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August 24 , 2023 The Beacon • 15
Strong returning crew leads to high expectations
By Dave Mast
With experience comes knowledge , and with knowledge comes understanding . That leads to confidence , and confidence leads to success .
That is the road Coshocton Redskins head football coach Steve Smith is hoping to lead his troops through this season after battling through an injuryplagued 2-8 campaign last season that saw the Redskins field an extremely young and inexperienced team .
But that was last year . This year Smith ’ s team returns plenty of those same youthful players who were eager to learn and earn their spots on the playing field , but this time around , the team is a year older , wiser , and physically bigger and stronger .
“ The nice thing about young kids is that they grow up and get bigger and stronger , and along the way , they gained a lot of experience ,” Smith said of his team . “ We ’ ve got a lot of kids returning who went through the process last year , and we hit plenty of bumps along the way , but in doing that , they learned what to do and what not to do , and sometimes learning what not to do is every bit as important .”
The game of football is filled with nuances at each position that can only be perfected with practice and experience , and Smith said his players dutifully went through the process last year while recognizing it would lead to success down the road .
C Oshocton R edskins
As a sophomore , Colton Conkle was one of those youngsters who had to learn on the job at the biggest high school level . Smith said his now junior quarterback grew in leaps and bounds last season , and with a much improved and older offensive line in front of him , he expects his QB to take strides to the next level .
“ Colton got thrown into the fire last year , but he arrived this year better for it ,” Smith said . “ He ’ s an accurate thrower who is mobile and athletic . With our whole offensive line returning , we believe that will be a strength .”
He also will have the satisfaction of having a major strength lining up in the backfield behind him , where Antwan Johns will tote the ball with regularity in Smith ’ s offense . Johns plays both ways and will roam the defensive side as a free safety this year after playing corner a year ago .
“ He ’ s just a gifted athlete who can do it all ,” Smith said of Johns , a firstteam all-league player and honorable mention All- Ohioan . “ And again , our offensive line has grown up together and gotten so much stronger and gained valuable playing time as mostly sophomores last year , so I think that will be a strength for us .”
Riley Woody returns to line up at fullback and anchor the defense at the end position , and Smith said they may slide him into the linebacker role because of his aggressive play-making ability .
Coshocton ’ s varsity football team includes seniors Antwone Johns , Israel Rice , Bentley Cunningham , Cooper Randolph , Kaiden Barger , Riley Woodie , Gage Wright , Evan Unger , Ellzye Smith and Aiden Cox ; juniors Colton Conkle , Anthony Cichon , Blayden Workman , Jackson Smith , JT Newell , Isaih Bronston , Grayson Vickers , Allan Harstine , Julian Rivera and Joe Walters ; sophomores Coen Phillips , JJ Herman , Michael Danielek , Aiden Garabrandt , James McCoy , Ben Duren , Shane Dubosh , Jace Dickerson , Severeign Workman , Austin Freetage , Koltin Tidwell , Ray Myers , Roberto Paredes and Haiden Slaughter ; freshmen Payne Skelton , Champ Haley , Logan Wince , Cooper George , Will Prince , Clayton Strohl , Calan Shaw , Colton Slaughter , Hayden Young , Wylan Wright , Kenneth Josselyn , Matt Watts , Alden Barcus , Travis Myers and Ethan Larrison ; and head coach Steve Smith and assistants Josh Coffman , Jerry Shook , Judd Baker , Nate Prati , Joe Pachula , Jim Woodrum , Nick Shaw , Beau Lonsinger and James Herman .
The experience should go a long way in turning this year around , and Smith hopes to get back to the playoff level of play the Redskins were at the two years prior to last season .
Smith knows one other major component of success includes finding players willing to step up and lead , and he said his senior group has taken that to task .
He said this crew as a whole seems poised to step into greater leadership roles , and a program the entire school participated in last year was beneficial in promoting that .
“ We went through a whole-school leadership program called BOLT last year that really challenged the kids to take on more leadership roles on the field and off ,” Smith said . “ I love the way our seniors have stepped up and filled
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that role , and now it ’ s a matter of pulling all of the experience , maturity , knowledge and leadership into toughening up mentally and having it translate to the field .”
The cupboard is quite full for the Redskins , which puts Smith and his staff in a good place .
“ I really like where we are right now ,” he said . “ We struggled through the learning process last season , but we ’ re better for it now . We ’ ve got a lot of good skill kids who are ready to assume important roles , and it ’ s always exciting to see who will rise out of nowhere and become a key contributor .”
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