Mapletown Preview
George Messich looked around the field on the first day of practice and enjoyed a new experience. “We have a lot of new faces,” he said. “It’s the first time I remember looking around, saying ‘Who’s that kid?’ on the first day. It’s different and nice to have this many kids.” br.
Mapletown, with 35 on its roster, has its biggest team in 15 years. Messich points to an incoming freshman class for picking up the slack of a program that couldn’t field a junior varsity team last season.
“We’re planning on playing seven or eight JV games this year to get these kids experienced,” he said.
And it’s not as if Mapletown’s rebuilding. Eleven lettermen return, including six or seven who played both ways on last year’s Tri-County South Conference runner-up. Four of those two-way players – tight end Jayce Donley, right tackle Matt Messich, defensive back Drew Denham and wide receiver Gerod Buckhalter – were members of the all-conference team last year.
Messich felt another returning player, tailback Andy Latusek, would’ve been all-conference had it not been for injuries.
“We lost two running backs who were both just under 1,000 yards apiece,” Messich said of Joe Kavlick and Bob St. Clair. “They had great years, but Latusek was ahead of them. Barring injury, he would’ve had an outstanding year.”
Latusek separated his shoulder in the second game last year. When he came back to the field three games later, he sprained an ankle.
“He played but he was never full speed,” Messich said. “If he can stay healthy, I look for him to have an outstanding year. He has the physical parts to be a great tailback for us.”
And that’s saying something for a team that has plenty of athletic ability this season.
“We have a little more speed this year than we normally have,” Messich said. “Our skill people have a lot of speed. Normally, we have one or two fast players, but it seems like all the skill kids are running faster than normal. We also have some big kids up front and that’s what we’ll build around.”
One of those is Messich’s son, Matt, who will play right tackle. The 6-1, 275-pounder will line up between Donley, the 220-pound tight end, and right guard Chas Loring (6-2, 260).
The left side of the line will be smaller and less experienced. Aaron Huff (6-2, 205) will play center and the team’s quickest lineman, Randy Collins (5-10, 175), will play left guard. The left tackle will be Brandon Smith (5-11, 225).
The group will pave the way for Latusek, fullback Zach Grim and sophomore reserve running back Brad Myers.
Buckhalter is the go-to man on the flank. The other wide receiver will be either Justin Corso or Mike Ryan.
At quarterback, Denham returns for his fourth consecutive starting season.
“He’s an overall good athlete. Like Buckhalter and Latusek, he’s a three-sport athlete,” Messich said. “Drew had a pretty good year last year and is throwing the ball pretty good right now. We’ll probably throw a little more than we usually do.”
Defensively, Messich likes the size he has up front. Grim will be the nose tackle, with Matt Messich and Loring playing the tackles. Donley and Randy Collins will be the defensive ends.
At linebacker, Mapletown will use Latusek and Myers in the middle, and on the outside Corso will be a bookend for one of “three or four different kids.”
The secondary could be as strong as last year’s when Mapletown intercepted 18 passes and didn’t allow a touchdown pass. Denham led the way with five interceptions and Buckhalter had four. The other starter could be 6-3 Andy Erjavek, who’s also a member of the basketball team.
“Andy is like the other new starters we’ll be looking at,” Messich said. “He’s a question mark until he proves himself. We have five or six question marks like that. How they develop will probably determine whatever kind of success we have this year.”