North Baltimore goes independent for 2022

NORTH BALTIMORE – For North Baltimore, it's not just a season of change, it's an era of it.There's a new football field being built right behind the stadium.It should be ready for football by 2023.The Tigers have left the Blanchard Valley Conference and will play an independent schedule this year. Soon, North Baltimore will join the Northwest Central Conference.In 2022, there will be other changes."We're young this year, so we tried to set up a decent schedule for a building season," said NB coach Wade Ishmael. "We're still pretty strong on the o-line. We're doing a whole different offense this year."But there are some similarities, even on the schedule itself."We want them to treat it like we're still in a league. It's a normal season; play it normal," Ishmael said. "The BVC teams – we're playing Vanlue, we're playing Cory-Rawson, we're playing Arcadia – we'd love to win those games, still. We've got a couple games that are a good distance for us, but that's alright. It's a good schedule for us this year."But there's at least one more similarity to recent seasons.It's the 210-pound tailback, Gaige Dewitt."Gaige is very good, yes," Ishmael said.Dewitt has been a fixture in the North Baltimore backfield since his sophomore season in 2020. Last season, Dewitt ran for almost 700 yards and seven touchdowns in nine games. He averaged more than seven yards a carry.Ishmael said he will be a big factor in the Tiger offense again in 2022."He's gonna get a bulk-load of carries this year, for sure," the coach said. "Hopefully, it will be his best season so far."The Tigers will have other ball-carrying options, such as Thain Spangenberg and Brady Barlekamp.But Dewitt will lead the way, on and off the field."This year, (Gaige) has stepped up as a leader, for sure," Ishmael said. "He typically wasn't the voice of the team, but this year, he's definitely turned into the voice of the team. He took that leadership role and ran with it."Elsewhere on the offense, Braiden Solly will take over at quarterback. "He's a sophomore, hard worker," Ishmael said. "Very knowledgeable for our offense. For a new offense, he's very good with it."To catch the ball, the Tigers will be depending on Rowan Tackett, who will play at receiver, while Drew Meggitt, Gavin Soltis and Brody Walter will be options at tight end.But Ishmael said the North Baltimore offense will rely on the ground game."We do have a couple of receivers. It's not gonna play a big role in what we do unless we need to do it," Ishmael said. "But it's definitely a run-heavy offense, for sure."That running game will be aided by an offensive line that features three returning starters: Kaleb Kelley will start at center, Aidin Burleson and Andre Johnson will occupy the guard spots.Zach Trout and Evan Pelton will play at the tackle positions.That group of players will also play on the defensive line."The line is literally all the offensive linemen rotating," Ishmael said. "Defensive linemen by committee is what it is."The Tigers will use three defensive lineman as part of a 3-3 or 3-4 alignment. At linebacker, the Tigers will have Maggitt and Barlekamp at the outside spots, with Peyton Carlton and Spangenberg on the inside.In the secondary, Tackett, Eli Smith, and Brody Walter and Solly will all play big roles.In order to be successful, Ishmael said the North Baltimore defense needs to be opportunistic."Our defense is surrounded by turnovers," Ishmael said. "We want to get turnovers, stops, big plays. We don't get turnovers, we don't win the game. We've got to win the turnover battle."