Bellevue wants to crank up offense

BELLEVUE — Bellevue is coming off two straight losing seasons and scored 129 points last year — its fewest since 1990. First-year head coach Alex Shepherd is in charge of the offense, and he'll try to get the Redmen into the end zone any way possible. "I told the kids if we run the ball 90 percent of the time and we win, everybody should be happy," Shepherd said. "If we throw the ball 90 percent of the time and we win, we should be happy. We're gonna do what we need to do to score points." Shepherd, who is taking over for hall of fame coach Ed Nasonti — who led Bellevue to 260 wins in 34 seasons leading his alma mater — will shape the offense around junior quarterback Ike Brown. "He's pretty good so we're able to throw the ball," Shepherd said. "We've got some decent receivers so we'll be able to do a handful of things, we hope." The Redmen hadn't had two straight losing seasons since 1979 and 1980 until last year's 2-8 campaign. Bellevue lost its final six games and went 0-4 in the SBC Bay Division. Shepherd was pleased to inherit a proud program that has physicality in its DNA. "I tell our kids we've gotta be physical and tough," he said. "We're not always gonna be more talented than the teams we play. Hopefully at some point we are. If we're not gonna be as big or fast we've gotta be more physical. Effort and physicality is what we're trying to start with." Bellevue opens the season at rival Clyde — which has won four straight in the Battle of Route 20 — before three straight home games, including a September 5 matchup with Shelby and All-Ohio quarterback Brayden DeVito. There are about 65 Redmen on the roster (grades 9-12). Shepherd's first senior class at the school includes 14 players. The junior class numbers 11. "Not very big classes," he said. "We've got a decent amount of sophomores and freshmen, which we're happy about. We've got enough to have a freshman team. "My goal is to have 80-plus every year. I think we can do that. It's trending in that direction." Offense Brown, who is listed at 6-foot-2, looks like he's grown a couple inches since last year. He had more than 1,600 total yards as a sophomore quarterback. If the three-sport standout makes a sizable jump, the Redmen could enjoy a good season. "He's great. He's one of our fastest kids, he's one of our best weight-room guys," Shepherd said. "He's a really good kid, too. He's smart. He works hard. He's a really nice quarterback to come in to. He's done a really good job trying to understand everything we're doing so he can be that field general out there." Brown carried the ball 191 times for 695 yards and nine touchdowns. "We're gonna try to limit his carries as much as possible, but he's capable if he has to," Shepherd said. Evan Bova is a returning running back who rushed for 238 yards last year. "He took some initiative in trying to understand what a running back does, how to break tackles and run physical," Shepherd said. "He's looked really good and will probably be our primary tailback." Senior Billy Sberna will block at fullback and get some carries. Junior Caden Cramer will start at tight end and looks to be a versatile threat. "He blocks well, he runs routes and catches the ball," Shepherd said. "He's an asset in the run game as much as he is in the passing game." Wide receivers include Konner Dauch (seven receptions last year), Owen Hancock, Mack Strause and Drew Dennings. The offensive line will be anchored by returning starting tackle Reid Claus (a 220-pound senior) and center Deacon Nunez, a 280-pound sophomore. Tatum Gore, who got quality reps as a junior, can slot in at tackle or guard. Jacob Allen, Noah Green and Coal Schwochow also will be counted on to block. Defense Most of the offensive linemen also will get playing time on the defensive line. Cooper