Lots To Overcome Just To Open Squire Football Season
August 19, 2020 at 2:54 a.m.
Lots To Overcome Just To Open Squire Football Season
By Anthony Anderson-
New head coach Alyx Brandewie says his Squires handled it well.
Brandewie, named in mid-April to succeed seven-year coach Greg Miller, took the job with the COVID-19 pandemic already under way.
Then in mid-July, the school announced that one football player and one basketball player had each tested positive for the virus, effectively shutting down offseason conditioning for all Manchester sports.
“It’s absolutely been a challenge,” Brandewie acknowledged Friday night of a head coaching change being accompanied by a pandemic and a shutdown. “You have a game plan for how you want to get started, and then you’re thrown into these circumstances you can’t control, but you have to embrace it.”
The Squires got in just two weeks of conditioning before the shutdown. They returned to on-field action Aug. 3 after two weeks away.
“The key word for us has been ‘respond,’” Brandewie said. “How do we respond to things we can’t control, and our kids have done a fantastic job. We couldn’t meet in person, but we had Zoom meetings (initially with the entire team, then later by position group), and guys were in there 10 minutes early with their pencils ready. I can’t say enough about that.”
Brandewie said over the weekend that all his players are “fine,” as it relates to COVID.
Manchester athletic director Eric Screeton said Monday afternoon that the school and its student-athletes are in a strong place across all fall sports.
“We’re good,” Screeton said. “What we did in July after talking with our county health department was done out of an abundance of caution to try to save the fall. It was a nice little wake-up call to some of our coaches and community that it could all go away, so be careful.”
As for football specifically, the Squires, coming off a 3-7 record, open their season Friday by hosting North Miami in Three Rivers Conference play.
Manchester returns five starters on offense and six on defense as it aims to end the program’s string of consecutive losing seasons at 10.
Brandewie, 31, isn’t entirely new to the scene. He was an assistant for three years through 2018 before spending last season as an assistant at alma mater Minster (Ohio) High.
“It’s been huge,” Brandewie said of already having some familiarity with his players. “There were some relationships that were already developed in the classroom and as a coach, and we were able to hit the ground running.”
On offense, he is especially hopeful about some of the players lined up in the middle.
Along the line, that includes the senior trio of center Trescott Duffy and guards Johnny England and Jacob Caudill.
In the backfield, that includes running back Braxton Ream, who rushed for 333 yards and team-leading totals of a 6.3 average and six touchdowns as a sophomore last fall.
“He’s going to play a big role, kind of drive the offense,” Brandewie said.
The Squires also have wideout Seth Gaerte, who paced the team in catches (27), receiving yards (463) and TD receptions (three) as a sophomore last season. Junior Blake Pohler could provide another threat at that position.
“They’re both explosive athletes,” Brandewie said.
Quarterback duties will go to senior Anthony Foust or sophomore Brock Casper following the graduation of two-year starter Devin Marcum.
“Anthony’s got a live arm, throws really well, and Brock processes the game well,” Brandewie said. “There are some similarities in the two of them and some unique characteristics.”
The coach anticipates leaning “probably more on the run game than maybe in the past here, but a lot of that is personnel-driven. We feel good about our running game and what we have in front of those guys.”
On defense, Manchester plans to present a 3-4-4 look after going 4-2-5 in recent years.
“The thought process was to create as much aggressive pressure as we can,” Brandewie said. “That’s not to suggest we weren’t aggressive before, but it’s something we want to do, and we think we’ve got a guy or two at all three levels who can make it go.”
The coach cites Dylan Stroud at safety, Josiah Hackworth at inside linebacker and Peyton Addair at outside linebacker as “guys that will be huge for us.”
Stroud was the Squires’ leading tackler last year as a sophomore with 88.
Ream was No. 2 in that category at 83, and is expected to see some duty at linebacker and safety, but “he’s going to have a pretty big workload (offensively),” Brandewie pointed out, “so we’ll see.”
Overall, the coach anticipates having “four to six guys” who will see regular action on both sides of the ball.
At kicker, the Squires are turning to AJ Fortman and Owen Kruschwitz, two juniors who have never played football, according to Brandewie, but who are both part of Manchester’s soccer program.
Manchester Squires Football Schedule
Aug. 21 North Miami*
Aug. 28 Bluffton
Sept. 4 at Wabash*
Sept. 11 Rochester*
Sept. 18 at Northfield*
Sept. 25 Southwood*
Oct. 2 Whitko*
Oct. 9 at Tippecanoe Valley*
Oct. 16 Peru*
*-Three Rivers Conference game
New head coach Alyx Brandewie says his Squires handled it well.
