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FORT WAYNE - When Whitko football coach Bryan Sprunger looked out on the field last year, he would see fullback Arrick Custer bulling his way forward with the ball. Other times he would see halfback Neil Hodges slashing his way through a hole for a big gain. At times he would see playmaker Ryan Brower, who averaged a 15-yard gain each time he touched the ball.
This year, he sees none of that, because they are gone. The trio and their 1,500 or so combined yards graduated. Also gone is Tracey Brandenburg, who set numerous quarterback records at Whitko. Gone are the 260-pound linemen Whitko usually has. Whitko's biggest player on the 1996 roster is listed at 230 pounds.
This is a new year at Whitko with almost entirely new players.
"We're awful young," Sprunger said. "We have six seniors in our whole bunch."
Whitko competed in the Homestead Jamboree Friday evening, and if you keep score, Whitko lost to Homestead 13-0 in the first quarter and then lost 7-6 to Carroll (Allen) in the second quarter.
But coaches don't keep score at jamborees. They don't wear headsets. They don't run complicated plays. What they do is evaluate their players.
"We come in here, we have 24 kids we want to see in action," Sprunger said. "We got to see all 24 quite a bit. Everybody got to play at least a quarter."
The Whitko highlights? The Wildcat defense was solid against the run. But Homestead quarterback John Marynowski picked apart the Whitko defense when he threw the ball.
"I was disappointed to our reaction to the ball in the air," Sprunger said. "I thought secondary-wise, we'd be a little better than we showed. We have some things to work on.
"We played the run better than I thought we would, and we played the pass poorer than I thought we would. That's a good sign, because I know we're capable of playing the pass better."
Whitko struggled offensively early, but the Wildcats played better as the night wore on. Mark Rakoczy, a senior who will see action at fullback, broke free on a big run. Jimmy Linn, one of two quarterbacks expected to see much of the action, connected with split end Jason Gonzalez for the only Wildcat touchdown.
With a young team, Sprunger knows it can't come together overnight.
"We need to be a little more patient offensively, that's for sure," Sprunger said. "Our offense is based on good faking. We couldn't fake out my mom, and she's 50 miles away tonight.
"This is a ball club we're going to take baby steps with. I still contend by the end of the year, we'll be an awful good football team."
Whitko, 8-3 last season, hosts Columbia City next Friday. This is the last year for jamborees.
"I've always kind of enjoyed the jamboree," Sprunger said. "We always looked at it as a practice time."
