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FOOTBALL PREVIEWS: Cloverdale Clovers
It has been 20 games since Cloverdale’s football program last was able to celebrate a win, all the way back on Sept. 27, 2019 at Brown County.
Since then, questions of making it through a whole season have been as prevalent as whether the Clovers could get back in the win column.
Those are question that should both end up in the past as Cloverdale, under the guidance of alumnus Tyler Lotz, brings a new look and attitude to the field in 2022.
Lotz, who was an assistant last year for Tom Winders, said practices picked right up from the summer workouts and were going well for a squad boasting more than 30 athletes, a stark change after hovering in the 10s and 20s the past two seasons.
“It’s been going really well,” Lotz said. “The kids are starting to buy into the culture and team-first atmosphere, a team where they care for one another.
“The practices have had more energy than in past years, even when I was here or coaching. Some additional kids showed up once school started and we are up to 34 kids.”
The scrimmage against Eastern Greene revealed some holes but also showed a lot of promise, especially on the defensive side of the ball, where Lotz said the energy early on was infectious.
“I think we did fairly well,” Lotz said about the scrimmage. “We didn’t run a lot of offense but kept it simple; we cut some guys loose here and there but we know we still have a lot of work to do.
“We have jumped leaps and bounds since last year and we’re in a good spot to get the season rolling. The beginning of the scrimmage was awesome and we loved what we say, guys flying to the ball, getting penetration along the line with linebackers getting to the ball and good coverage on the back end.
“We started to sub guys as we were getting tired and we saw both our technique and explosiveness diminish,” Lotz added. “We’ve got to get into shape this week and work like every rep is a game situation.”
Tayt Jackson will man the quarterback spot fulltime as a sophomore, having split time with McGuire Lee last season, the latter moving into a tight end role.
Lotz said Jackson was handling the job well and was looking for more and more from the signal caller as the year went on.
“Tayt has taken it on great since the summer and bought in to what we’re doing,” Lotz said. “The kid knows the game and is a student of the game; it’s fun to watch him learn as a quarterback.
“We continue to challenge him as a leader, to not hang his head when things get tough and not to look defeated with his body language, something people talk about. He has all the tools to be a great player and we want him to keeping being better as a leader.
“He has been progressing since last year and made a big jump this summer,” Lotz added.
Levi Johnson will be the primary running back with Tyson Bridges, Jaxton Helton, Levi Hilton, Scottie McGuire and Evan Yoho in receiver roles, as Cloverdale moves to a spread offense similar to the rest of the county schools.
Jesse Miller, Jordan Hendricks, Corey Branigan, Jimmy Kendall and Landon Bates make up the current offensive line, one Lotz said was changed up slightly before the scrimmage and would need some fine-tuning for the next few weeks.
“We’re getting there on the line,” Lotz noted. “We moved some pieces around last week and the guys are still adjusting to that.
“It will take some time as the offensive line is one of the last things to come together. For receivers and backs, it’s pretty simple but the line has to work as five and we’ll get a good test against South Putnam this week.”
Miller, Kendall, Tristen Peck and Landon Bates started the scrimmage along the defensive line with Lee, Hendricks, Hilton and Jackson at linebacker spots, Helton and Bridges at cornerback and Yoho at safety.
“We have high hopes for the defense,” Lotz said. “They have a lot more energy and want to fly to the ball more than teams I’ve seen in the past.
“The guys have been committed to the weight room and aren’t afraid to hit. In the past, guys haven’t been in the weight room and were not ready for the physicality needed; while we can always get better at tackling, and that’s something we’ll continue to work on, these guys are committed to and actually liking to make contact.”
With a larger squad than before, Lotz said the ability to move guys around and give players a rest was going to be utilized when needed.
“We can rotate quite a bit on the line now as we feel like we have some guys that can physically do it,” Lotz pointed out. “We’re still learning but we can give some of our two-way guys on offense and defense some rest.
“As it’s small school football, you always want your best athletes out there and do what it takes to get the job done but as the coaches have talked about, we have the option to make rotations on defense now. We had a few struggles in the scrimmage but part of that was having new guys on the field.
“We have a lot more guys than in the past and with that comes guys who maybe haven’t played as much but everyone has been out there practicing all summer and they’ll learn from those mistakes.,” Lotz added.
Yoho will handle kickoff duties with Michael King as punter and Jackson as place kicker while Johnson and Hilton will be utilized in the return game.
Now that the kickoff for the season has arrived Lotz said the team was ready to get going and expected the team to find its way as the season progressed, one that starts with South Putnam at home Friday.
“The biggest thing we talked about is that, for our scrimmage, our goal coming in was to leave healthy and still enthusiastic about what the season has to bring and we did that,” Lotz said. “We know we have things left to work on but we have a good mindset.
“Everything about the scrimmage was new: The coaches were new, the offense and defense were new, even the warmup was new. Before hitting the field, we said Friday was a glorified practice and we did not game plan to beat Eastern Greene, something the players understood yet they were still excited to play anyone else.
“South Putnam is our first game on the schedule and we’re exited to play,” Lotz added. “They have a great football culture, are excited to play and put it all in for football up there.
“We’re ready to go and play anyone on the schedule and ready for what the first official Friday night has to bring.”