Brandewie, named in mid-April to succeed seven-year coach Greg Miller, took the job with the COVID-19 pandemic already under way.
Then in mid-July, the school announced that one football player and one basketball player had each tested positive for the virus, effectively shutting down offseason conditioning for all Manchester sports.
“It’s absolutely been a challenge,” Brandewie acknowledged Friday night of a head coaching change being accompanied by a pandemic and a shutdown. “You have a game plan for how you want to get started, and then you’re thrown into these circumstances you can’t control, but you have to embrace it.”
The Squires got in just two weeks of conditioning before the shutdown. They returned to on-field action Aug. 3 after two weeks away.
“The key word for us has been ‘respond,’” Brandewie said. “How do we respond to things we can’t control, and our kids have done a fantastic job. We couldn’t meet in person, but we had Zoom meetings (initially with the entire team, then later by position group), and guys were in there 10 minutes early with their pencils ready. I can’t say enough about that.”
Brandewie said over the weekend that all his players are “fine,” as it relates to COVID.
Manchester athletic director Eric Screeton said Monday afternoon that the school and its student-athletes are in a strong place across all fall sports.
“We’re good,” Screeton said. “What we did in July after talking with our county health department was done out of an abundance of caution to try to save the fall. It was a nice little wake-up call to some of our coaches and community that it could all go away, so be careful.”
As for football specifically, the Squires, coming off a 3-7 record, open their season Friday by hosting North Miami in Three Rivers Conference play.
Manchester returns five starters on offense and six on defense as it aims to end the program’s string of consecutive losing seasons at 10.
Brandewie, 31, isn’t entirely new to the scene. He was an assistant for three years through 2018 before spending last season as an assistant at alma mater Minster (Ohio) High.
“It’s been huge,” Brandewie said of already having some familiarity with his players. “There were some relationships that were already developed in the classroom and as a coach, and we were able to hit the ground running.”
On offense, he is especially hopeful about some of the players lined up in the middle.
Along the line, that includes the senior trio of center Trescott Duffy and guards Johnny England and Jacob Caudill.
In the backfield, that includes running back Braxton Ream, who rushed for 333 yards and team-leading totals of a 6.3 average and six touchdowns as a sophomore last fall.
“He’s going to play a big role, kind of drive the offense,” Brandewie said.
The Squires also have wideout Seth Gaerte, who paced the team in catches (27), receiving yards (463) and TD receptions (three) as a sophomore last season. Junior Blake Pohler could provide another threat at that position.
“They’re both explosive athletes,” Brandewie said.
Quarterback duties will go to senior Anthony Foust or sophomore Brock Casper following the graduation of two-year starter Devin Marcum.
“Anthony’s got a live arm, throws really well, and Brock processes the game well,” Brandewie said. “There are some similarities in the two of them and some unique characteristics.”
The coach anticipates leaning “probably more on the run game than maybe in the past here, but a lot of that is personnel-driven. We feel good about our running game and what we have in front of those guys.”
On defense, Manchester plans to present a 3-4-4 look after going 4-2-5 in recent years.
“The thought process was to create as much aggressive pressure as we can,” Brandewie said. “That’s not to suggest we weren’t aggressive before, but it’s something we want to do, and we think we’ve got a guy or two at all three levels who can make it go.”
The coach cites Dylan Stroud at safety, Josiah Hackworth at inside linebacker and Peyton Addair at outside linebacker as “guys that will be huge for us.”
Stroud was the Squires’ leading tackler last year as a sophomore with 88.
Ream was No. 2 in that category at 83, and is expected to see some duty at linebacker and safety, but “he’s going to have a pretty big workload (offensively),” Brandewie pointed out, “so we’ll see.”
Overall, the coach anticipates having “four to six guys” who will see regular action on both sides of the ball.
At kicker, the Squires are turning to AJ Fortman and Owen Kruschwitz, two juniors who have never played football, according to Brandewie, but who are both part of Manchester’s soccer program.
Manchester Squires Football Schedule
Aug. 21 North Miami*
Aug. 28 Bluffton
Sept. 4 at Wabash*
Sept. 11 Rochester*
Sept. 18 at Northfield*
Sept. 25 Southwood*
Oct. 2 Whitko*
Oct. 9 at Tippecanoe Valley*
Oct. 16 Peru*
*-Three Rivers Conference game
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