Wogomon Confident Warriors Can Recover
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Graduated from last year’s team are quarterback Bauer Schmeltz, as well as Jake Clark, John Essex, Justin Fick, Dimitri Kaplanis and Zac Patrick, five key components to a defense that surrendered just 11.4 points per game.
“Talking about replacing the Ficks, the Essexes, the Jake Clarks and a Dimitri Kaplanis — you’re talking about a pretty full plate that has just gone away from us,” Wogomon said.
“That’s an understanding in high school football. For us, we’ve got some young men who are excited about stepping in and beginning to fill those roles.”
According to Wogomon, the talent of the graduated players left some young talent on the sidelines. This year, those players will be on the field.
“We’re not the pros where we can retain guys,” Wogomon said. “That’s just the system of the game and that’s high school football. Every year, we’re coming in to see who’s ready to step up and make that progression.”
Wawasee will return one 2011 All-Northern Lakes Conference selection in tailback Derrick Sorensen.
As a junior, Sorensen ran for 812 yards and eight touchdowns, and his workload won’t be lightened this season.
“He had about 900 yards last year and if he hadn’t hurt himself, he probably would have had over 1,000,” Wogomon said about the 5-foot-8, 165-pound tailback. “We’re really putting a full load on Derrick.”
With Schmeltz gone, former tailback D.J. Semon, a senior, will step in as quarterback.
“It’s no secret that if he’s a tailback, we’re going to be able to use his legs a little bit,” Wogomon said when asked what kind of quarterback Semon will be. “To be honest, it’s a progression for him right now. D.J.’s having to learn coverages, he’s having to learn when to pull the ball down and run. The steps of a quarterback are different than a tailback. He’s relearning a whole system.”
Since Wogomon came to Wawasee in 2007, he’s never had a quarterback who can stretch the field with his arm.
In 2011, when the team went 7-3, the Warriors went to the air just 93 times, with 18 of those coming in a 14-10 first-round sectional loss at NorthWood.
Converting from tailback to quarterback, Semon’s pass totals may not be too high either, limiting opportunities for junior Austin Lutz, junior Brandon McCullouch, junior Bret Ward, sophomore Clayton Cook and senior Brandon Tomlinson.
“I told them, they’ll have about 12 opportunities to catch that ball,” Wogomon said. “They know what their role is is to primarily be good blockers.”
The blocking of the receivers will be key, but not quite as much as the offensive line, which also lost some bodies.
“Our offensive line will be our strength,” Wogomon said. “We did lose Dimitri Kaplanis and we did lose John Essex. Besides that, that unit, from tight end to tackle is back. If you look at where we need to be and what we need to attach ourselves to, it’s getting the ball in (Sorensen’s) hands and making sure we have some openings.”
This year’s offensive line will feature experience anchored by senior Jon Ruiz at center, accompanied by senior Jake Schwartz, senior Chad Eppley, senior Chris Pezan, senior Sam Jackson and junior Ryan Crosley, with junior Ron Vardaman subbing in.
Many of those same guys will play on the defensive line, with Eppley, Schwartz, Jackson going both ways, being joined by senior Austin Grove.
“On a good high school team, I’d say you have to see a good defensive line,” Wogomon said.
The linebacking corp will center around versatile senior Brian Clark, who’s joined by Semon and Eppley as team captains.
“As a freshman and sophomore, he was a quarterback.,” Wogomon said of Clark. “Junior year, he was our starting center and this year, he’s our starting (tight end). That tells you the versatility of Brian. We’ve moved him around and asked a lot of him, but he’s embraced each position.”
Also playing linebacker this season are junior Braxton O’Haver and junior Gabe Rhodes.
Rounding out the defense are Semon and Lutz at safety and McCullouch and senior Josh Sumpter manning the defensive back positions.
And just like previous years, the defense will be key as the offense tries to play grind-it-out football.
“We’ve got to play control again,” Wogomon said. “It’s going to be key for us to control that clock. We need to keep our offense on the field as long as we can. That’s been our M.O. We’re not very big playmakers, but we want to be able to control the clock.”
That formula worked a year ago, as the defense forced 16 turnovers, while the offense committed just five, four coming in the sectional loss.
“We need to limit those turnovers,” Wogomon said. “It’s something we need to build on and continue.”
Opening their season at Whitko, the Warriors will have 20 returning letter winners on the field, as well as 14 seniors and 15 juniors on the roster.
