Huron Tigers 'need to grow up fast'

HURON — There was a time when fans could count on Huron throwing the ball around on nearly every snap. Now the Tigers run more of a spread offense, but that doesn't mean they've forgotten what they've been doing for more than 40 years. "We've toyed with it a little," said Sam Hohler, who begins his sixth season as head coach of the Huron program. "There have been years when we've thrown more and others when we've run more, depending on our talent level and our competition. "The last couple of years we've been more balanced with running and throwing, just based on who we had and what we wanted to get accomplished, but there are times when you think you could chuck it every play." Click here for the Sandusky Register's full high school football preview coverage The Tigers start this season with much more experience on defense than offense, with six starters back, but that doesn't mean they are starting from scratch on the offensive side of the ball. "Kaden Staley is our only returning starter on offense and he was second-team all-league as a defensive back," Hohler said. "Our quarterback, Cole Parker, was the Most Outstanding Player in the Bay Division and we have to replace the production from Jacob Lamb and Richie Delaney, which is a lot." Huron kicks off its season with back-to-back trips to Norwalk, facing St. Paul on Saturday and then returning the following Friday for a showdown with the Truckers. The home opener is Sept. 3 against Genoa Area and then it's back on the road with trips to Lima Central Catholic and Perkins before the Tigers kick off SBC Bay Division play at home against Willard. "We've got some talent and quality kids, but there's no substitute for that experience on game night," Hohler said. "We're going to need to grow up fast." Offense Hohler's son Dylan, a junior letterman, is set to step in for Parker at quarterback. He might not be ready to claim SBC Bay most valuable honors, but his year as a starter on defense and as a varsity starter in basketball should serve the younger Hohler well. "Dylan had a really good year in basketball and a really nice season for us," Coach Hohler said. "His basketball skills translate well into football, and he's been a quarterback since junior high. "He's grown up in the program as a manager, so he's familiar with our culture and how we do things. We are excited about what he can do for us this year." Sophomore Cody Scroggins is also taking snaps at quarterback. Junior Grant Mosijowsky and senior Quin Spitzley, both returning lettermen, and sophomore Andrew Delaney are the top candidates at running, with senior veteran Jake Ward, junior letterman Nolan DeFazio and junior Brady Petz also working for spots in the rotation. "Grant was backup to JJ Holliday last year and when we needed to give JJ a break, Grant would go in," Hohler said. "Spitzley is a returning starter on defense." Staley (14 catches, 300 yards, 3 touchdowns) may be the lone returning starter at receiver on offense, but senior Marc Hurst and junior veteran Evan LaCivita are looking like starters on the perimeter. Other candidates include senior veteran Luke Steuk, classmates Colin Eck and Cejay Williams, and juniors Jake Lagando, Cooper Norwell, Kyle Auger, Owen Gast and Gavin Grashel. Huron has a bit of experience along the offensive line, with senior letterman Jacob Thomas serving as a spot starter at tackle. Senior Keegan Reyes and junior Elijah Perkins lettered last year, but primarily on the defensive side of the ball. Thomas and Reyes are penciled in as starting tackles, with Perkins set to line up with classmate Nathan Zeigler at guard. Junior Ayden Duffy is the top candidate at center. Huron also has sophomore Evan Trevino ready to step in at center, with senior letterman Aaron Vandergoot and junior Michael West working at guard. Senior Trenten Dennis, junior Tommy Wilson and sophomore Simon Cooley are in reserve at tackle. In addition, juniors Lincoln Huntley, Alex Kitts and Conner McLelland are battling for playing time. "Andy Fortune has been a terrific line coach here for 20-plus years, so I trust him to get the job done," Hohler said. "Some of those guys did get a little