Elmwood has high expectations for offense, defense

Elmwood coach Greg Bishop has set lofty goals for his team. On each side of the ball. On offense, Bishop said the Royals have the ability to be prolific. "We want to execute, we want to average 35 points a game," he said. "We want to make sure we're able to push the ball down the field, vertically. We want to make defenses cover the entire field." And on defense, Elmwood's coach thinks his unit can be stingy. "Defense, we want to limit everybody to 14 points or under," he said. "We have goals for rushing and everything. We have certain goals we want to reach, and we feel if we have those goals, we'll be successful." If they reach those goals, Elmwood would be more than successful; it will be downright dominant. And coming off a 4-4 season and with plenty of experience returning, the Royals appear primed for a strong campaign. The offense will be using a spread offense, and returns Hayden Wickard, who threw for more than 1,000 yards in 2020. "We feel he's gonna be a great player for us," Bishop said. The coach feels the same way about his top tailback, Mason Oliver, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards in a shortened season. Added to the mix is Gunner Endicott, who got reps in the backfield last year. "We have a 1-2 punch back there with those two," Bishop said. The Royals also have a pair of receivers returning, led by Mason Mossbarger, who had eight receiving touchdowns and more than 600 yards in 2020. Joining him is Alex Arnold, who missed all of last season with an injury. Being a spread team, Elmwood doesn't use a tight end, but will occasionally utilize an H-back. Bishop said that in those cases, Kyle Heiserman will play there. The Royals have a great deal of experience returning to the offensive line. Colton Ickes, a three-year starter, returns at one tackle spot, while Will Sorensen will play the other. Logan Bomer and Seth Barringer are back at the guard positions, while Zach May will be at center. "We return our full offensive line from last year," Bishop said. "Some guys came in because of injuries, so we have a lot of experience up front. It's fun to watch them fine-tune things, start to learn the game even more. "And we have plenty of guys who may not be in that five, but we have plenty of guys that have gotten experience in other games due to injuries last year that can fill in, too," Bishop said. One thing is for sure. Bishop wants his offense to be in attack mode. "We want to challenge teams," he said. And Bishop wants his defense to have the same attitude. "We want to be aggressive," he said. "We want teams to make sure that they're thinking with pressure in their face. We want to come after you." Helping the Royals do that will be their three returning lineman. Bomer will play nose tackle, with Ickes and Casey Frank occupying the ends. We have Colton Ickes, Logan Bomer at nose. Casey Frank at the other defensive end spot. At the linebacker positions, Heiserman will play in the middle, with Adam Meyer, Sorenson and May also playing there. On the outside, Endicott is a four-year starter, and he will be joined by Will Keiffer. In the secondary, Elmwood has a number of players who could see time: Micah Oliver, Brennan Hiser, Alex Arnold, Mason Oliver, Mossbarger and Lex Voska. "We have quite a bit of depth back there," Bishop said. "We have experience across the board." On special teams, Bishop said that Sorenson and Mason Oliver are competing at placekicker, while Voska and Wickard are each up for the punting job. Like many schools in northwest Ohio, Elmwood is preparing for a transition, moving from the Northern Buckeye Conference to the Blanchard Valley Conference. But that's in the future. In 2021, Bishop and his team are focused on the NBC. And not looking ahead. "We're gonna take it one week at a time," Bishop said. "Our goal, we wanna be 1-0 every week. It's a gauntlet type schedule, so we're gonna take it one week at a time." 2021 SCHEDULE Aug 20 Van Buren H Aug 27 Lakota A Sep 3 Allen East A Sep 10 Fostoria H* Sep 17 Otsego A* Sep 24 Woodmore A* Oct 1 Eastwood H* Oct 8 Lake H* Oct 15 Genoa A* *Northern Buckeye Conference game—All games 7 p.m 2020 Results Genoa 21-28 Rossford 26-17 Fostoria 41-12 Lake 13-30 Woodmore 48-7 Eastwood 28-52 Lakota 53-21 Liberty-Benton 13-33 RECORD BOOK 2020 4-42019 4-62018 2-82017 1-92016 2-82015 2-82014 1-92013 1-92012 4-62011 4-6 No &emsp;&emsp;Name Class Hgt&emsp;&emsp;Wgt 1 &emsp;&emsp;Mason Mossbarger&emsp;&emsp;Jr, &emsp;&emsp;5-11 180 2 &emsp;&emsp;Micah Oliver So. &emsp;&emsp;So. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;175 3 &emsp;&emsp;Landon Murray Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;170 4 &emsp;&emsp;Kyler Heiserman &emsp;&emsp;Sr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;190 5 &emsp;&emsp;Declan Rowe Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-8 &emsp;&emsp;150 6 &emsp;&emsp;Collin Campbell So. &emsp;&emsp;5-7 &emsp;&emsp;125 7 &emsp;&emsp;Alex Arnold Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;180 8 &emsp;&emsp;Hayden Wickard &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-3 &emsp;&emsp;190&emsp;&emsp; 9 &emsp;&emsp;Brady Mareches &emsp;&emsp;Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 130 10 &emsp;&emsp;Cannon Endicott &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-2 &emsp;&emsp;175 11 &emsp;&emsp;Brennan Hiser So. &emsp;&emsp;5-9 &emsp;&emsp;145 12 &emsp;&emsp;Griffin Piper Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-8 &emsp;&emsp;120 13 &emsp;&emsp;Pierson Parson So. &emsp;&emsp;5-8 &emsp;&emsp;175 14 &emsp;&emsp;Adam Meyer Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-7 &emsp;&emsp;180 15 &emsp;&emsp;Gunner Endicott &emsp;&emsp;Sr. &emsp;&emsp;5-9 &emsp;&emsp;160 18 &emsp;&emsp;Clinton Ankey So. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 160 20 &emsp;&emsp;Thomas Versyer &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 160 21 &emsp;&emsp;Mason Oliver Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-9 &emsp;&emsp;180 22 &emsp;&emsp;Andrew Traxler Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-6 &emsp;&emsp;145 23 &emsp;&emsp;Colton Bradford &emsp;&emsp;Fr. &emsp;&emsp;6-1 &emsp;&emsp;175 25 &emsp;&emsp;Lex Voska &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-8 &emsp;&emsp;140 26 &emsp;&emsp;Raymond Gallagher Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 120 27 &emsp;&emsp;James Jenkins So. &emsp;&emsp;5-9 &emsp;&emsp;160 28 &emsp;&emsp;Frank Blair &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;155&emsp;&emsp; 30 &emsp;&emsp;Gavin Solarik Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-6 &emsp;&emsp;130&emsp;&emsp; 32 &emsp;&emsp;Eike Damerau Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-1 &emsp;&emsp;150 33 &emsp;&emsp;James Blair &emsp;&emsp;Fr &emsp;&emsp;5-8 &emsp;&emsp;135 42 &emsp;&emsp;Connor Sterling Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-9 &emsp;&emsp;150 45 &emsp;&emsp;Jesus Almarez Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-5 &emsp;&emsp;155 48 &emsp;&emsp;Milan Van Genne &emsp;&emsp;So. &emsp;&emsp;6-1 &emsp;&emsp;170 50 &emsp;&emsp;Will Sorensen Sr &emsp;&emsp;56-1 185 51 &emsp;&emsp;Jack Hummel Fr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;185 52 &emsp;&emsp;Ethan Baum So. &emsp;&emsp;5-6 &emsp;&emsp;190 53 &emsp;&emsp;Zach May &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-11 225 54 &emsp;&emsp;Owen Seedorf So. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;175 55 &emsp;&emsp;Trey Brossia Sr. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 210 56 &emsp;&emsp;Phillip Korer So. &emsp;&emsp;5-6 &emsp;&emsp;225 57 &emsp;&emsp;Vince Allen&emsp;&emsp;Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-8 &emsp;&emsp;195 58 &emsp;&emsp;Casey Frank Sr. &emsp;&emsp;6-3 &emsp;&emsp;185 59 &emsp;&emsp;Bryan Grilliot Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-9 &emsp;&emsp;155 60 &emsp;&emsp;Logan Bomer Sr. &emsp;&emsp;6-1 &emsp;&emsp;245 61 &emsp;&emsp;Tanner Pennington&emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 225 63 &emsp;&emsp;Kyle Long &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 170 65 &emsp;&emsp;Luke Barringer So. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;210 71 &emsp;&emsp;Tyler Baum&emsp;&emsp;Sr. &emsp;&emsp;5-5 &emsp;&emsp;240 72 &emsp;&emsp;Jimmy Palmer So. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 220 74 &emsp;&emsp;Cody Edwards So. &emsp;&emsp;6-1 &emsp;&emsp;325 76 &emsp;&emsp;Colton IckesSr. 5-10 230 77 &emsp;&emsp;Seth Barringer Sr. &emsp;&emsp;6-4 &emsp;&emsp;290 78 &emsp;&emsp;Caleb Peery Sr &emsp;&emsp;6-2 &emsp;&emsp;295 79 &emsp;&emsp;Jonathan Bodnar &emsp;&emsp;Sr. &emsp;&emsp;5-9 &emsp;&emsp;265 80 Peyton Schafer &emsp;&emsp;Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-6 &emsp;&emsp;120 86 &emsp;&emsp;Dominic DeWitt &emsp;&emsp;Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-3 &emsp;&emsp;110 87 &emsp;&emsp;Aydan Gheen So. 5-8 145 Coach: Greg Bishop