More experienced Rams try to feed off last season's finish

UPPER SANDUSKY – Being thrown into the fire early sometimes can evolve into good results. Last year, Upper Sandusky had a young team, forcing many kids into roles that they not have been ready for. But, that has allowed the Rams to take an experienced team into 2021 under fourth-year head coach Russell Hall. "We had a very young team last year with six seniors," Hall said. "The younger guys last year had to step up and mature a little early. A lot of them made a jump from playing freshman football the year before to all of a sudden playing varsity minutes. It was tough, but as the year went on, we kept improving. It really showed throughout the season as we ended the season with two straight wins. Our execution was a lot better and sharper." Upper Sandusky started the year 1-6 before finishing off the season with high-scoring wins over Bucyrus and Willard. "We tried to carry that into the entire offseason and keep getting better every single day. That is the nice thing about having six seniors the year before is most of your team comes back," Hall said. "A lot of these guys have varsity playing experience – not necessarily starting – but rotating in and things like that. They have continued to work. They know what it takes and they know how important it is to keep getting better. They know how important it is to execute and do your one job that you need to do on that job." If the Rams want to be successful, they must start on the defensive side of the ball. Upper Sandusky allowed an average of 45.7 points per game including a combined 132 points in consecutive losses to Carey and Wynford in the middle of the season. "We started four sophomores last year on our defensive line. The best thing about that is this year they are coming back as juniors," Hall said. "That is always a plus. We rotated other guys last year and one guy we rotated graduated. There are some other guys that have really stepped up so that we can feel comfortable rotating some guys in. At linebacker, we lost Blake Herbert, but Aiden Gallant is back. There were some other guys that got to get in on special teams last year." The Rams look to start sophomore Kaden Holman at quarterback. He completed 51 of 89 passes (57.3%, second in Northern 10 Athletic Conference) for 604 yards and eight touchdowns. Holman split time with Keegan Iles (39/100, 579 yards, four TD) and Jordan Wright (18/31, 325 yards, two TD). "This is the first time in my four years as coach that we have a returning quarterback as a starter," Hall said. "He understands it and we have a backup quarterback that is also a sophomore actually. Caden ended up starting the last couple games for us as a freshman, which is a tough task. He calmed down and he got used to it. He got better and better every game. He has continued to improve as well." Holman will need time to allow plays to develop. The offensive line is experienced for the Rams. Senior Gage Frey is back at running back after 80 carries for 494 yards and four scores last year. Iles ran 118 times for 555 yards and seven touchdowns in 2020. Junior Evan Hill topped the Rams last year with a league-high 39 receptions for 372 yards and a pair of touchdowns. "A lot of the guys are back. Last year we had one senior on the offensive line with Blake Herbert," Hall said. "He graduated, but we had five or six other guys that were starting or playing big minutes last year that have come back. That's what is nice this year – we have guys up front that have that varsity game experience – and it shows. They know what it takes to compete at the varsity level to give yourself the best chance to win. It takes effort and they are working on that to get better. Outside of last year's automatic bid to the playoffs, the Rams have only been in the postseason once since 2004. "I just want to continue to see the constant improvement," Hall said. "We have slowly been building that. It is not easy to do. We are working at it and we are working hard. We are emphasizing the team over the individual – people with experience within the different position groups to not only keep challenging each other to get better, but the players that are new, to help them develop and enhance along the way." With players continuing to get better and improve their game, it takes time and studying the in's and out's of what is being done correctly – but also what can be done better. "We try and film as much as we can and evaluate the boys every single day on every single rep that we can," Hall said. "It takes time, but it is right there. Then, we can let the kids know what they need to work on to get better if they want to move up and improve. So far, they have taken that challenge and tried to fix their biggest problems. We just keep progressing and that is good to see." Mistakes will happen, but it is what you learn from the mistake that will make you a better player, teammate, and individual in general. "If you mess up, we tell them to do it at full-speed," Hall said. "Sometimes effort can make up for a bad play, whether on offense, defense, or special teams. If you go full-go and you miss your assignment and you are able to cover and you get to the guy with the ball, it turns out to be a good play. If you misread your read on defense, effort can