bit of playing time, but we know we have a lot of work to do." Defense The Huron defense does have that all-important Friday night experience with Steuk, Staley (56 tackles) and Dylan Hohler all back in the secondary, Ward and Spitzley returning as starting linebackers and Perkins back at nose tackle. "Having guys who have been battle-tested on Friday nights is huge," Sam Hohler said. "Having Ward and Spitzley back at linebacker is very big because they handle a lot of signals and adjustments that are happening on the field." Ward is set to go at middle linebacker, with Spitzley (42 tackles, 3 sacks) on the outside. There's a battle for the other outside linebacker slot between LaCivita, Mosijowsky, DeFazio and sophomore Donni Hartley. Perkins will anchor the line at the nose with Reyes at tackle. "They line up close to one another and can switch with each other depending on the situation," Hohler said. "Sometimes we'll have three defensive linemen and sometimes we'll have four." Zeigler, Vandergoot and Petz are in the running for two starting defensive end spots, with Dennis, West, McLelland, Thomas, Duffy, Huntley, Kitts and Wilson also working along the defensive front. In the secondary, Hurst and Auger are leading the way at corner with Dylan Hohler, Staley and Steuk set to go at safety. Eck, Norwell and sophomore Beau Harkelroad have also impressed on the corner with Lagando, Dawson, Delaney, Scroggins competing for time at safety. "We're not a Division I high school program, so a lot of our kids play both ways," Sam Hohler said. "We look to develop quality depth at a lot of our positions so we can give guys breaks throughout a game. Some of our guys tend to play more on offense than defense, so we try to give them breaks with other players. "That's the way we develop our depth." Special teams Senior Abram Fortune, a soccer letterman, returns for another season as the kicker for Huron, with Steuk back again as long snapper. Punter is up in the air with Fortune and Dylan Hohler both working at the job. --- 2021 schedule Aug. 21: at St. Paul, 7 p.m. Aug. 27: at Norwalk, 7 p.m. Sept. 3: Genoa Area, 7 p.m. Sept. 11: at Lima Central Catholic, 4 p.m. Sept. 17: at Perkins, 7 p.m. Sept. 24: Willard, 7 p.m. Oct. 1: Oak Harbor, 7 p.m. Oct. 8: at Vermilion, 7 p.m. Oct. 15: Port Clinton, 7 p.m. Oct. 22: at Edison, 7 p.m. 2020 results (7-1) Huron 21, Norwalk 7 Huron 36, Willard 0 Huron 35, Oak Harbor 21 Huron 42, Vermilion 7 Huron 25, Port Clinton 6 Huron 40, Edison 14 Playoffs Huron 44, Bryan 22 Clyde 28, Huron 21 Roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Year 1 Kyle Auger WR/DB 5-8 150 Jr 2 Marc Hurst WR/DB 5-9 155 Sr 3 Cejay Williams WR/DB 5-11 160 Sr 4 Luke Steuk WR/DB 5-11 165 Sr 5 Dylan Hohler QB/DB 6-3 175 Jr 6 Colin Eck 6-0 170 WR/DB Sr 7 Cooper Norwell WR/DB 5-9 150 Jr 8 Jake Lagando WR/DB 6-1 170 Jr 9 Kaden Staley WR/DB 5-11 175 Sr 10 Tommy Ray WR/DB 5-10 155 So 12 Casey Scroggins QB/DB 5-10 150 So 14 Beau Harkelroad WR/DB 5-9 145 So 15 Andrew Delaney RB/DB 6-0 185 So 16 Quin Spitzley RB/LB 6-0 175 Sr 18 Breella Rogers K 5-3 135 So 19 Dawson Bowen WR/DB 6-0 185 So 20 Jake Ward RB/LB 5-11 180 Sr 21 Owen Cantu WR/DB 5-7 145 So 22 Owen Cast WR/DB 6-1 175 Jr 23 Evan LaCivita WR/DB 5-10 175 Jr 24 Gavin Grashel WR/DB 5-10 140 Jr 25 Abram Fortune K 5-10 155 Sr 26 Brady Petz RB/DL 6-1 190 Jr 27 Alden Dennis WR/LB 5-9 150 So 33 Grant Mosijowsky RB/LB 6-3 195 Jr 45 Nolan DeFazio RB/LB 5-8 160 Jr 50 Lincoln Huntley OL/DL 6-2 215 Jr 51 Izaya Stover OL/DL 5-10 200 So 52 Nathan Zeigler OL/DL 5-9 190 Jr 53 Vinny Majoy OL/LB 5-11 210 So 54 Alex Kitts OL/DL 5-11 190 Jr 55 Evan Trevino OL/DL 6-2 205 So 56 Conner McLelland OL/DL/K 5-7 165 Jr 57 Brody Frye OL/LB 5-8 155 So 58 Aaron Vandergroot OL/DL 5-10 185 Sr 59 Ben Fantozzi OL.LB 6-0 190 So 61 Ayden Bartzen OL/DL 5-10 220 So 62 Jacob Thomas OL/DL 6-2 220 Sr 63 Michael West OL/DL 6-0 180 Jr 64 Ashton Perdue OL/DL 5-7 165 So 65 Tommy Wilson OL/DL 6-0 215 Jr 67 Trenten Dennis OL/DL 5-11 185 Sr 72 Elijah Perkins OL/DL 6-1 225 Jr 75 Kyle Lehman OL/DL 6-1 200 So 77 Ayden Duffy OL/DL 6-2 230 Jr 78 Simon Cooley OL/DL 6-0 245 So 79 Keegan Reyes OL/DL 6-0 240 Sr 83 Donni Hartley WR/LB 6-2 195 So