Spartans show potential with explosive offense
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
The 2015 South Holt/Nodaway-Holt football roster includes: front row, from left: Eric Ottman, Jake Cotton, Zane Weston, Wes Williams, Drake Ramsey, Zach Greiner, Raegan Morris, Rian Anderson. Second: Tommy Thompson, Tyler Steele, Colton Egbert, Tad Smock, Cole Alloway, Eli Sloniker, James Chesnut, Devon Schaeffer. Back: Ryan Zona, Jordan Frady, Blayne Collins, Austin Barton, Zach Abrams, Brody Day, Alan Ottman, Dakota Leeper, Corey Volner, Zach Walker.
The junior quarterback scrambled around to create plays that weren’t there split seconds earlier. A running back who played out of his natural position a season ago busted open a 60-yard touchdown run. Multiple defensive players came up with momentum-shifting plays.
In the first game action of the season at St. Joseph Christian’s jamboree on Aug. 14, the first-year co-op South Holt/Nodaway-Holt Spartans didn’t look too bad at all. St. Joseph Christian led the three-team jamboree with 40 points, followed by the Spartans with 20 and Stewartsville with 12.
“We have numbers, and numbers are good,” head coach Josh Petersen said. “I was able to get three or four receivers in, I was able to get my backs in. … The line is still going to be a question for us, but our backs offensively, I think we looked pretty good.
“I thought our showing out here was pretty good — it looked pretty good from where we were at in the past to where we’re at now.”
Despite having its point total doubled by one of the 10 best teams in Class 1, South Holt/Nodaway-Holt flashed glimpses of changes in the right direction for a pair of schools that went 0-10 and 2-8 last season, respectively.
One of the biggest changes was shifting junior Brody Day out from under center — an unnatural fit for his athleticism and speed — and into the backfield. Day lined up in the backfield most of the jamboree session, and also split out wide at times to showcase his versatile skillset.
“He’s a guy that I think a lot of teams are going to have to key on,” Petersen said. “Obviously we’ve got to work on him catching the ball — he dropped a touchdown pass (during the jamboree.) We had him as a receiver as a freshman when Nick (Patterson) was throwing to him. Wasn’t too bad. He was at quarterback last year, and now he’s at running back, so he’s played three different positions in three years.
“Fast. The kid’s fast. If we can get him in the open field, I don’t think anybody’s really going to catch him. He’s our X-factor.”
With Day’s move away from gunslinger to playmaker, junior quarterback Alan Ottman will call the signals this season after missing 2014 with an ACL injury. Ottman threw for one score during the jamboree, a seven-yard strike to Day sidling along the right boundary. He also threw two interceptions, both against Stewartsville’s defense, while showing off an ability to escape pressure and keep his eyes downfield.
“He’s a mobile quarterback, that’s good,” Petersen said. “We’re going to work on making reads. He took a couple sacks there, which basically, since we’re going out of the pistol with a three-step drop, the ball needs to be out. Going against varsity and varsity instead of our twos or threes in practice, now he’s going to understand that the pace is going to be faster.”
On the defensive side, the Spartans’ biggest plays of the evening came when they forced a turnover on downs on St. Joseph Christian’s second possession and turned around to force a fumble and recover the loose ball on the Lions’ next series. Junior safety James Chesnut punched the ball free from Christian sophomore Braden George before junior defensive end Carey Volner scooped the fumble and returned it nearly for a score.
In the second half, though, Chesnut made an even bigger mark. With pressure in the face of Stewartsville quarterback Gage Rush, the sophomore threw a pass up for grabs deep in the defensive secondary. Though the ball floated over the outstretched arms of Ottman, Chesnut pulled down the interception and returned it for a defensive touchdown.
The most glaring issue for the Spartan defense came in the opening session of the jamboree against St. Joseph Christian. The Lions found success handing the ball off-tackle to junior Ben Dahlgren, who finished the night with more than 100 rushing yards.
South Holt/Nodaway-Holt’s defensive ends — Volner and junior Dakota Leeper — were routinely pinned to the outside to allow Dahlgren a gaping hole into daylight. However, both Volner and Leeper showed a useful knack for harassing the quarterback during obvious passing situations, especially against the Cardinals.
“We normally come down here — and this is the first quarter for basically every game — we’re always tight,” Petersen said. “They’re tight and it’s the first quarter of every game we’ve played in the past, and I guess it’s transitioning now. … Christian, they went tight on us. We’re not used to that and trying to fill and get our responsibilities. They hit us a couple times on some veers and some straight dives where people missed.”
Following the positive outing in its first game action, South Holt/Nodaway-Holt will officially begin the season at 7 p.m. Aug. 21 against South Nodaway in Graham.
