DELPHOS – It’s hard to miss the six gold state championship football trophies shining in the Delphos St. John’s trophy case.
But visions of state titles seemed light years away last season.
The Blue Jays limped home with a 1-9 record, 1-7 in the Midwest Athletic Conference.
Delphos St. John’s coach Todd Schulte knew there had to be a few changes from Day 1 in the offseason.
“The two big things I wanted to bring to light were we had to get faster and stronger,” Schulte said. “There were many games last year when we came to the locker room at halftime and said, ‘They were faster and stronger than us.’ And you don’t make that up at halftime. You don’t overcome that. Those were two big messages.
“And I think we had a really good offseason in the weight room. We’re probably as strong as we’ve been the last four, five years. That’s big for us. … I’m hoping what we did in the offseason in the weight room, and with our speed work, will now translate to Friday night.”
Schulte added that this is a new year and 1-9 won’t be mentioned this season.
“They learned from that,” Schulte said. “And they know what it was to be 1-9. It wasn’t fun all the time. … And they know that’s not the way we want to end up.”
In all, the Blue Jays return nine starters on offense and seven on defense.
Senior Jacob Youngpeter returns at quarterback. He suffered a season-ending broken collarbone injury in Week 5 last year. In half a season, he threw for 649 yards and three TDs. On the ground, he ran for 211 yards and three TDs.
“Youngpeter did a nice job, then he broke his collarbone,” Schulte said. “He was playing well.”
Aaron Reindel moves from wide receiver to running back. Out of the slot, Reindel led the team in rushing with 388 yards (4.2 average) with seven TDs. He also had 17 receptions for 278 yards and four TDs.
This year Reindel (5-9, 195) will use his speed on the option toss, along with powering straight ahead on the return of the power plays.
“We’ll bring back some power game,” Schulte said. “We’ll bring back some two backs, but we’re going to be in the gun. We won’t go under center.’’
Also back is running back/fullback Cole Reindel.
Another returnee is 6-9 tight end Timothy Kreeger, who had 21 receptions for 298 yards and three TDs.
Returning receivers are Eric Vogt, who led the team in receptions (27) and receiving yards (390), and Jacob Hellman.
The key to a return to a more power-oriented running game, along with the option, is having three veterans on the offensive line. Lucas Hoffman (6-3, 290) is back at center, while Jaret Jackson (6-2, 240) returns at tackle and Derek Lindeman (5-11, 220) is back at guard.
“They’re more experienced, bigger and stronger,” Schulte said of his offensive line. … “We want to be a balanced team running the ball, whether we’re doing power or option, and we want to balance that with our passing game.”
In the Blue Jays’ 4-3 defense they return seven starters.
Aaron Reindel (63 tackles) moves from cornerback to outside linebacker. He’ll be joined at linebacker by junior outside linebacker Troy Schwinnen (81 tackles, 2 interceptions).
Vogt (64 tackles) is back at safety, while Collin Will returns at cornerback.
The defensive line has veterans Jackson at end, Lindeman at end and Hunter Bonifas at tackle.
Schulte looks for his team to improve both in tackling and blocking this year.
“We want to get off to a better start in weeks one and two and be more competitive,” Schulte said. “I want us to be in every game and give us a chance come the fourth quarter.
“Another key is we have to stay healthy. We can’t go through three quarterbacks (like last year). And defensively, we have to be better at tackling. There were games when we had 20 missed tackles. You aren’t going to beat teams like that.”
Schulte added that the Blue Jays also have to be more physical on both lines, even with six or seven going both ways.
Total players on the roster this year is 49.
And while the coaches won’t talk about last year, they will mention the Blue Jays’ winning tradition. The last of the six state titles came in 2010.
“When you put on that uniform on, you’re not just playing for yourself,” Schulte said. “You’re carrying on something that’s been established before I was here. We want them to know about our tradition and the way we’ve done things.’’
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