COVINGTON, Ind. — While his job may be seen as difficult by some this season, Covington head football coach Justin Wheeler is ready for all of it.
“I know a lot of people are talking about the numbers being down and losing our starters, but we get paid to develop these guys,” Wheeler said. “We have to get them up to game speed no matter who you have.”
The numbers are down to 28 after being at 41 last season as the Trojans lost 12 seniors from that team, including quarterback Wyatt Moncrief and running back Cian Moore.
But Wheeler said even if the number is down, the cupboard is not bare with an experienced team returning.
“There is a bunch of fresh faces. A lot of them have has experience playing special teams or defense, so they are not totally rookies. But I think we are ready and they are a good group,” Wheeler said. “It will be the collective effort of all 28 of us and we will try to get it done. When you lose 12 and a few moved out of district, it is not easy. But the best part is that 24 of those 28 have been committed since last season. They have put in time, energy and effort. We have 10 juniors returning and eight or nine sophomores. We are counting on them now, but it is nice to watch them grow.”
To replace Moncrief, Wheeler did not have to go far for a replacement in getting junior Beau Bishop to move from running back to quarterback.
“I have always played running back, so I was always in the backfield but it is a new perspective, ” Bishop said. “I am having a lot of fun doing it and I think we can pretty good.”
Bishop is not the only one that could be under center as fellow junior Kaden Smith may see some snaps along with his regular position at wide receiver.
“I love having Kaden around and competing and it makes me better and I like to make him better,” Bishop said.
Wheeler said that the quarterback will have a lot of help from a strong receiving core and a new answer at running back.
Kyler Zarn, Kyven Hill and AJ Asbury will help with receiving duties and Sully Stadler will take over for Cian at running back,” Wheeler said. “(Stadler) was a home-schooled kid, but his parents believed in what we are doing and they let him come back to school.”
“We have some great guys out there,” Bishop said. “We have speed, athleticism and shiftiness and it is always nice to have as a quarterback because you can trust all of them.”
“We have Sully and he’s a great kid, he works hard and is pretty quick and he is nice to have,” Smith said.
Smith also said that he and Bishop has helped a lot in building the team chemistry after the departure of the seniors from last season.
“It’s very different. I grew up around those guys, so it’s hard to see them leave. You just have to man up and do the job,” Smith said. “I love teaching players and Beau and I have been working a lot outside of practices and getting to know the new guys and teaching them to be the best they can be.”
On the lines, there will not be much experience, but Wheeler said there will be a lot of enthusiasm.
We only have one returning offensive lineman, who was our center and he is moving to tackle,” Wheeler said. “We have two seniors on the offensive line that will be perfectly capable and have spent years working and waiting for their opportunity and we have some younger players who are ready to go.”
After Friday’s scrimmage with Indianapolis Shortridge, the Trojans will start the year at home against Tri-County and South Newton before hitting the road to start Wabash River Conference play against North Vermillion.
With the scrimmage, we are at home for the first three weeks,” Wheeler said. “It’s good. I think it builds some momentum. I don’t like having a heated conference game on the road, but I do think getting some wins at home can help with their confidence and hopefully, you can got into that first conference game ready to go and clicking.”
“It’s a huge advantage to play in front of the home crowd to start and we are excited to show how we can play,” Smith said. “North Vermillion is one of our top competitors and I think we can get them. We have friends from over there and it is fun to play them and battle it out.”