Oh, brother: Tigers ready for rival
The emergence of some lesser-known players has given Springfield a shot at its first title since 2000.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- Springfield senior Andrew Schuler plays quarterback for this year's Tigers and sophomore Nate Schuler plays wideout. Their oldest brother, Jim Schuler, coaches wide receivers and defensive backs after playing at Springfield and Mercyhurst. The second-oldest, Dan Schuler, played quarterback for the Tigers three years ago and now plays tight end at Mercyhurst.
That's a lot of Schulers. And there's still one more on the way.
"The youngest is in third grade right now and he's projected to be 6-6, 275 pounds," said Springfield coach John Smith. "He's an enormous third-grader."
The moral?
"Anytime you've got a Schuler on the team, you're in a good position," Smith said. "We're actually hoping [John] will settle down and start raising a family pretty soon."
Coach's bloodline
Smith knows a little bit about talented family members. His younger sister, Katie, was a basketball standout at Ohio State and now plays for the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx.
That said, it's taken more than two Schuler brothers to help the Tigers to a 7-1 record entering this Friday's showdown against South Range. The emergence of some younger, lesser-known players have given Springfield a shot at its first Inter-County League title since 2000.
"We started five sophomores against Sebring last week," said Smith. "That wasn't the plan at the beginning of the season, but we're growing up here as we've gone on."
The Tigers, whose lone loss came against Lowellville in Week 4, are in the same position they were in last year, when they lost the final two games to fall out of playoff contention.
With road games against South Range (Friday) and Mineral Ridge, they'll need to win at least one game if they want to make their first playoff appearance since 2002.
This year's picture
"There's much more of a relaxed attitude on this year's team," said Smith, whose team is ninth in the Division V, Region 17 computer ratings. "Last year, I felt like our players were a little tight."
Expectations were also higher last year. This year's Tiger team has escaped the spotlight, thanks to a small senior class (eight), the upset loss to the Rockets and the loss of the team's leading rusher and tackler, Anthony Warren, before last week's win over Sebring.
Warren, who will miss the rest of the season on a school-related matter, was replaced by sophomore Jared Lewis, who rushed for 105 yards on seven carries and scored three touchdowns against the Trojans.
"We were expecting [Lewis] to start next year, so he just stepped in three games early," Smith said. "With our offense, a lot of guys get opportunities, so we don't just rely on one person."
Junior Andy Richey (328 yards, 4 TDs) and Nate Schuler (148 yards, 5 TDs) will also get opportunities to run the ball. Andrew Schuler, who also plays linebacker and handles the punting, has completed 62 of 99 passes for 872 yards, five TDs and six interceptions.
Schuler's main target has been senior Mike Kampfer, who has 19 receptions for 338 yards and two TDs. Kampfer also leads the team with five interceptions, while Richey has four.
After giving up 91 points in its first four games, Springfield has held its last four opponents to just 19. Take away an unlucky play or two against Lowellville and the Tigers are probably undefeated.
"Losing to Lowellville was a wake-up call for us," Smith said. "We didn't come to play and we sort of got away with one the week before [against East Palestine] before it finally bit us in the butt."
Smith won't have to worry about getting his players motivated against archrival South Range, which has won two straight in the series. But he knows his team will have to play its best game of the year to have a chance against the unbeaten Raiders.
"We like being the underdog, although it's pretty hard to be an underdog at 7-1," Smith said. "It's like the USC-Notre Dame game. We're just going to give them our best shot and hopefully the magic can be on our side."
scalzo@vindy.com