By Brian Dzenis

bdzenis@vindy.com

SALINEVILLE

More bodies should mean better results for Southern Local.

The Indians went 2-8 last year with 27 players. Head coach Rich Wright boasts a 43-man roster heading into his second season in charge. They still aren’t the numbers he’s used to — Wright’s Beaver Local teams were in the 50s — but he has more options.

“We have a lot of freshmen on the roster and some of them are going to play and that’s new to me,” Wright said.

Wright returns 14 lettermen, a lot of which have been multi-year starters out of necessity. The younger players will spell their older counterparts to hopefully keep them healthy for the end of the season.

The Indians only scored more than 20 points once last year and gave up 40-plus points five times. They’ve got a tall task ahead of them considering what’s around them in the Inter-Tri County League White Tier.

“It’s hard to come out and have a winning season when you look at the season and say ‘we have to win every game,’” senior lineman Zach Almy said. “Monday, we start preparing for Bridgeport and then the next Monday, we’ll worry about the next game.”

OFFENSE

If Wright can help it, his team won’t use two-way players. He’s especially protective of his offensive lineman.

“Our goal for the year is to make sure our offensive lineman don’t go both ways,” Wright said. “We’ll have to play skill kids every other series somewhere.

“We’ll have some three-quarter players. We’ll have some half players, but we have no two-way players.”

The line boast seniors Almy, Devon Little and Alec Smallridge along with juniors Anthony Abraham and Brady Kallogg.

The team’s upperclassmen said they had no issue with two-way play, but they’ve bought in with Wright’s plan.

“It’s nice that we’re going to have younger kids that will get experience and it’ll help us throughout the year,” said Abraham, the team’s starting center.

Juniors Tyler Milhoan and William Groundhouse are competing for the quarterback job vacated by the graduated Gabe Richards. Senior Dakota Wetzel is the starting tailback and his lead blocker is junior Paxton Cataldo.

Seniors Chris Short and Jesse Harris are the top wideouts along with junior Dominic Puliano and freshman Mark Soukup. Junior Joey Dickson is the team’s tight end.

Southern looks to deploy the Wing-T offense.

“We’re not as much of a passing offense as much as a receiver would like, but it’s looking pretty good,” Short said. “We just play our role and everybody does their job.”

DEFENSE

Almy and Smallridge may see some time at defensive line and linebacker, respectively. Senior Zach Francis and freshmen Stephan Craig and Steven Richards are also key guys on the D-line. Short, Wetzel, Harris and sophomore Logan Westover will rotate in the secondary.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Milhoan is the Indians’ punter and Zach Westover will be the kicker.

OUTLOOK

Southern hasn’t had a winning season since 2012 and this year’s Indians are desperate to bring home a winner.

“This town needs another winning season. Back when we were 9-1 and in the playoffs, the stands were filled and now they’re getting bare,” Wetzel said. “We have to get those people back.”