FOOTBALL 2024: Youth is 'no excuse' for Bears

CASTALIA — Margaretta is a bit of a mystery heading into the football season. The Polar Bears have some top-end talent, but they also have only three seniors. That means, by necessity, that young talent will get more looks. "We have only three seniors on the roster. We have good numbers below that," Margaretta coach Gary Quisno said. "We're gonna be young, but we're not going to use that as an excuse. I think we can be OK. "We have a nice junior class and will play a lot of sophomores." Margaretta is coming off a 6-4 regular season that included a pair of three-game winning streaks. The Polar Bears have been in the Division VI playoffs the past two years with two losses. A postseason trip is the new normal. "Our goal is to be playing meaningful games at the end of the year," Quisno said. "It's 16 teams and last year we made it at 6-4. It's not like the old days when they took eight teams, or back when I started when the they took two and then four with three divisions and so forth." Quisno is in his third year at Margaretta after building a hall of fame resume that includes more than 250 career wins. He's in his 36th season as a head coach. "I'm glad I did it," he said. "I hadn't been a head coach since 2008 at Perkins. I was an assistant with Coach (Jason) Ziegler after that but hadn't been on the sidelines since 2015. "I thought I'd really regret it if I didn't take it. I enjoy my time here working with a real good staff and we have some good student-athletes with a good work ethic." Quisno has only seven returning starters this season, which kicks off Friday night at home against Division IV opponent Vermilion. "We're trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together with a young team," he said. Offense The Bears have some standouts at the skill positions, starting with quarterbacks Judah Keller and Jake Bouy. Keller, who broke the thumb on his throwing hand last season before returning late to play defense, had 948 totals yards and 13 touchdowns. Bouy stepped in and threw for 680 yards and seven touchdowns. Both are juniors. "(Bouy) throws the ball well," Quisno said. "He's not quite the runner Judah is. We're going back and forth with those two. "Judah's a good running back. He's gonna be on the field somewhere. He's the type of kid who could play anywhere for us." Other running backs include Tyson Bailey and Tripp Limberios. Last year's leading rusher, Kaine Smetzer (600 yards) graduated. Quisno has traditionally been a run-first coach, but he's encouraged by what he sees at receiver despite the decision last week of 6-foot-4 Julian Washington to not play football this year. Kale Bailey, a 6-3 sophomore, is one big target at receiver. Other receivers who will get reps include Carter Luzader, Zack Bouy, Ethan Thayer and Mason Reinbolt. "We have some nice receivers so we're spreading things out a little bit," Quisno said. Mason Kromer and Cohen Gahler will play tight end. The offensive line will be young. Right tackle Ben Coffman (6-1, 226) is the only starting senior up front. "Smart kid, good leader," Quisno said. "He's really gotten better. Put on some good weight, gotten stronger. We're pleased with how he's doing." Landon Weyer, a sophomore who started on the defensive line as a freshman, will start at left tackle. Junior Wyatt Goodrich is the left guard. He started last year. Juniors Robbie Cox and Brett Miller are possible centers and junior Mason Yetter is the right guard. Blake Middaugh, one of the few seniors on the roster, provides depth on the line. Defense The Bears will employ 3-4 and 4-2-5 looks on defense, which must replace Smetzer, who easily was the team's leading tackler with 107 stops. The top five defensive linemen are Weyer, Coffman, Goodrich, Kolton Edwards and Peyton Garcia. Returning linebacker Cohen Gahler was third on the team in tackles last year with 58 and recorded two quarterback sacks. Tyson Bailey also started at linebacker. Kromer, Miller and Thayer are others who will see plenty of action at linebacker. Keller (76 tackles, 3 interceptions) anchors the secondary at safety. The basketball standout is a two-time second-team All-SBC River selection. Other safeties are Luzader, Zack Bouy and Limberios. Reinbolt is one starting cornerback. Special teams The versatile Gage Bodey graduated after catching 41 passes, kicking four field goals and 27 extra points and punting for a 39.2-yard average. "He did everything for us," Quisno said. "It's like four guys trying to replace one. That was a big loss." Sophomore Memphis McKenzie will punt and kick off. Jake Bouy, who kicked two extra points in Margaretta's playoff loss, will handle placekicking duties. 