By Dan Hiner

sports@vindy.com

Campbell

The 2014 Campbell football season could have been viewed as a rebuilding season. The Red Devils finished with a 2-8 record, but won two out of their last three games.

Campbell head coach Ed Rozum is returning for his second season since relieving former head coach Mickey Sikora in 2014. This is Rozum’s fourth different stint as the coach of the program.

The Red Devils will have four returning starters on the offensive line — Iggy Horvath, Paul White, Andrew Van Jura and Devin Rogers.

“The strength of the team will be in our offensive line and the running backs,” Rozum said.

Rozum said the Red Devils are still a “sophomore and junior team.” He said several freshmen received playing experience late in the season last year, but the team still has little room for errors.

“Offensively, we have to be consistent,” Rozum said. “We can’t have breakdowns on plays. We have to have 11 people doing their job. We can’t have one person make a mistake.

“Defensively, we’re installing a new system. The kids are starting to pick it up. It’s just a matter of how well we can take our drills and get them in the game conditions and go from there. And then we’ll have to have some defensive leaders step up.”

The Red Devils, like most Division VI schools, have issues with roster depth, and Rozum said the team has to have young players step up as the season progresses.

“We gotta get some depth. We got some guys and we got some experience, but it’s hard to go through a season counting on seven or eight guys going both ways,” Rozum said.

Offense

The Red Devils will have a battle to determine the starting quarterback position. Junior Zion Williams and sophomore Darian Jones are competing for the opening. Rozum said the team is taking its time to determine the starter. The coaching staff wants to determine who will better suit the offense.

With a new starting quarterback and a talented group of running backs, the Red Devils will look to run the football. Campbell will have two running backs splitting the carries in the backfield. Senior Deme Gordon and junior Yianni Koullias both return and are expected to carry the load in the running game. Koullias will be expected to play fullback.

Defense

The Red Devils will implement a new defense this season. Rozum said the team has depth issues due to low numbers, and Campbell fans should expect many of the playmakers on offense to see significant time on defense.

Rozum said the strength of the defense will be the line. Horvath, White, Van Jura and Rogers will play both ways this season. All four linemen received significant time on the defensive side of the ball last season.

Special Teams

Even though he’s involved in the quarterback competition, Jones will return as the punter this season. Koullias will also see time this season as the Red Devils’ kicker.

Outlook

Campbell will have to adjust to a change to Division VI. The football program was one of several schools in the area that changed its division Aug. 13 due to the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s revisions.

Campbell will open its season with an All-American Conference matchup against Lakeview. The Red Devils will look to rebound from a 49-8 loss to the Bulldogs last season. Campbell has three non-conference matchups: South Range (Week 2), Pymatuning Valley (Week 3) and rival Struthers (Week 7).

“We’re just gonna try to take one game at a time,” Rozum said. “Every day we step out onto the practice field, we tell the kids we want to get better today. Our league is tough, but we’re going to get out there and compete.”