threats in the passing game to keep defenses from crowding the line of scrimmage.
Though senior Chris Rittgers is gone, the Warriors have experience and potential returning at receiver.
Junior Jake Bohnet, a starting tight end last season, caught 20 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown a year ago. He could be joined by sophomore Alex Grunhovd, a talented local product who caught only 4 passes in an injury-plagued freshman year.
Lewis caught 25 passes for 168 yards out of the backfield last year; Lidtke, Lewis Rolling and Jordan Vanderloop also caught passes last season.
The receivers might not have the chance to catch 50-plus balls this year, but they get their chances to show off what they can do. The option pass can be deadly deep, especially if the run game is good enough to get the defense to creep up towards the line.
Offensive Line
Quality isn't the problem for Waldorf's offensive line, but quantity could be if injuries set in.
The change to a triple option scheme deemphasizes drive blocking and size and instead puts the emphasis on quickness and intelligence. That plays right into the strength of a quick, experienced and intelligent group - one that must stay healthy.
"We're not real deep at offensive lineman, but we don't have to block guys straight-up, we get to read them," Youngblood says. "We don't have to have big monsters who move people off the ball. We can be more finesse and athletic, so that's something that fits."
Cody Rauk, a Forest City native, returns to anchor the line in his second year starting at center. Brandon Chenevert, Chris Daniels and Ross Lippincott are back in the fold as well, giving Waldorf the makings of a line custom-built for running the option.
But with the defection of stalwart Darnell Whitley, who moved to defensive tackle, and little established depth to speak of, the injury bug could be the team's undoing in the trenches.
Defense
As on offense, the Warriors are going through major changes on the defensive side of the ball. The Warriors are switching to a 4-3 base that is predicated on team speed.
"We would like to get as much speed on the field to emphasize getting to the football," Youngblood says. "We're multiple at the same time. We can give the offense some different fronts and adjust our coverages to what the offense is doing."
In the front seven, the Warriors return a wealth of experience, with as many as seven seniors competing for playing time. The defense will operate mostly out of a 4-3 base, but there should be plenty of switching things up to keep offenses guessing whom to block.
"We want to be flexible enough to adapt to what the offense is doing but simple enough that our guys aren't overwhelmed," says Youngblood, who also plays the role of a defensive coordinator and will call the shots. "We want them to play fast and not have to think too much. It's a fine line sometimes."
Defensive Line
If there was any unit that Waldorf didn't need a mountain-sized boost at, it was probably the defensive line. But that didn't stop Youngblood from taking his biggest returning offensive lineman, Whitley, and putting him right on the ball as a defensive tackle. The result could be a nightmare for any team with aspirations of running up the middle against the Warriors.
"Coach Youngblood talked to me right after the transition of him becoming head coach," Whitley says. "Because of my intensity and the personality that I bring, he wanted me to play defense."
Whitley, one of the quickest 6-foot-6, near-400-pounders you'll ever see in your life, is confident he would have excelled in the offense's new quickness-based option scheme.
But he and the coach both think he fits better on defense where he can slant, stunt, disrupt and annihilate.
"I felt like the strength of his abilities lies more with the defensive side," Youngblood says. "Offensively, because we're relying more on quicker linemen and not necessarily have to drive block, it probably wasn't suited for him as well. So we felt like it was a win-win."
One of the building blocks of most successful 4-3 defenses, even ones that emphasize speed over size, is a set of run-stuffing tackles. Waldorf is set in that department with Whitley and fellow senior William Stokes giving the team 700 pounds of potential domination.
Even if Whitley and Stokes aren't piling up tackles - and it's unlikely: Stokes is an established destroyer who led the team with 5 sacks and recorded 49.5 stops last season - they should demand constant attention, hopefully in the form of double teams that will free up the linebackers to run to the ball.
Whitley and Stokes in the middle sure sounds like a winner, but hold that thought. The Warriors are so deep on the line that Stokes and Whitley will have competition for the starting spots.
Seniors Branden Mohs, Taylor Monson and Ross Reynolds and juniors Caleb Lidtke and Josh Reis will no doubt force their way on the field, whether at end or at tackle. Mohs and Reynolds combined for 72.5 tackles, 8.5 sacks and a fumble recovery last year.
"We have good depth on the line, so we'll see that pans out," Youngblood says. "It'll be interesting."
Right now, the biggest player in a Waldorf uniform would like to think he's done enough to maintain his status as a starter. He's not taking that for granted, though, and he's hoping a drop in weight to under 400, while maintaining his strength, will help him become the perfect weapon in the trenches: too big to move off the ball, too quick to keep out of the backfield.
"Coach would like me to lose weight, and I'd like to lose weight, but I want to lose the right weight," Whitley says. "I try to keep lifting weight and keep running. Hopefully I'll lose about 20 pounds - I've lost 10 already."
That's enough to make opponents lose sleep just thinking about it.
Linebackers
While the graduation of Brian Sanger opens up a hole for a new starter, the Warriors are set at the other two spots with the 1-2 senior punch of Roger Blickenderfer and JaWann Billingsley.