It’s those experienced players that has Wogomon feeling good about this year’s team
“Our senior class has been so solid,” he said. “They’ve really challenged the others since April.”[[In-content Ad]]
Graduated from last year’s team are quarterback Bauer Schmeltz, as well as Jake Clark, John Essex, Justin Fick, Dimitri Kaplanis and Zac Patrick, five key components to a defense that surrendered just 11.4 points per game.
“Talking about replacing the Ficks, the Essexes, the Jake Clarks and a Dimitri Kaplanis — you’re talking about a pretty full plate that has just gone away from us,” Wogomon said.
“That’s an understanding in high school football. For us, we’ve got some young men who are excited about stepping in and beginning to fill those roles.”
According to Wogomon, the talent of the graduated players left some young talent on the sidelines. This year, those players will be on the field.
“We’re not the pros where we can retain guys,” Wogomon said. “That’s just the system of the game and that’s high school football. Every year, we’re coming in to see who’s ready to step up and make that progression.”
Wawasee will return one 2011 All-Northern Lakes Conference selection in tailback Derrick Sorensen.
As a junior, Sorensen ran for 812 yards and eight touchdowns, and his workload won’t be lightened this season.
“He had about 900 yards last year and if he hadn’t hurt himself, he probably would have had over 1,000,” Wogomon said about the 5-foot-8, 165-pound tailback. “We’re really putting a full load on Derrick.”
With Schmeltz gone, former tailback D.J. Semon, a senior, will step in as quarterback.
“It’s no secret that if he’s a tailback, we’re going to be able to use his legs a little bit,” Wogomon said when asked what kind of quarterback Semon will be. “To be honest, it’s a progression for him right now. D.J.’s having to learn coverages, he’s having to learn when to pull the ball down and run. The steps of a quarterback are different than a tailback. He’s relearning a whole system.”
Since Wogomon came to Wawasee in 2007, he’s never had a quarterback who can stretch the field with his arm.
In 2011, when the team went 7-3, the Warriors went to the air just 93 times, with 18 of those coming in a 14-10 first-round sectional loss at NorthWood.
Converting from tailback to quarterback, Semon’s pass totals may not be too high either, limiting opportunities for junior Austin Lutz, junior Brandon McCullouch, junior Bret Ward, sophomore Clayton Cook and senior Brandon Tomlinson.
“I told them, they’ll have about 12 opportunities to catch that ball,” Wogomon said. “They know what their role is is to primarily be good blockers.”
The blocking of the receivers will be key, but not quite as much as the offensive line, which also lost some bodies.
“Our offensive line will be our strength,” Wogomon said. “We did lose Dimitri Kaplanis and we did lose John Essex. Besides that, that unit, from tight end to tackle is back. If you look at where we need to be and what we need to attach ourselves to, it’s getting the ball in (Sorensen’s) hands and making sure we have some openings.”
This year’s offensive line will feature experience anchored by senior Jon Ruiz at center, accompanied by senior Jake Schwartz, senior Chad Eppley, senior Chris Pezan, senior Sam Jackson and junior Ryan Crosley, with junior Ron Vardaman subbing in.
Many of those same guys will play on the defensive line, with Eppley, Schwartz, Jackson going both ways, being joined by senior Austin Grove.
“On a good high school team, I’d say you have to see a good defensive line,” Wogomon said.
The linebacking corp will center around versatile senior Brian Clark, who’s joined by Semon and Eppley as team captains.
“As a freshman and sophomore, he was a quarterback.,” Wogomon said of Clark. “Junior year, he was our starting center and this year, he’s our starting (tight end). That tells you the versatility of Brian. We’ve moved him around and asked a lot of him, but he’s embraced each position.”
Also playing linebacker this season are junior Braxton O’Haver and junior Gabe Rhodes.
Rounding out the defense are Semon and Lutz at safety and McCullouch and senior Josh Sumpter manning the defensive back positions.
And just like previous years, the defense will be key as the offense tries to play grind-it-out football.
“We’ve got to play control again,” Wogomon said. “It’s going to be key for us to control that clock. We need to keep our offense on the field as long as we can. That’s been our M.O. We’re not very big playmakers, but we want to be able to control the clock.”
That formula worked a year ago, as the defense forced 16 turnovers, while the offense committed just five, four coming in the sectional loss.
“We need to limit those turnovers,” Wogomon said. “It’s something we need to build on and continue.”
Opening their season at Whitko, the Warriors will have 20 returning letter winners on the field, as well as 14 seniors and 15 juniors on the roster.
It’s those experienced players that has Wogomon feeling good about this year’s team
“Our senior class has been so solid,” he said. “They’ve really challenged the others since April.”[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092