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Western Reserve wins on balance
BERLIN CENTER
There’s a balanced offense.
Then there’s Western Reserve.
During this year’s regular season, the Blue Devils ran 510 offensive plays. They gained 1,874 yards on the ground and 1,869 yards through the air.
The unit also scored 22 rushing touchdowns to go along with 21 passing touchdowns.
It’s the type of offense that opposing defensive coordinators get hot sweats over just thinking about trying to build a game plan to stop it.
Break down the rushing attack even further and the balance continues to be staggering.
Senior running back Dan Zilke, who often lines up at fullback, has carried the ball 161 times for 978 yards and 18 touchdowns. Western Reserve coach Andy Hake calls him the “soul crusher,” because “at the end of every game this year, he’s taken the souls of our opponents.”
Then there’s junior tailback Evan Nesbitt. He stands just 5-foot-9 and weighs 160 pounds, but he isn’t afraid to carry the ball into the teeth of the defense. His numbers on the season are similar to Zilke’s — 153 rushes for 1,115 yards with nine touchdowns. Nesbitt’s production in the playoffs was aided by a 245-yard performance in a first-round game.
“I love it,” Zilke said of his teammate’s success. “I love when Evan’s getting the ball because it helps us win. When I can stay fresh and play more on defense that helps the team.”
The Blue Devils had 12 different players credited with a rushing attempt during the regular season. Senior Jon Timko was not included in that group, yet his number was the first one called when Zilke had to be helped off the field midway through last week’s regional final against Norwalk St. Paul.
The starting linebacker on defense delivered with 83 yards on 10 carries and scored Western Reserve’s final touchdown of the game, clinching a berth in the state semifinals.
“The line definitely had a big part in that,” Timko said. “And also in practice we make sure to rotate our running backs all the time. We always have new running backs coming in, it doesn’t matter who it is — sophomores, juniors, freshmen even — it doesn’t matter.
“We get everyone in there so they all get experience during practice.”
The stable of running backs Western Reserve has only complicates things for opposing defenses. What it does for the Blue Devils is allow them to excel in even the worst weather conditions — like they played in Saturday night at Medina’s Ken Dukes Stadium.
“We’re able to play a lot of guys,” Hake said. “We knew with the conditions we moved a lot of wideouts and just put guys at running back. We’re lucky to have those kind of kids that can play all those positions.”