Wawasee Looking To Build On Experience
August 17, 2016 at 4:19 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
“I think our preparation in the offseason; the boys bought in to coming in at 6:20 in the morning for a whole trimester (will make a difference). For five days a week they lifted. worked on conditioning, worked on agility, and then they did the summer workouts,” Ekovich said.
“I also think the leadership in this senior class will help right some ships. We were really inexperienced last year, and it showed at times. But I don’t think we were ever as good as we looked at times, and we weren’t as bad as we looked sometimes. Hopefully, with the experience we have coming back, we can stay healthy and get the ship righted.”
The team will be led by senior quarterback Tyler Smith. He’s much more of a runner than longtime Wawasee fans may be accustomed to seeing.
“(Smith’s) arm is better than it was last year, his confidence level is better, he’s improved his ability to read defenses has improved, not only when he’s running the ball but when he’s throwing it,” Ekovich said. “His leadership has gotten exponentially better. Last year he felt like more of a role player as opposed to being a leader. We’ve altered some formations to cater to his skill set as well as our other quarterback’s skill sets.
“We’ll still be option based, but we’ll run out of the shotgun a little more.”
But after averaging fewer than 10 passing attempts a game in 2015, the big question on the minds of Wawasee football fans is “are the Warriors going to throw the ball more?”
Ekovich said “we’ll throw the ball a little more; a bit of run-action, play a quick-pass game, a quick-screen game. But Tyler’s not Gage (Reinhard, who graduated two springs ago) we’re not going to throw the ball all over the yard or throw the ball 35 times a game. But being back in shotgun helps him with his vision, and opens up things a little bit, and widens our playbook a little more.
“We’ll throw when we need to throw, but we’ll be a running team.”
The Warriors also return the majority of its defensive players. This year, Ekovich wants his team to be quicker in pursuit of the opposing ball carriers.
“Last year there were times when our offense could help our defense. There were times we were in games when we shouldn’t have been. Our ball control helped us defensively,” he said.
“We have a lot of our back seven back this year, We’ve moved some guys from safety to linebacker, and from corner to safety, and from linebacker to D-line, to try and get more team speed.”
Wawasee will also have the benefit of playing six of nine regular season games, and four of seven Northern Lakes Conference games at home.
The Warriors open the season Friday when they host South Bend Washington at 7 p.m.
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“I think our preparation in the offseason; the boys bought in to coming in at 6:20 in the morning for a whole trimester (will make a difference). For five days a week they lifted. worked on conditioning, worked on agility, and then they did the summer workouts,” Ekovich said.
“I also think the leadership in this senior class will help right some ships. We were really inexperienced last year, and it showed at times. But I don’t think we were ever as good as we looked at times, and we weren’t as bad as we looked sometimes. Hopefully, with the experience we have coming back, we can stay healthy and get the ship righted.”
The team will be led by senior quarterback Tyler Smith. He’s much more of a runner than longtime Wawasee fans may be accustomed to seeing.
“(Smith’s) arm is better than it was last year, his confidence level is better, he’s improved his ability to read defenses has improved, not only when he’s running the ball but when he’s throwing it,” Ekovich said. “His leadership has gotten exponentially better. Last year he felt like more of a role player as opposed to being a leader. We’ve altered some formations to cater to his skill set as well as our other quarterback’s skill sets.
“We’ll still be option based, but we’ll run out of the shotgun a little more.”
But after averaging fewer than 10 passing attempts a game in 2015, the big question on the minds of Wawasee football fans is “are the Warriors going to throw the ball more?”
Ekovich said “we’ll throw the ball a little more; a bit of run-action, play a quick-pass game, a quick-screen game. But Tyler’s not Gage (Reinhard, who graduated two springs ago) we’re not going to throw the ball all over the yard or throw the ball 35 times a game. But being back in shotgun helps him with his vision, and opens up things a little bit, and widens our playbook a little more.
“We’ll throw when we need to throw, but we’ll be a running team.”
The Warriors also return the majority of its defensive players. This year, Ekovich wants his team to be quicker in pursuit of the opposing ball carriers.
“Last year there were times when our offense could help our defense. There were times we were in games when we shouldn’t have been. Our ball control helped us defensively,” he said.
“We have a lot of our back seven back this year, We’ve moved some guys from safety to linebacker, and from corner to safety, and from linebacker to D-line, to try and get more team speed.”
Wawasee will also have the benefit of playing six of nine regular season games, and four of seven Northern Lakes Conference games at home.
The Warriors open the season Friday when they host South Bend Washington at 7 p.m.
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