Wogoman Takes Over At Wawasee
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Following an 8-3 season in 2006, coach Joe Rietveld decided to hang up his whistle, allowing Tom Wogoman to move from an assistant coach at East Noble to the new Warriors' play-caller.[[In-content Ad]]"It's been a learning curve right now," Wogoman said. "Other than being a first-year head coach, we've been able to start a freshman team after a two-year hiatus and we have at least five different assistant coaches. There's a just a lot of learning going on."
The majority of the learning at early Warrior practices has been on the offensive line, where prospective linemen Mike Atchison, Connor Beer, Gene Dush, Brady McKibben, Braxton Riley and Jacob Sexton will look to create holes for running backs Eric Brown and Tom Schwartz.
"We have a brand new offensive line and a brand new system," Wogoman said. "We're going to be running a two-back set. In the past, Wawasee's gone shotgun a lot, but we want to get under center this year. The (shotgun) offense has been explosive, but we're going to want to control the ball a little more this year."
The reason for the Warriors' explosive output can easily be tracked to the graduated Joe Leach. In 2006, the senior quarterback racked up 4,700 total yards - 2,090 passing and 1,610 rushing. Along with yardage, Leach was also 17th in the state in points per game, scoring 12 per contest.
Now, with Leach gone, Wawasee will be looking for a new quarterback and leader.
"It's a two-man race right now, and will soon be a three-man race," Wogoman said, referring to Ryan McDonald, Jake Sommers and Dylan Ringler. "They're all real athletic kids. When we get to the days entering the season, we're going to have to make some choices."
Wawasee returns only three offensive starters this season (Tanner Benzinger, Dush and Schwartz), but on the defensive side, Benzinger, Brown, Tyson Kasse, Shelby Kelly, Riley, Evan Melching and Schwartz return.
"A lot of what we do on offense is contigent on our defense," Wogoman said. "We're gonna have to hang our hat on our defense."
Wogoman is hopeful his 4-3 defense can hold the opposition in check enough to allow his inexperienced offense to win some games. But that defense will have to limit Northern Lakes Conference teams, a proposition that can be tough.
"It's an outstanding conference," Wogoman said of the NLC. "As an assistant at East Noble, we played Northridge and Concord in Sectional 10, which has a lot of NLC teams. I played at Goshen, and as a Goshen graduate, I know what the NLC is like. It's a neat thing to come to Wawasee and be in one of the top conferences in the state. Top to bottom, it's solid all the way through."
So with a lot of new things at Wawasee, coupled with a staunch schedule, Wogoman is taking things one step at a time.
"Wawasee football has been pretty successful in past years," he said. "The goal now is to get better with each practice. I know that's a coaching cliché, but that's where we're at. With me being new, and the kids learning a new system, it's been a learning curve."
WAWASEE WARRIORS
NO. NAME GRADE
2 Rex Henry 11
3 Dylan Ringler 11
4 Andy Swain 10
5 Brandon Geiger 12
7 Cameron Tranter 12
10 John Cox 10
11 Ryan McDonald 12
15 Jake Sommers 10
20 Mark Malone 12
21 Ashton Wharton 12
22 Dan Dingeldein 12
23 Travis Patterson 10
24 Eric Brown 12
25 Jesse McBride 11
27 Craig Johnson 12
28 Steve Phillips 10
30 Kyler Holcomb 12
31 Evan Melching 11
33 Bo Wallbridge 11
35 Tanner Benzinger 12
41 Jeff Deleon 10
42 Logan Davidson 11
43 Shelby Kelly 12
44 Tom Schwartz 11
48 Lance Lannon 11
50 Mark Rainford 12
51 Braxton Riley 12
52 Brady McKibben 12
54 John Miller 11
55 Dustin Boyer 12
57 Chad Emery 11
57 Eric Sheets 11
60 Paul Xanders 12
65 Seth Long 10
66 Mike Atchison 12
68 Connor Beer 12
70 Jake Toth 10
73 Ryan Main 11
76 Gene Dush 12
77 Gee Jaemeson 10
78 Jacob Sexton 12
79 John Fisher 12
81 Brandon Boyer 12
83 Travis Beer 12
84 Clarck Farrell 11
87 Chris Mayrs 10
88 Chas Amadeo 12
89 Tyson Kasse 12
94 George Adamtais
Following an 8-3 season in 2006, coach Joe Rietveld decided to hang up his whistle, allowing Tom Wogoman to move from an assistant coach at East Noble to the new Warriors' play-caller.[[In-content Ad]]"It's been a learning curve right now," Wogoman said. "Other than being a first-year head coach, we've been able to start a freshman team after a two-year hiatus and we have at least five different assistant coaches. There's a just a lot of learning going on."
