Redskins optimistic with Brubaker back, Moes at TE

ARCADIA – Arcadia football coach Derek Kidwell called it a "2-for-1." The Redskins went 2-8 in 2025, in part because their quarterback, Tripp Brubaker, was injured during the summer and missed the season. With Brubaker out, Arcadia turned to Nick Moes, a 6-foot-6 sophomore. Moes ran for 625 yards and six touchdowns last fall, but the Arcadia offense struggled without Brubaker. "It was obvious last year that we missed (Brubaker) offensively," Kidwell said. "We're excited to get him back." And that's where the 2-for-1 comes in. With Brubaker at quarterback, Moes is able to shift to his natural position of tight end. "(Moes will) be a very tough matchup for teams in this league with his athletic ability, size and strength," Kidwell said. "It allows us to get back to a traditional offense where we have a passing threat and a run threat from the quarterback. Last year, we had the run threat, we didn't necessarily have the passing threat. It opens our offense up quite a bit more having Tripp back, so we're excited." The Redskins passing game also will be enhanced by some experienced receivers, like Kale Price, Liam Brockschmidt, Carter Rank and Wade Trout. Aiden Allshouse will start as the team's running back. "He's played a lot of football," Kidwell said of Allshouse. That's true for much of the Redskins roster. The program only has 21 players, which – while not very many – is five more than Kidwell had when he took over as Arcadia coach two seasons ago. The numbers still aren't high, but the team's experience? That's another story. "We only have 20-21 kids out, but a lot of these kids have played a lot of football for us," Kidwell said. "We expect to go on the field on Friday nights and be fairly competitive with each team that we face. "The kids we have are awesome," he said. "They show up every day, they work their butts off, they don't complain, they do everything that we ask them to do." On the offensive line, there isn't quite as much experience, as the Redskins graduated their top offensive lineman, Blayne Colman. Brody Colman, a sophomore, will replace him at left tackle. Chance Colman will play center, while Zach Altvater will start at left guard. On the right side, Gaige Myers will play guard and Jordan Thompson will be at tackle. "We've still got a lot of improving to do with that unit," Kidwell said. "We want to be physical up front. We're really emphasizing during these 2-a-days, that we've got to get better at pass protection and run blocking. We want to be able to be balanced with running the ball and throwing the ball." But in the big moments, Kidwell knows what he wants. "When it gets close, in crunch time in the game, 5's (Brubaker's) gonna have his hands on the ball a lot," the coach said. Defensively, Kidwell said the Redskins will use four on the line, two linebackers and five in the secondary. "We want to get off the field on third downs. That was a problem for us last year," he said. "We'd work real hard first and second down, then we allow a big play or allow (the opposing offense) to get one more yard than they needed. "We want to make teams earn what they get," Kidwell continued. "Then, when we get on the money down, third down, we want to go and be aggressive." Helping the Redskins do that will be a lot of the same names starting on offense. Up front, Altvater and Antonio Villanueba will play inside, Allshouse and Wes Emerich playing on the ends. Brody Colman and Moes will be at the linebackers spots, while in the secondary, the Redskins will be employing some zone concepts. "(It's) just so we can be more solid and fundamentally sound," Kidwell said. "If you do zone, you really have to work on communication right now and that's what we've been working on all summer; our secondary and linebackers verbally communicating with one another." In the defensive backfield, Price will play spy, with Brockschmidt, Rank and Trout figuring in at corner. Brubaker will play at safety. Arcadia will open on the road at Cory-Rawson Friday. 2025 Cory-Rawson (W) 52-14Lakota (L) 6-39Riverdale (W) 32-13McComb (L) 0-56Leipsic (L) 22-43Ada (L) 0-35Van Buren (L) 0-55Pandora-Gilboa (L) 0-38Liberty-Benton (L) 6-44Arlington (L) 8-33 10-year 2025 2-82024 0-102023 2-82022 3-72021 3-72020 5-32019 5-52018 2-82017 2-82016 0-10 2026 SCHEDULEDate Opponent Home/AwayAug. 21 Cory-Rawson A 28 Ada* HSept. 4 Lakota H 11 Elmwood* H 18 Van Buren* H 25 Riverdale* AOct. 2 Leipsic* H 9 Pandora-Gilboa* A 16 McComb* A 23 Arlington* A*Blanchard Valley Conference games No &emsp;&emsp;Name Pos&emsp;&emsp;Hgt&emsp;&emsp;Wgt Grade 1 &emsp;&emsp;Wade Trout WR/CB 5-7 &emsp;&emsp;140&emsp;&emsp;10 5 &emsp;&emsp;Tripp Brubaker QB/CB 6-0 &emsp;&emsp;185&emsp;&emsp;11 10 &emsp;&emsp;Kale Price &emsp;&emsp;WR/LB 5-11 180&emsp;&emsp;12 11 &emsp;&emsp;Carter Rank WR/CB 6-2 &emsp;&emsp;150&emsp;&emsp;11 12 &emsp;&emsp;Liam Brockschmidt &emsp;&emsp;WR/CB 5-11 145&emsp;&emsp;12 14 &emsp;&emsp;Carson Klingler WR/CB 5-10 130&emsp;&emsp;10 15 &emsp;&emsp;Cyrus Cole &emsp;&emsp;QB/CB 5-11 130&emsp;&emsp;10 21 &emsp;&emsp;Aiden Allshouse &emsp;&emsp;RB/DE 6-1 &emsp;&emsp;190&emsp;&emsp;11 24 &emsp;&emsp;Gauge Keller RB/DE 5-11 155&emsp;&emsp;10 51 &emsp;&emsp;Antonio Villanueba&emsp;&emsp;G/DT 5-10 225&emsp;&emsp;11 53 &emsp;&emsp;Brody Colman T/LB 6-1 &emsp;&emsp;185&emsp;&emsp;10 55 &emsp;&emsp;Chance Colman C/LB 5-10 205&emsp;&emsp;10 &emsp;&emsp; 56 &emsp;&emsp;Jace Farson&emsp;&emsp;T/DT 5-10 235&emsp;&emsp;10 57 &emsp;&emsp;Jameson NusseR &emsp;&emsp;T/N 6-1 &emsp;&emsp;320&emsp;&emsp;10 64 &emsp;&emsp;Jordan Thompson &emsp;&emsp;T/DT 5-11 206&emsp;&emsp;12 74 &emsp;&emsp;Zach Altvater G/N 5-11 290&emsp;&emsp;12 76 &emsp;&emsp;Gaige Myers G/DT 5-9 &emsp;&emsp;283&emsp;&emsp;12 78 &emsp;&emsp;Declan Kennedy &emsp;&emsp;G/LB 5-10 180&emsp;&emsp;9 80 &emsp;&emsp;Wesley Emerich &emsp;&emsp;TE/DE 6-6 &emsp;&emsp;200&emsp;&emsp;12 88 &emsp;&emsp;Nick Moes &emsp;&emsp;TE/LB 6-2 &emsp;&emsp;220&emsp;&emsp;11