CELINA – Celina has not won the Western Buckeye League in 22 years and new head coach Brennan Bader said he feels the Bulldogs have a shot at a league title if all the pieces fall into place.
Last year Celina finished with a 5-5 record and Bader is confident they can improve on that record with 11 returning letterwinners back.
“I think we can be as good as any team in the league if we can eliminate mistakes and obviously you need a little bit of luck in staying healthy with no major injuries,” Bader said. “We can compete with anyone on our schedule with the line we have on both sides and that is going to give us a fighting chance every Friday.”
Bader, who has been an assistant for Celina the last eight years, said the transition from assistant to head coach has been a smooth one primarily to familiarity and the carry over of several members of the coaching staff.
“My major goal was to get coaches that wanted to put the kids first and have a passion to be here every day and so far its been great experience,” Bader said. “We have had coaches staying hours after practice and communicating and collaborating so it ihas been a good transistion so far.”
Even though there will not be significant changes in how the Bulldogs conduct business during practice and the game, fans can expect a different look on offense for Celina.
Last season, the Bulldogs relied on the run. This year Bader said they are switching to a more spread offense so expect more passing. In 2016, Celina was third in team rushing but last in team passing.
“We sort of adjusted the offense a little bit,” Bader said. “Last year we were run heavy and only threw a couple of times a game. We want to be more balanced this year. We have worked a lot more on the passing game.”
Spearheading the spread attack will be junior quarterback Brett Schwieterman who took his lumps as a sophomore last year. The junior signal caller rushed for 921 yards and 10 touchdowns and passed for 466 yards.
“He is a very tough kid and very smart kid and probably one our best leaders which you need to be in that position and it works out great for us,” Bader said. “He has quite a bit of game field experience and knows the game really well.”
Bader added that Schwieterman has been working on his passing techinque throughout the summer in order to prepare for more passing in the offense.
“He has the capabilities of getting the ball out his hands quick but he can also throw it downfield,” Bader said. “We are going to be aggressive this year with the athletes we have on the perimeter.”
Schwieterman will have Dillon Hoying, the team’s receiver last year, back as a target.
Gone from the backfield is leading rusher Ryan Harter, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards and scored 16 touchdowns last season, and moving into Bulldog backfield will be Kyle Zizleman had four carries last year.
Kole Murlin, who Bader described as the best football player on the both sides of the ball, will be a cog in the Bulldog offense. Murlin rushed for 218 yards in limited time and was the team’s leading receiver with 19 catches for 156 yards and one touchdown. Murlin will be doing the kicking and punting.
With a lot of potential at the skilled positions, Bader is confident this ball can move the ball down the field and another reason for that is the Bulldogs in the trenches.
“We are challenging our offensive line,” Bader said. “We think this could be the best unit on our team. We have a lot of returning guys.“We will be good as our offensive line, ”
Seth Huston, Kory Stukenborg, Jaden Braun and Tyler Ross, along with Ian Hawkins are all back.
Murlin’s main impact will be felt on the defensive side of the ball.Mulrin was a second-team All-WBL selection at linebacker and recorded 94 tackles to lead the team. Bader said he will move Murlin around from linebacker to free safety to defensive end.
Bader said the defense is pretty much going to be the same as last year but he is going to be making minor adjustment on the defensive line.
On the defensive line, Huston, a second-team all-WBl performer, returns to anchor the line. Also back will be Stukenborg, Tyler Ross and Ian Hawkins.
“They style we are running at defense a lot of guys will rotate on the d-line,” Bader said. “We have some depth on the line and we are trying to eliminate playing guys both ways as much as possible. “
Hoying, along with the Sam Smith will be patrolling the secondary.
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