Blickenderfer led the team last year with 77 tackles and added 2 interceptions, 1.5 sacks and a touchdown on a blocked punt recovery. Billingsley recorded 45.5 tackles and a sack and recovered a fumble.
With so much size and talent in front of them, Billingsley and Blickenderfer could have more freedom to chase the ball than last year and could be more dangerous on blitzes.
"They're guys that have been solid players for us," Youngblood says of his captains at linebacker. "We feel like we have some real strength up the middle with our linemen and those ‘backers."
The third starting spot is currently up for grabs. One possibility is sophomore Eric Janssen, who recorded 8 tackles as a freshman. Newcomers will also figure into the mix.
Defensive Backs
It's a good thing the front seven has so much experience, because the defensive backfield begins the season inexperienced after the graduation of Roy Banks and other defections.
The picture is still developing as to who will be on the field when the season begins.
That's not to say the Warriors' secondary doesn't have potential to be good. It's just not clear when that potential will be filled.
"That's obviously going to be a position we'll be green at," Youngblood says. "We have some guys that have done a good job, and I think we can be solid there, but it's one of those things you just don't know until you get into game situations."
The top returning defensive backs on the roster are Darrell Stephens and Bryan Bjorklund. Stephens made 26 tackles and picked off a pass last year; Bjorklund made 20.5 tackles.
Special Teams
What was supposed to be a sure thing became a question mark when reliable kicker Aaron Kurowski, whose field goal total (10) was one greater than the offense's touchdown total, surpassed his senior season.
Youngblood, along with special teams coordinator George Penree, will be charged with finding a replacement. That replacement could be Spencer Gray, who joins the team after a redshirt season.
Marcus Lewis returns at punter, and Chenevert, an offensive lineman by trade, is a frontrunner to handle kickoffs.
"We feel like there are some guys who are working hard and can do a good job for us," Youngblood says. "But obviously he (Kurowski) made some big field goals for us last year, so he'll be missed, no question about it. But I like some of the guys we have that can fill those shoes."
The return game is hazy right now, with Henderson bringing some experience and plenty of playmaking ability being one possible candidate.
Coaching Staff
In his first year as head coach, Youngblood has surrounded himself with two coordinators, Prins and Penree, and six position coaches, many of whom bring experience coaching at the high school level.
In addition to his duties as offensive coordinator, Prins coaches the offensive line and is Youngblood's assistant head coach. In addition to being special teams coordinator, Penree coaches the defensive backs.
Position coaches include Craig Van Syoc (quarterbacks), Tom Mayer (running backs), Curtis Lilly (defensive line), Topher Tackman (linebackers), Richard McCardell (wide receivers) and Craig Johnson (defensive backs).
"I feel good about our staff and the way things are going," Youngblood says. "It takes time to get everybody on the same page, and our guys have done a great job of taking what we want to run and teaching it to our guys. You can see that our guys are picking it up."
Schedule
After playing only three home games in 2006, the Warriors will give hometown fans a double dose of action at Bolstorff Field this year. As an added bonus, just like rock music's most famous amplifier, this year's schedule goes to 11.
This year's schedule sees the Warriors open and close the season at home, with four more home games in between, and hit the road five times.
Waldorf will open at home against William Penn University on Saturday, Aug 25. They will hit the road for the first two weeks of September to play Iowa Wesleyan College and Drake University. Both teams defeated the Warriors in 2006.
In September, Warriors will host rematches against St. Ambrose University and Dana College, with a road match with UW-Stevens Point in between, before welcoming Peru State for Homecoming on Oct. 6. The Warriors were 0-4 against those teams in 2006.
After an open date, the Warriors will lock up with Luther College at Decorah on Oct. 20 and host Buena Vista University - the team they beat in overtime last year to send Bolstorff out with a win - the following week to close October.
In November, the Warriors renew acquaintances with a pair of teams they last played and beat in 2004. UM-Morris welcomes Waldorf on Nov. 3, while Haskell Indian Nations, who lost one of the teams on their schedule and come to Waldorf as a late addition, visit on Nov. 10.
Waldorf opponents had a combined record of 53-52 last season.
Season Outlook
When he first became head coach, one of the things Youngblood identified as a key to success was increasing his team's numbers. But it'll be a while before his roster size approaches triple digits as he hopes to do in the near future.
It's this overriding factor - being in a growth stage and a transition stage simultaneously - that has Youngblood talking about progress measured in ways other than wins and losses.
"I think the first thing is just to have a competitive attitude amongst ourselves," Youngblood says. "Every play, every snap, we need to work to the maximum of our abilities."
So far, the first-year head coach hasn't seen anything to dampen his optimism that his program is headed in the right direction. But heading in the right direction often implies that you've got a long way to go, and that's more than likely the case here.
So in a year when wins might not be coming in bunches, improving on last year's campaign and sending the seniors out on a high note will be considered adequate success.
"Obviously, we want to see improvement continuously from Game One," Youngblood says. "If we can see ourselves improving, we know we'll get to where we need to be."
Story created Aug 14, 2007 - 13:28:08 CDT.
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