FREMONT – Instead of taking the field in preparation for a playoff game, the Fremont Ross football team cleaned out its lockers Monday. Rather than watching film to scout their opponent, the Little Giants peeled the stickers off their helmets and turned in their equipment.
While the 2017 season ended in disappointment Friday night, Monday brought with it the sad realization that 10 months stand in the way before the Little Giants report for practice on Aug. 1, 2018.
In that time, it falls upon both coaches and players to ensure that, a year from now, the program is still playing, rather than lamenting the critical miscues that make the difference between a playoff team and one that goes 5-5.
Putting a win-loss record in context
Junior Caleb Wood turns in his equipment to Ross athletic trainer Joe Hershey Monday.
Assessing Ross’ 2017 season depends greatly on through which lens one views the Little Giants: Either by seasons past, preseason expectations or by on-field product?
For a program that won just three and four games the past two seasons, a .500 record is certainly a step in the right direction. A sign of progress showing the program is building from within.
The successes the Little Giants enjoyed also fly in the face of the postings on social media and online forums, where the opinions often had Ross in the league basement struggling to win any games at all.
But those predictions, far more often than not are based on assumptions, reputations and rumor rather than actual knowledge and therefore shouldn’t automatically be used to make this season a resounding success, either.
From the start of the season, with its 28-18 win over Springfield, Ross showed it was far better than the online nay-sayers. Simultaneously, however, the Little Giants also set a bar for themselves that they were never quite able to meet. And there was always a glaring reason or two why.
Against Sandusky it was an inability to move the ball to run the clock and, of course, the killer roughing the punter penalty that led to the Blue Streaks’ game-winning touchdown.
A week later, Ross had a miracle 21-point fourth-quarter comeback at Findlay only to lose in triple overtime. While the Little Giants displayed tremendous resiliency, it’s impossible to not think what could have been if Ross hadn’t fallen into such a large hole to begin with?
Senior Shawn Newsome, left, watches as junior Caleb Wood signs his shoe for him as the football team cleaned its lockerroom Monday.
Central Catholic and Whitmer, realistically, are simply programs Ross just isn’t ready to beat – though the loss to Central Catholic was closer than the 27-7 score indicates.
The loss that really baffles is the one that is most fresh. Friday’s 21-7 defeat to St. Francis. It’s the type of loss that keeps the online nay-sayers in business. If you can’t beat a one-win team on your own field – in your seniors’ last game, no less – then you give the doubters all the ammunition they need throughout the offseason.
That Ross’ playoff fate was not determined by its loss to St. Francis – St. John’s win over Central Catholic knocked Ross out of the postseason regardless of its outcome – only takes away the sting of Friday’s defeat but not the overall sense of what could have been as a whole.
The returning must be greater than the out-going
Turning to what Ross will look like in 2018, take a roster and scratch out the names of this year’s seniors. There are some serious players whose presence and production will be greatly missed.
The two-way athleticism and football IQ of Roger Burling. The speed of Chrystjan Mancini. The leadership and big-play tendencies of Ben Rozzell and Devyn Jagodzinski. The power and aggressiveness of Shawn Newsome. The losses of Tanner King and David Heidelburg leave a pair of big holes on the offensive line.
But not all the talent is going out the door.
All-around big-play specialist Noah Hotz will return to give Ross a weapon in all three phases of the game. Linebackers Garrett Schneider and Caleb Wood will become the leaders of the defense with Jason Burling, Dontrez Brown and Mike Thomas back to wreck havoc up front on both sides of the ball. Bryce McKinstry has the ability to become a featured target in the passing attack.
Freshly un-stickered helmets line the wall of the Ross football teams lockerroom Monday.
But the most critical aspect between now and next season is the continued development of quarterback Hayden Lehmann. He has the talent, that’s been clear from Day 1. But he must improve his decision-making, accessing all of his options and reducing his reliance of the long ball. In short, he must be more consistent, pass-to-pass, drive-to-drive, game-to-game.
Ross’ defense may still be good next season, but it won’t be able to carry the offense as it often did this year. The offense must move the ball more consistently and score in the red zone. Whether those things happen in 2018 will hinge largely on Lehmann.
Ross has a collection of pieces returning that can continue the progress the Little Giants showed this year. One year from now, instead of cleaning the locker room, Ross can find itself still on the practice field. The Little Giants can be wearing their helmets and shoulder pads rather than checking them back into winter storage. They can be playing in the playoffs or playing yet another game of “maybe next year.”
What happens in a year’s time will be determined by those juniors and sophomores returning next year as seniors and juniors. What the Little Giants are doing on the Monday following Week 10 of 2018 will be decided in the next 10 months.