Redmen look to surprise people this season

FOSTORIA — After back-to-back seasons of 3-7 overall and 2-5 in the Northern Buckeye Conference and not posting a winning record since 2019, Fostoria coach Derek Angelone said it's natural for NBC teams to look past his Redmen.That's fine with him, because he said the Redmen want to prove their worth."We've got to go prove it to ourselves, we've got to go prove it to the rest of the league. We can see that we're not on anybody's radar (in preseason voting), which is kind of how we like to be," Angelone said. "We like to be off the radar, we like teams to think we're going to come in and be the same football team (we've been)."In my opinion, we are not going to be the same football team," the second-year coach said. "We're going to come in and hopefully surprise some people and they're going to look and say 'What happened to Fostoria football over the last two years?'"Last year's team took its lumps, suffering three shutout losses and not ending closer than 27 points in any defeat.This year's 56-man roster returns veterans on both sides of the ball, but the Redmen suffered another loss before the season began when Division V Northwest District honorable mention player Lance Miller (39 tackles; 226 yards, 6 TDs rushing; 12-169 receiving) transferred.Replacing Miller, who Angelone said was against the transfer, won't be easy, but the coach said the team can't dwell on the situation."We preach the next man up, so that's what we're doing, we're getting the next man up," Angelone said."Unfortunately he's not there, it's the next man up and that's how we got to handle it and that's the mentality that they got to have, and that's what we're doing," he said.Experience returns to help, starting with a veteran offensive line.Seniors Silas Raney and Ezra Sanchez will man the left tackle and guard spots, with NBC honorable mention classmate Blake Hernandez at right guard.Senior Angel Rosas returns to center after starting the final three games last year, while sophomore AntJuan Scott is back at right tackle after starting all but the two first games last year.Angelone said Scott did a great job last year, something he wants to see continue."Stepped in and did a very good job for us as a freshman," Angelone said. "Hopefully we experience a little bit of growth with him, he gets a little more comfortable and he goes out and makes some more plays for us this year."Junior Aevion Ferguson, who began last year at center, and junior Jaden Smith will give the Redmen a pair of physical tight ends."(Smith) is going to bring a good level of physicality for us. He loves it when the ball's in his hands, but he's a very willing blocker," Angelone said. "And Aveion is a converted offensive lineman so we know that he's able to go put his hands on people and get blocks for us."The backfield features the return of the sophomore duo of Xzavier Willmarth (374 yards, 2 TDs rushing), an NBC honorable mention pick last year, and Taevyn Talley (271 yards, 2 TDs rushing).Junior Raul Juarez, a transfer from Arcadia, will play at fullback.Junior Julius Smith steps in at quarterback for the Redmen. Though he played sparingly last year, Angelone said Smith should do just fine."It's a big step (for him). Obviously when you go from being the kid that's not gotten any reps, meaningful reps, in varsity games to going in being a Day 1 starter, that's a big difference in defensive adjustments and what he has to look out for," Angelone said. "So far this year, he's thrown the ball very well for us in (scrimmage) games."He's capable of making all the throws on the field," he said. "He works up in the pocket pretty well so we're looking to build and continue to build that pocket."The receiving corps is another area where the Redmen will see new faces."We were run-heavy anyways (last year). Now we're going to err on the side of running the ball as much as we can, dominating the line of scrimmage," Angelone said. "But we've shown in 7 on 7 games and scrimmages this year that we are more than capable of still being able to spread the field and throw the ball a little bit."Juniors Caleb Singleton (3-43, 1 TD) and Lamont Johnson (2-71) are the only two Redmen back with receptions last year. Angelone said Johnson primarily played defense last year, but will figure more in the offense this season.They'll be joined by 6-4 senior Jayceon Tucker.Many of the same names will also play defense.Sanchez (25 tackles) and Rosas return as defensive tackles, with Smith and Ferguson lining up as defensive ends. Hernandez and senior Devarjae Turks will also rotate in along the line.Raney (41 tackles) and Talley return as inside linebackersTalley led the team last year with 95 tackles and Angelone said he expects the sophomore to up that to around 140 this fall.Willmarth (41 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries) and junior Zeke Sensabaugh, who ran cross country the past two years, will vie for time at outside linebacker.The secondary features Johnson and Singleton as cornerbacks, and junior Barrett Hernandez and sophomore Rashod Shank as safeties.