Hilliard Bradley football team counting on development of experienced junior class
The Hilliard Bradley football team finished with a 5-7 record, but the Jaguars already are looking forward to next season as they expect to return the majority of their junior-laden lineup.
“According to Drew Pasteur’s (Fantastic 50) metrics, we had the seventh-most difficult (Division I) schedule in the state of Ohio,” said 12th-year coach Mike LoParo, whose ninth-seeded team lost 29-7 to top-seeded Gahanna in a Division I, Region 3 quarterfinal Nov. 4 and also tied Olentangy Orange for fifth (1-4) in the OCC-Central Division behind co-champions Dublin Coffman and Upper Arlington (both 4-1).
“We only had a handful of seniors playing on each side of the ball. That means we need to have a good offseason in the weight room to get ready for next year.”
All-Ohio high school football: Division I honors
Senior E.J. Teah (first-team all-district and all-league) made an impact on both sides of the ball. As a hybrid linebacker/defensive back, he had 96 tackles and two interceptions. He played more at running back later in the season, gaining 210 yards on 33 carries with two touchdowns and catching seven passes for 98 yards and one score.
Seniors Jackson Lemle, Saimir Refatllari and Robert Snyder were two-way linemen, and Refatllari (57 tackles) was honorable mention all-league.
Senior Michael Hunkus excelled at wide receiver (38 catches, 388 yards, 4 TDs) and defensive back (53 tackles, 1 interception). Senior running back Trevor Schuler led the team with 649 yards rushing on 127 carries with four touchdowns, and he caught 28 passes for 206 yards and one score. Senior linebacker Cam Neely had 83 tackles.
“These seniors taught me to never give up,” junior wide receiver Preston Wolfe said. “I learned to keep pushing. It doesn’t matter what the score is. We need to keep going and we can never look back.”
Wolfe finished with 33 catches for 495 yards with six scores and was honorable mention all-district and second-team all-league as the primary target of junior quarterback Bradyn Fleharty.
In his second season starting, Fleharty was 177-for-270 passing for 1,978 yards with 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 412 yards and one score on 99 carries. He was second-team all-district and first-team all-league.
Junior tight ends Sam Green (8 catches, 107 yards) and Donovan McCall (24 catches, 290 yards, 2 TDs) and junior wide receiver Denis Shishlo (38 catches, 417 yards, 6 TDs) are other top pass catchers expected to return.
Defensively, the Jaguars expect to return their top tackler in junior linebacker Ethen Tebbetts (129 tackles, 6 for loss, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 interception) as well as junior defensive linemen Julian Dandridge (70 tackles, 12 for loss, 8 sacks) and Jason Morbitzer (91 tackles, 6 for loss, 1 fumble recovery).
Tebbetts and Morbitzer were special mention all-district and second-team all-league, while Dandridge was special mention all-district and all-league.
Junior linebacker Nicolaj Kisin (77 tackles) and junior defensive backs Damon Bordner (50 tackles, 2 interceptions) and Andrew Miller (51 tackles, 1 interception) also are expected back along with junior punter Alex Koons (39.5 average) and junior kicker Jake Walter (23-for-25 extra points, 9-for-12 field goals). Koons and Walter were second-team all-district and all-league.
Juniors Jack Odenwald and Hamzah Saleh expect to be back on the offensive line, with juniors Nathan Brown and Nick Vecchio at linebacker.
“I would definitely say we know what we need to improve on and definitely know that we could play better,” Wolfe said. “We need to have a different attitude in practice because the way you practice is how you play games. We definitely could do better.”
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BRADLEY FOOTBALL
•Record: 5-7 overall
•OCC-Central standings: Upper Arlington (4-1), Dublin Coffman (4-1), Olentangy Liberty (3-2), Davidson (2-3), Bradley (1-4), Olentangy Orange (1-4)
•Seniors lost: Mark Erwin, Ezra Fry, Jose Galicia, Max Hockman, Michael Hunkus, Noah Kirk, Brayden Laslo, Jackson Lemle, Cam Neely, Joey Osbourne, Connor Rawlins, Saimir Refatllari, Trevor Schuler, Robert Snyder, E.J. Teah, Jacob Thomas, Griffin Way and Deswyuan Woods
•Key returnees: Damon Bordner, Nathan Brown, Julian Dandridge, Bradyn Fleharty, Sam Green, Nicolaj Kisin, Alex Koons, Donovan McCall, Andrew Miller, Jason Morbitzer, Jack Odenwald, Hamzah Saleh, Denis Shishlo, Ethen Tebbetts, Nick Vecchio, Jacob Walter and Preston Wolfe
•Postseason: Def. Thomas Worthington 42-14; lost to Gahanna 29-7 in Division I, Region 3 quarterfinal
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