Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
The Lake football team has a first-year starter at quarterback this fall, but a slew of returners and a bigger, veteran offensive line give third-year head coach Lane Bishop hope that the Flyers will take a step forward this season.
“This is probably the best offensive line in terms of talent that I've ever coached,” Bishop said. “We're really big up front, very athletic, and we have some smart kids up there — really quality kids. That's going to be something new.
“In my first two years at Lake, we've struggled to be able to control or win the line of scrimmage when we play league opponents. This is going to be an opportunity for us now to be a little bit more competitive. We’re going to be able to compete because we're going to have an advantage at the line of scrimmage in a lot of games.”
The Flyers are expected to have Mekhi Gilbert at left tackle, Matt Nietz at left guard, Isaac Romero at center, Logan Studniski at right guard, and Andrew Fife at right tackle.
All five of those guys started at least five games last year. The three interior lineman started every game. When last year’s starting left tackle — the now-graduated Honorable Mention All-NBC Cole Fisher — was injured, it caused some shuffling.
Fisher’s injury was also part of a broader injury issue last year, and Bishop feels that it was a blessing and a curse that helped this year’s team gain experience.
“We had some injuries later in the year where we got a lot of different guys reps,” he said. “We were able to get a lot of guys some experience. Maybe they weren't ready for it last year, but that helps us this year. We got a lot of guys that have played a lot of football.”
And they’ve gotten bigger, too.
“We've been really young, we were really young there last year — we started three sophomores and even four sophomores at times,” Bishop said. “Getting those guys in the weight room this offseason, and adding some mass and some athleticism to them, that's been a really big focus, and in camp, we can already notice a pretty big difference with both of those groups (offensive line and defensive line) compared to where we've been in the past.”
Aside from the line, two other key returners for Lake are Jaxson Rymers, who is a wide receiver while also being a Second Team All-NBC safety, and Gavin Kohlhofer, a defensive back and wide receiver who Bishop said led the team in receiving yards last year.
In the backfield is the two-man tandem of Julian Rodriguez and Damian Penske.
“Last year, Julian kind of eventually emerged as the lead guy, and he’s had an incredible offseason,” Bishop said. “He’s lost a little bit of weight and gotten a lot more explosive. And Damian had a really strong finish for us last year. I feel really good about our running backs.”
Bishop said another area of strength for his team is some of his defensive pieces. He’s excited about the line play, and leading tackler Delfino Garcia is back at middle linebacker. Rymers, Kohlhofer and Xavier Scott are also back in the secondary.
“Those are three guys that are back who have a ton of experience,” Bishop said.
Bishop also said that he has a few juniors in the secondary who came out this year.
“They are really athletic kids,” he said. “Once we hit season time, those guys will be really good players for us. I'm optimistic about that group. I think that if we had to play a game today, there would be room for improvement, but I think by the time games start and those guys get a little more reps over there, that we’ll be pretty solid in the secondary.”
Scott will also see time at receiver after injuries hampered a potential breakout season for him last year.
“He's one that at the beginning of last year, all preseason, we were like, ‘This kid is going to be phenomenal. He's a stud,’” Bishop said. “He came out the first week against Leipsic, had two touchdown catches, and I don't know, like 80 some receiving yards. And then against Northwood, he just goes up to tip a pass and injures his AC joint.
“He was out and came back, had some good games and then he got dinged up again. I think he's a little bit of an under-the-radar, hidden gem that we have. We were amped up to have him last year and when he was healthy, he was a dude.”
All those returners will help assist the addition to the starting lineup of KJ Magers, a junior quarterback who Bishop calls a relentless worker.
“KJ's a kid that this will be his third year in the system,” he said. “He works relentlessly. He's probably, if he's not our hardest worker, there's not very many that work harder than him. He’s super committed, and he’s had a ton of growth. He's all in, and the kids really rally behind him and like having him at quarterback.
“We'll be alright at quarterback. It helps that we have some skill players around him, and we have a really good offensive line that'll allow him to get comfortable.”
One of the team’s overall focuses this year will be continuous improvement.
“One thing for us is my first two years at Lake, I don't know that we've done a good enough job after week two or three of continuing to get better throughout the season,” Bishop said. “That's something that we're really focused on as every day, every week, trying to get a little bit better and not plateauing so early in the season.”
The Flyers finished 3-7 overall last year, including a 1-6 mark in league play. In addition to Fisher, they will have to overcome the graduation of Second Team All-NBC wide receiver Jay Blazevich, and Honorable Mention All-NBC linebacker Izyck Whalen, who also saw time in the backfield.
This year, however, Bishop said the team will have success if they can overcome a big mental hurdle.
“If we can avoid that thought process of, ‘Oh, we have to go play them, or we got Genoa or Eastwood, I truthfully think that we're good enough that if we play well, we could beat anybody on our schedule,” he said.