Winke, who also plays tight end, will line up at defensive end for coordinator Scott Mercer. Senior captain Nolan Hartman, who led Bellevue with 88 tackles last year, will lock down one linebacker spot. Hartman also could see time at running back. Cramer (69 tackles) and Bova also will start at linebacker. Owen Hancock is another name to watch at linebacker. Dauch — who was second on the team with 80 tackles last year — returns as a starting safety. Brown also will play safety. Dennings, Strause and Justin Bucher are taking snaps at cornerback. Other corners include Reed Lorow, Chase Hofstatter and Thomas Reesman. Shepherd, 35, met with every player after he was hired in February. He got plenty of feedback. "I'm a big relationships guy," he said. "The first thing I did when I got hired was I met individually with every player. I asked them questions and let them fill out some questionnaires. I wanted to get their point of view, their vision. "Building relationships was the No. 1 thing. We all gotta be on the same page." 2025 schedule Aug. 22: at Clyde, 7 p.m. Aug. 29: Wauseon, 7 p.m. Sept. 5: Shelby, 7 p.m. Sept. 12: Norwalk, 7 p.m. Sept. 19: at Perkins, 7 p.m. Sept. 26: at Edison, 7 p.m. Oct. 3: Huron, 7 p.m. Oct. 10: at Tiffin Columbian, 7 p.m. Oct. 17: at Port Clinton, 7 p.m. Oct. 24: Vermilion, 7 p.m. 2024 results (2-8) Clyde 34, Bellevue 0 Bellevue 28, Wauseon 7 Shelby 34, Bellevue 0 Bellevue 21, Norwalk 18 Perkins 43, Bellevue 0 Edison 21, Bellevue 6 Huron 19, Bellevue 7 Tiffin Columbian 28, Bellevue 14 Port Clinton 29, Bellevue 26 Vermilion 26, Bellevue 12 2025 roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. 1 Mack Strause WR/B 5-11 143 12 2 Konnor Douch WR/DB 5-9 165 11 3 Reed Lorow WR/DB 6-2 160 12 4 Evan Bova RB/LB 5-11 172 11 5 Drew Dennings WR/DB 5-9 175 11 6 Cooper Winke TE/LB 6-0 189 11 7 Maddex Bailey QB/LB 5-11 149 9 8 Chase Hofstatter WR/DB 5-7 145 12 9 Caden Cramer TE/LB 6-0 206 11 10 Justin Bucher WR/DB 5-8 132 10 11 Dreydin Strause WR/B 5-11 132 10 12 Troy Brown WR/DB 5-9 135 12 13 Owen Hancock WR/DB 6-4 156 12 14 Jake Lause WR/DB 6-3 180 12 15 Ike Brown QB/DB 6-2 188 11 16 Logan Hartman WR/DB 5-11 172 12 17 Mason Mazza WR/DB 5-5 143 11 18 Zander Shober QB/DB 6-1 169 10 19 Brennan Rohrbacher WR/LB 6-0 162 11 20 Braylen Miller TE/LB 5-11 165 9 21 Thomas Reesman WR/DB 5-5 124 10 22 Dominic Decaro WR/DB 5-4 116 9 23 Korenthian Sponseller RB/LB 5-8 138 9 24 Jackson Barclay RB/LB 6-1 148 10 25 Zane Reinsel TE/LB 6-0 160 10 26 Braylond Brown WR/LB 5-6 153 9 27 Brodie Dauch WR/DB 6-3 153 10 28 Jabari Davis WR/DB 5-9 148 9 29 Andrew Miller WR/DB 5-0 87 9 30 Elijah Turinsky TE/DL 6-3 180 10 33 Nolan Hartman RB/LB 5-11 160 12 34 Wesley Carr RB/LB 5-7 164 10 35 Remington Davidson WR/DB 5-9 157 9 36 Jamauri Roberts WR/DB 5-8 135 10 38 Logan Shulaw RB/LB 5-3 116 9 39 Calix Schwab RB/LB 5-9 192 9 41 Landon Abel RB/LB 5-7 158 9 43 Billy Sberna RB/DL 5-9 179 12 44 Vincent Sberna RB/LB 5-11 150 10 45 Landon Sartor RB/LB 5-9 164 10 47 Beau Dauch WR/DB 5-7 134 9 48 Ethan Waldrup WR/DB 6-0 133 12 50 Reid Claus OL/DL 6-1 220 12 51 James Allen OL/DL 6-1 176 12 52 Jacob Allen OL/DL 5-11 179 9 53 Cohen Binette OL/DL 5-9 200 11 54 Kwinn Shaffer OL/DL 5-8 206 9 55 Briggs Negedly OL/DL 5-11 186 9 56 Jared Frederick OL/DL 5-9 156 9 57 Jaxon Heath OL/DL 5-5 172 9 58 Laird Gore OL/DL 5-9 165 9 59 Taevin Hay OL/DL 6-0 247 10 60 Owen Gahimer OL/DL 5-11 202 10 62 Coal Schwochow OL/DL 5-11 193 10 63 Tatum Gore OL/DL 6-1 198 12 64 Noah Green OL/DL 5-9 200 11 65 Burt Chase OL/DL 5-11 209 10 66 Rahlee Feenor OL/DL 5-8 189 9 67 Zack Sisson OL/DL 5-6 153 9 70 Bradlee King OL/DL 5-9 201 9 71 Grant Hancock OL/DL 5-11 252 10 74 Deacon Nunez OL/DL 5-11 281 10 77 Bryce Lewis OL/DL 5-9 280 9 80 Zach Moses K 6-0 185 11 81 Bowen Farrris WR/DB 5-8 135 9 82 Troy Logan TE/LB 5-11 199 12