Football preview: New stadium heightens excitement at Crooksville
McLUNEY — New coach, new stadium, new outlook for Crooksville football.
After playing without a home field in 2021, the result of electrical issues at Village Park, the district transformed its junior high football field into one of the top facilities of its kind in Southeast Ohio.
It has given a jolt to a once proud program that has fallen on hard times since the turn of the decade. First-year coach Gage Lotozo, the team's defensive coordinator in 2021, admitted everyone is getting antsy to get on the new field, which is still in the final stages of completion.
The team is coming off an 0-9 campaign with a roster that failed to crack 30 players at season's end after injuries derailed the roster. The Ceramics played every game on the road.
Now they'll be suiting up in a destination facility, leaving behind 101 years of tradition at Village Park with a new outlook and a new leader.
OFFENSE
A three-year starter and Blue-Gray All-American graduated in versatile Ethan Sprankle, who is now a U.S. Marine. A two-time All-MVL pick, he caught 40 passes and had 89 tackles — six for losses — as a senior.
Austin Love, who caught 22 passes and had 85 tackles, is also gone, as are two-way lineman Sky Moore and MVL Punter of the Year Noah Dickerson, who averaged 40.3 yards on 44 attempts.
The team will continue to employ a spread set with plenty of window dressing in the form of motion from their slotbacks, who figure to carry the ball plenty.
"We'll be in doubles a lot," Lotozo said. "We have to get our skilled guys the ball as quick as we can and let them do their thing."
A three-year starter at quarterback leads the way in senior Trinton Cottrell (6-2, 175), along with a returning starter at running back in Daniel Chapman (5-7, 160), a junior.
Three seniors man four of the receiver slots in Corbyn Browning (5-9, 125), Gunner Chevalier (6-1, 165) and Jacob Williamson (5-8, 140), along with sophomore Christian Browning (5-8, 140). Browning and Williamson will also carry the ball as slotbacks.
The line is anchored by a returning starter in burly senior left tackle Andrew Rollins (6-2, 300), who was off to a promising junior season before a knee injury ended it prematurely. He's joined by classmate Carson Knight (5-10, 250) at right tackle, sophomore Ashton Childress (6-0, 180) at left guard and juniors Bob Post (5-10, 155) and Isaac Love (5-9, 170) at center and right guard, respectively.
Up-and-coming freshman Jace Thompson (6-2, 215) is also pushing for time at guard, with Hunter Browning (5-11, 155 so.) and J.J. Bookless (6-0, 175 jr.) also vying for time as backups.
Andrew Willison (5-10, 145 sr.) will handle the place-kicking duties.
Cottrell, who has grown almost five inches in two years, will have plenty of responsibility in leading the offense.
"Our offense will go as far as Trinton can lead us, as a leader and how he handles himself," Lotozo said. "We preach a lot about how we handle adversity when things go wrong. In the past we have crumbled, and I can't think of anyone better than a three-year starter to help turn that around."
The added size only figures to help, particularly in the running game.
"He is one of those kids who really bought in to the offseason program and he has put on some weight," Lotozo said. "He looks like a mature, physical QB. Hopefully it will help him move that offense along."
DEFENSE
An All-MVL safety leads the way in Corbyn Browning, for whom Lotozo has high hopes for another big campaign. Same can be said for Christian Browning, the free safety.
"He has to be our best instinct player," Lotozo said of Christian. "He would have been a 10-game starter as a freshman. I put a lot on his shoulders."
The front four features junior Seth Dalrymple (6-0, 170) at strong-side end and senior Raygen Wolfe (6-0, 170) at weak side, with Rollins, Bookless and Knight rotating inside.
Chapman, an All-MVL pick last season, starts at inside linebacker with Brady Cottrell (5-11, 200 jr.), with Trinton Cottrell and sophomore Jacob Hammer (5-9, 145 so.) manning the strong-side linebacker spot.
Williamson will be the rover in the hybrid 4-4, while Andrew Willison is at the cornerback opposite Corbyn Browning, with Chevalier and senior Blaze Hunter (5-7, 140) also in the mix.
OUTLOOK
Lotozo said one of his primary focuses as head coach has been to instill the culture he wants. He professed to being a player's coach, which isn't to be confused with one who allows tomfoolery, he said.
He likes the direction in which things are headed.
"Our summer has gone well," Lotozo said. "When I took the job I didn't preach win totals and stuff like that. I have tried to stick to taking it day by day, showing up when we are supposed to and work as hard as we possibly can. It has been working for us."
The season begins at home against Waterford, and Lotozo knows his players will be full of vinegar with what figures to be a large crowd and plenty of enthusiasm around the new facility.
"Our numbers are up, participation is up (at workouts) — we're consistently in the 34-35 (player) range," Lotozo said. "That's a success. I have been counting those moments as wins. We set the barometer and keep building off of that. I'm honestly pleased with what the kids are doing so far, but you put the pads on and start hitting other kids and it keeps getting harder and harder."
He didn't speak of win-loss totals when asked of the goals for the season, but it's assumed the bar has been raised given the immense struggles of last year's campaign.
"I truly believe, and it sounds cliché, but if you keep showing up and approaching practice like you're supposed to, we'll see how the season goes on," Lotozo said. "It's the way we have been since we got here. Setting simple goals for this team — they know they didn't win a game. It's literally one day at a time. Keep them focused."
sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: New stadium heightens excitement for Crooksville Ceramics football