help make up for that. It is the same thing on offense." Hall continues to emphasize that it is a team effort. If you work as a team, you will succeed as an individual. "It is not so much about the individual," Hall said. "We do have some very talented individuals, but it is not like basketball and that is something I stress. If you have LeBron James on your team in basketball, you are going to be pretty good. All you have to do is stay out of the way and he will take care of it. But in football, it is not really like that unless you have that caliber of player in high school that is going to eventually go on and play in the NFL." 2021 Schedule Aug 20 River Valley H Aug 27 Mount Gilead A Sep 3 Galion A Sep 10 Mohawk H* Sep 17 Colonel Crawford H* Sep 24 Buckeye Central A* Oct 1 Carey H* Oct 8 Wynford A* Oct 15 Seneca East H* Oct 22 Bucyrus A* *Northern 10 Conference game—All Games 7 p.m. 2020 results Mohawk 0-42 Colonel Crawford 19-54 Buckeye Central 26-18 Carey 0-64 Wynford 21-68 Seneca East 7-41 Firelands 20-59 Bucyrus 62-34 Willard 41-31 Record Book 2020 3-62019 2-82018 3-72017 3-72016 4-62015 3-72014 2-82013 7-32012 7-42011 5-5 2 &emsp;&emsp;Evan Hill &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-11 155 3 &emsp;&emsp;Kaden Holman So. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;170 4 &emsp;&emsp;Peyton Bosley Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-11 155 5 &emsp;&emsp;Gavin Frey &emsp;&emsp;So. &emsp;&emsp; 5-7&emsp;&emsp;135 6 &emsp;&emsp;Darrin Bigler Sr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;150 7 &emsp;&emsp;Gage Frey &emsp;&emsp;Sr. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 165 8 &emsp;&emsp;Karson Stombaugh &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;155 9 &emsp;&emsp;Blaise Gallant So. &emsp;&emsp;5-11 175 10 &emsp;&emsp;Tommy Brown Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-8 &emsp;&emsp;135 11 &emsp;&emsp;Chayce Thiel So. &emsp;&emsp;5-9 &emsp;&emsp;140 12 &emsp;&emsp;Jacob Halter So. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;150 13 &emsp;&emsp;Zach Sheaffer Sr. &emsp;&emsp;6-2 &emsp;&emsp;165 14 &emsp;&emsp;Landon Kitchen So. &emsp;&emsp;5-8 &emsp;&emsp;140 15 &emsp;&emsp;Alex Rosario So. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 140 16 &emsp;&emsp;Dalton Shock Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-7 &emsp;&emsp;110 17 &emsp;&emsp;Justin Heilman Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-7 &emsp;&emsp;125 18 &emsp;&emsp;Noah Hale &emsp;&emsp;So. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;160 19 &emsp;&emsp;Tobi Platt &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-2 &emsp;&emsp;190 22 &emsp;&emsp;Levi Allen &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-11 180 23 &emsp;&emsp;Ethan Hill &emsp;&emsp;So. &emsp;&emsp;5-7 &emsp;&emsp;130 24 &emsp;&emsp;Jacob Pever Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-2 &emsp;&emsp;150 25 &emsp;&emsp;Levi Lamb &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;160 27 &emsp;&emsp;Kail Vince &emsp;&emsp;Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-7 &emsp;&emsp;150 29 &emsp;&emsp;Kelby McGrew So. &emsp;&emsp;5-9 &emsp;&emsp;165 30 &emsp;&emsp;Lane Montgomery &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-9 &emsp;&emsp;160 32 &emsp;&emsp;Kaleb Francis Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-4 &emsp;&emsp;130 34 &emsp;&emsp;Aidan Gallant Sr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;195 37 &emsp;&emsp;Noah Stevenson &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;180 40 &emsp;&emsp;Nathan Lewis Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-11 165 41 &emsp;&emsp;Gavin Cole &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-11 150 42 &emsp;&emsp;Carson Barrows &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-7 &emsp;&emsp;150 44 &emsp;&emsp;Caleb Clary &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-7 &emsp;&emsp;140 45 &emsp;&emsp;Logan Mooney So. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 130 47 &emsp;&emsp;Brayden Chester &emsp;&emsp;So. 5-11 &emsp;&emsp;190 50 &emsp;&emsp;Logan Risner Sr. &emsp;&emsp;5-7 &emsp;&emsp;225 51 &emsp;&emsp;Braxton Johnson &emsp;&emsp;Sr. 6-0 230 52 &emsp;&emsp;Degan Eldridge &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 230 53 &emsp;&emsp;Damon Ward So. &emsp;&emsp;5-7 &emsp;&emsp;170 54 &emsp;&emsp;Aaron Flowers Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-1 &emsp;&emsp;200 55 &emsp;&emsp;Collin Bils &emsp;&emsp;Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;275 56 &emsp;&emsp;Karson Alban Jr. &emsp;&emsp;5-8 &emsp;&emsp;190 57 &emsp;&emsp;DJ Goulding Jr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;215 58 &emsp;&emsp;Cameron Vince Sr. &emsp;&emsp;6-0 &emsp;&emsp;200 59 &emsp;&emsp;Carson VanHorn &emsp;&emsp;Sr &emsp;&emsp;5-5 &emsp;&emsp;215 60 &emsp;&emsp;Ethan Compton &emsp;&emsp;So. &emsp;&emsp;5-11 155 61 &emsp;&emsp;Roger Ball &emsp;&emsp;So. &emsp;&emsp;5-6 &emsp;&emsp;230 63 &emsp;&emsp;Max Traxler Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-8 &emsp;&emsp;140 64 &emsp;&emsp;Coen Shumaker &emsp;&emsp;So. &emsp;&emsp;5-10 230 65 &emsp;&emsp;Kaleb Swavel Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-6 &emsp;&emsp;185 66 &emsp;&emsp;Braden Spears Fr. &emsp;&emsp;5-8 &emsp;&emsp;150