Winning football came back to Litchfield in 2022; team ends year with 6-2 record
LITCHFIELD — Rebuilds take time, or at least that's what we are told to believe. Some teams explode in the first year of a transition for a program. The truth lies somewhere in the middle, where a right mix of talent and change can bring success to a program quickly and unexpectedly.
For the Litchfield high school football program, finding a way back to winning football has been a struggle this past decade. Before 2022, the team last one a football game on Sept. 20, 2019. Before that, the team had won just five games since 2012. Their last playoff appearance was in 2011, when the Terriers made it to the regional finals.
This fall, signs of improvement were already spotted in the offseason workouts. First-year head coach Michael Langhann got to work early in his hire to bring the team together and create goals. Coach Langhann was a member of that 2011 Terrier playoff team, and he has been in and around the program since that season as a coach. The former Terrier also coached at Colon High School, where he gained valuable experience that he would apply to the Terriers this Fall.
All of the offseason work and preparation paid off for the Terrier football program. The Terriers ended the year with a 6-2 overall record after defeating Burr Oak 69-28. Coach Langhann said that despite a rough start to the game, the team came out of halftime with a renewed focus.
"We had a few mistakes to start the first half," said coach Langhann. "But we came out of the halftime break fired up. Seniors Logan Buehrle and Ricky McCafferty really set the bar high for this program. They both played very well and left it all on the field."
Tyler Bills passed for 129 yards and three touchdowns. Buehrle ran the ball 12 times for 305 yards and three touchdowns. Tyler Bills had five carries for 135 yards and a touchdown. Robbie Bradstreet ran four times for 19 yards and a touchdown. Miguel Pedroza ran twice for 60 yards and a touchdown. Pedroza led the Terriers in receiving with 86 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Campbell had 15 receiving yards. Junior Alvarez had 12 receiving yards and a touchdown. Ricky McCafferty had 19 receiving yards and one touchdown. Ricky McCafferty had a two-point conversion.
Miguel Pedroza had an 80-yard kick return touchdown. Alexis Sanchez had three successful point-after attempts. Defensively, Logan Buehrle led the Terriers with 18 tackles and a fumble recovery. Junior Alvarez had 16 tackles and an interception. Hunter Snyder had 15.5 tackles and a fumble recovery. Ricky McCafferty had 12 tackles and two fumble recoveries. Brandon Campbell had 11.5 tackles and one interception. Andrew Erhardt had 11 tackles. Miguel Pedroza had eight tackles. Robbie Bradstreet had six tackles. Jerome Vasquez had four tackles. Ben Baker had 1.5 tackles. Hayden Thacker had one tackle. Tyler Bills had three tackles and an interception.
In addition to all the streaks broken this season, the Terriers also set school records. Bills set and beat his record for passing yards and individual scoring in a game. The team broke the school record for most points scored in the regular season with 340 points.
The Terrier program is set up for future success, with many of this season's start players returning next Fall. The program also has found success at other levels of competition. The Terrier middle school team finished their season undefeated. Their 6-2 overall record did not accumulate enough playoff points to qualify for the postseason, but the Terriers now have a blueprint on how they can get there in 2023.
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This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Litchfield finishes the year with a 69-28 win over Burr Oak