2024 schedule Aug. 23: Vermilion Aug. 30: at Western Reserve Sept. 6: at Mohawk Sept. 13: Edon Sept. 20: Woodmore Sept. 27: Hopewell-Loudon Oct. 4: Calvert Oct. 11: at Lakota Oct. 18: at Gibsonburg Oct. 25: Willard 2023 results (6-5) Vermilion 21, Margaretta 14 W. Reserve 44, Margaretta 43 (OT) Margaretta 17, Mohawk 12 Margaretta 60, Fremont SJCC 0 Margaretta 28, Woodmore 3 Hopewell-Loudon 26, Margaretta 14 Calvert 27, Margaretta 14 Margaretta 20, Lakota 3 Margaretta 28, Gibsonburg 0 Margaretta 51, Willard 22 Playoffs Ottawa Hills 42, Margaretta 7 2024 roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Year 1&emsp;Judah Keller&emsp;QB/DB&emsp;6-0&emsp;181&emsp;11 2&emsp;Trace Wilson&emsp;RB/DB&emsp;5-9&emsp;142&emsp;10 3&emsp;Zack Bouy&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-11&emsp;144&emsp;11 4&emsp;Ethan Thayer&emsp;WR/LB&emsp;6-0&emsp;181&emsp;12 5&emsp;Tyson Bailey&emsp;RB/LB&emsp;6-1&emsp;206&emsp;10 8&emsp;Kale Bailey&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;6-3&emsp;162&emsp;10 9&emsp;AJ Walters&emsp;QB/DB&emsp;5-7&emsp;130&emsp;9 10&emsp;Mason Antunez&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-9&emsp;141&emsp;9 11&emsp;Jake Bouy&emsp;QB/DB&emsp;5-10&emsp;160&emsp;11 13&emsp;Mason Kromer&emsp;TE/LB&emsp;6-0&emsp;193&emsp;10 14&emsp;Memphis McKenzie&emsp;QB/LB&emsp;5-10&emsp;163&emsp;10 15&emsp;Christian Keegan&emsp;RB/DB&emsp;5-3&emsp;140&emsp;10 17&emsp;Carter Luzader&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;6-0&emsp;154&emsp;10 20&emsp;Tony Ramon-Quintero&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-6&emsp;135&emsp;9 21&emsp;Hunter Grahl&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-9&emsp;161&emsp;11 22&emsp;Tripp Limberios&emsp;RB/DB&emsp;5-5&emsp;140&emsp;10 25&emsp;Troy Pooch&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-7&emsp;142&emsp;9 26&emsp;Cohen Gahler&emsp;TE/LB&emsp;6-1&emsp;196&emsp;11 29&emsp;Chase Hicks&emsp;RB/DB&emsp;5-5&emsp;155&emsp;9 33&emsp;Mason Reinbolt&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-10&emsp;149&emsp;10 34&emsp;Joseph Beard&emsp;OL/LB&emsp;5-11&emsp;181&emsp;10 43&emsp;Jace Berg&emsp;RB/LB&emsp;6-1&emsp;187&emsp;9 50&emsp;Ben Coffman&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;6-1&emsp;226&emsp;12 51&emsp;Dalton Dennis&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-7&emsp;185&emsp;10 52&emsp;Brett Miller&emsp;OL/LB&emsp;5-10&emsp;186&emsp;11 53&emsp;Landon Weyer&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;6-0&emsp;238&emsp;10 54&emsp;Jed Crum&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-8&emsp;265&emsp;10 55&emsp;Kolton Edwards&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;6-0&emsp;197&emsp;10 56&emsp;Robbie Cox&emsp;OL/LB&emsp;5-11&emsp;190&emsp;11 57&emsp;Fernando Gonzales&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;6-0&emsp;250&emsp;9 60&emsp;Tyler Johnson&emsp;OL/LB&emsp;5-10&emsp;176&emsp;10 63&emsp;Mason Yetter&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-10&emsp;203&emsp;11 65&emsp;Camden Hineline&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-10&emsp;200&emsp;10 67&emsp;Gavin LaMarca&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-9&emsp;226&emsp;9 68&emsp;Alex Solano&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-8&emsp;180&emsp;10 70&emsp;Wyatt Goodrich&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;6-0&emsp;184&emsp;11 71&emsp;Peyton Garcia&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-11&emsp;184&emsp;11 74&emsp;Landon Clapp&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;6-0&emsp;162&emsp;9 75&emsp;Blake Middaugh&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-10&emsp;187&emsp;12 77&emsp;Aiden Moyer&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-8&emsp;221&emsp;10 78&emsp;Scottie Macek&emsp;OL/LB&emsp;6-0&emsp;220&emsp;9 79&emsp;Coby Battelline&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-10&emsp;188&emsp;10 83&emsp;Anthony Johnson&emsp;TE/LB&emsp;6-0&emsp;186&emsp;9 88&emsp;Brendyn Huber&emsp;TE/LB&emsp;5-10&emsp;184&emsp;9