The majority of the learning at early Warrior practices has been on the offensive line, where prospective linemen Mike Atchison, Connor Beer, Gene Dush, Brady McKibben, Braxton Riley and Jacob Sexton will look to create holes for running backs Eric Brown and Tom Schwartz.
"We have a brand new offensive line and a brand new system," Wogoman said. "We're going to be running a two-back set. In the past, Wawasee's gone shotgun a lot, but we want to get under center this year. The (shotgun) offense has been explosive, but we're going to want to control the ball a little more this year."
The reason for the Warriors' explosive output can easily be tracked to the graduated Joe Leach. In 2006, the senior quarterback racked up 4,700 total yards - 2,090 passing and 1,610 rushing. Along with yardage, Leach was also 17th in the state in points per game, scoring 12 per contest.
Now, with Leach gone, Wawasee will be looking for a new quarterback and leader.
"It's a two-man race right now, and will soon be a three-man race," Wogoman said, referring to Ryan McDonald, Jake Sommers and Dylan Ringler. "They're all real athletic kids. When we get to the days entering the season, we're going to have to make some choices."
Wawasee returns only three offensive starters this season (Tanner Benzinger, Dush and Schwartz), but on the defensive side, Benzinger, Brown, Tyson Kasse, Shelby Kelly, Riley, Evan Melching and Schwartz return.
"A lot of what we do on offense is contigent on our defense," Wogoman said. "We're gonna have to hang our hat on our defense."
Wogoman is hopeful his 4-3 defense can hold the opposition in check enough to allow his inexperienced offense to win some games. But that defense will have to limit Northern Lakes Conference teams, a proposition that can be tough.
"It's an outstanding conference," Wogoman said of the NLC. "As an assistant at East Noble, we played Northridge and Concord in Sectional 10, which has a lot of NLC teams. I played at Goshen, and as a Goshen graduate, I know what the NLC is like. It's a neat thing to come to Wawasee and be in one of the top conferences in the state. Top to bottom, it's solid all the way through."
So with a lot of new things at Wawasee, coupled with a staunch schedule, Wogoman is taking things one step at a time.
"Wawasee football has been pretty successful in past years," he said. "The goal now is to get better with each practice. I know that's a coaching cliché, but that's where we're at. With me being new, and the kids learning a new system, it's been a learning curve."
WAWASEE WARRIORS
NO. NAME GRADE
2 Rex Henry 11
3 Dylan Ringler 11
4 Andy Swain 10
5 Brandon Geiger 12
7 Cameron Tranter 12
10 John Cox 10
11 Ryan McDonald 12
15 Jake Sommers 10
20 Mark Malone 12
21 Ashton Wharton 12
22 Dan Dingeldein 12
23 Travis Patterson 10
24 Eric Brown 12
25 Jesse McBride 11
27 Craig Johnson 12
28 Steve Phillips 10
30 Kyler Holcomb 12
31 Evan Melching 11
33 Bo Wallbridge 11
35 Tanner Benzinger 12
41 Jeff Deleon 10
42 Logan Davidson 11
43 Shelby Kelly 12
44 Tom Schwartz 11
48 Lance Lannon 11
50 Mark Rainford 12
51 Braxton Riley 12
52 Brady McKibben 12
54 John Miller 11
55 Dustin Boyer 12
57 Chad Emery 11
57 Eric Sheets 11
60 Paul Xanders 12
65 Seth Long 10
66 Mike Atchison 12
68 Connor Beer 12
70 Jake Toth 10
73 Ryan Main 11
76 Gene Dush 12
77 Gee Jaemeson 10
78 Jacob Sexton 12
79 John Fisher 12
81 Brandon Boyer 12
83 Travis Beer 12
84 Clarck Farrell 11
87 Chris Mayrs 10
88 Chas Amadeo 12
89 Tyson Kasse 12
94 George Adamtais
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