Transfers Take A Chunk Out Of Lancer Front
Liberty
If the moving vans stay away from Spangle for a few more days, Rod Fletcher can concentrate on football.
Instead of worrying about the rugged Bi-County B-11 league, the Liberty coach watched moving vans decimate the depth of his offensive line.
Scott and Dan DeGon transferred to Rosalia, Jeremy Foutch moved, and A.J. McVicker became a foreign-exchange student.
“That’s an area (where) we thought we had a lot of people coming back,” Fletcher said. “Even the ones that are back are in new positions.”
Included was one of the great transfers in prep football with Barry Greenwalt moving to right tackle.
“I asked him if he would be interested in changing positions,” Fletcher said, “and he said, ‘Wherever I can play.”’ So, Greenwalt, all 165 pounds worth, finds himself going from wide receiver into the trenches.
“Our offensive line has to make some improvements,” said Fletcher. “We’ve got lots of size, but how fast they pick up things is going to be key for us.”
Senior James Mortimer moves to right guard. Taking over as starting center is junior Matt Horlacher.
The left side of the line is a tossup between size and speed. Competing at guard are seniors Mike Lish and Pat Leflie, with the tackle spot manned by junior Dan Lish or senior Dan Schmitz.
Once the line is settled, the specialty skill positions can settle in.
Brothers Casey and Jake Holling will catch the ball. Senior Casey is at tight end, and sophomore Jake is the wide out.
Junior quarterback Jeremy Engle returns to run the wishbone offense with veterans Mike Pottratz, a senior, and Brad Wiman, junior, as halfbacks. Cy Cousins, who was injured early as a sophomore and missed his junior year, could be the fullback.
“He’s had rough luck with football,” Fletcher said. “We’re hoping to keep him healthy because he’s a good player.”
Cousins and Wiman are inside linebackers on defense.
Outside linebackers are Greenwalt and Mike Gardner. Engle is the safety, with Pottratz and Jake Holling on the corners.
Horlacher and Mike Lish are the defensive tackles, and the ends are Casey Holling and Mortimer or sophomore Reid Wiman.
Pottratz is the punter and Horlacher the kicker.
“One of the keys always in our league is who can stay healthy,” said Fletcher, heading into his 16th season. “Everyone has quality starters.”
The Lancers, sixth in league last year, might have been able to go deep until the transfer bug bit.
“We expect a good season,” Fletcher said. “We should place in the top three and be a playoff team. (This is the) best team since our last playoff appearance (1993).”
, DataTimes