2005 season preview

With just 13 players total in the upper two grades, and 40 players making up the lower two grades, the 2005 Norwalk Truckers are going....

TEAM CAPSULE

COACH

Jeff Cole (1st season)

LAST YEAR

5-5, 3-4

Returning Starters

2 offense, 3 defense

Playmakers

Kyle Kurtz (So., QB, 6-2, 165)

Clay Duncan (Jr., WR/S, 6-2, 170)

Spencer Krebs (So., WR/DB, 6-0, 160)

Brandon Kurtz (Sr., RB/DB, 6-0, 190)

ONE TO WATCH

Drew Williams (So., OL/LB, 6-2, 220)

Offense: Multiple I / Defense: 3-5

Quarterback- After seeing some mop-up time last season, and making one start, sophomore Kyle Kurtz (6'2", 175) has been given the reigns as the Norwalk signal caller. Kurtz went 21-of-46 for 187 yards and two touchdowns last season. "Kyle is a good kid with a tremendous amount of potential who is still learning the position," Norwalk coach Jeff Cole said. "We are dealing with the youngest team here in a long time and that starts with Kyle." Backing up Kurtz this season will be classmate Adam Koubek (5'10", 150).

Running back- A pair of sophomores will look to carry the load at the running back position, while senior Brandon Kurtz (6'0", 185) fully recovers from an ankle injury. Trent Ringle (5'9", 145) will get the start at halfback, while Josh Cook (5'11", 185) will be the fullback. "I like the speed out of those two guys," Cole said. "Josh is a pretty strong kid and Trent has a lot of moves with some quickness. Those two kids keep getting better and better as camp wears on." Backing up Ringle and Kurtz at halfback will be sophomore Dan Greenwell (5'8", 145) and backing up Cook at fullback will be sophomore Kyle Booth (5'9", 172). (Noted: Kurtz is the returning leading rusher with 70 attempts for 317 yards and five touchdowns in 2004).

Wide Receiver- At split end, senior co-captain Nate Phillips (5'11", 160) will start at one side, while sophomore Spencer Krebs (6'0", 170) will be on the opposite side. Rotating in at the flanker position will be the trio of junior Clay Duncan (6'2", 175), sophomore Marcus Clark (5'8", 140), and junior Nate Borgeson (6'0", 145). Out of all the inexperience, it will never be more evident than the receiver position this season, as the Truckers do not return a single catch from the position. Starting at tight end will be sophomore Tyler Smith (6'1", 190) while spelling him will be senior Jace Pflieger (5'10", 165).

Offensive Line- The interior line will have to replace all five starters this coming season. Starting at left tackle will be sophomore Drew Williams (6'2", 220). Williams lettered as a freshman last season and started a handful of games on the line before injuring his knee and missing half of the season. The left guard will be the youngest, (but certainly not the smallest) pup of them all in freshman Jared Torrence (5'7", 212). At center will be senior Travis Root (5'10", 180) and alongside him at right guard will be senior co-captain Mario Ramos (5'10", 220) who is making the switch from the backfield to the line. To the right of Ramos at right tackle will be junior Kevin Drake (6'0", 270). "Again, it sounds like a broken record, but this is another spot with a lot of inexperience," Cole said. "They've been working hard, and have improved. They were a little better in the second scrimmage than they were in the first one, and I expect that trend to continue this week at Edison." Others that will see time on the offensive line are sophomores Rusty Sternberg (6'2, 195), Brent Marett (5'7", 185), junior Michael Lund (5'9", 190) and senior Cody Hartman (5'10", 208).

Defensive Line- With the switch to the 3-5-3 defense, there will be just three down linemen up front this season. Torrence and Marett will work at the left side tackle position, while Root, Drake, and Hartman will man the right side tackle. Starting at nose guard in the middle will be Ramos, with Root also getting some time in. "A little bit of a smaller line, but some decent quickness up front," Cole said. "Travis is are most experienced player there, and we'll be looking for Mario and him to shoulder most of the load up front."

Linebacker- There will be two linebackers up on the line of scrimmage in the new scheme looking to cause havoc, and it will be Nate Phillips on the left side, while Tyler Smith will be on the other side. Spelling both players on the outside will be senior Chas Lang (5'10", 160). On the inside at linebacker will be the three sophomores Williams, Cook, and Ringle. Others seeing time will be Sternberg, Koubek, Pflieger, and Ramos. "We ask a lot of the linebackers in this defense," Cole said. "There has been a lot of room for improvement there, but at the same time, I have seen the improvement come along. You can't teach game experience, and I think this is a position that will get better with each game."

Secondary- Starting at the two corner positions will be sophomores Krebs and Clark, while others seeing time there will be Borgeson and Kyle Kurtz. After sitting out a season, Clay Duncan will be back at safety, with Borgeson backing him up. "I like this group, they are really getting better in the secondary," Cole said. "I think in the scrimmage we didn't play that well in the secondary as we had the week before, but I think it was more of a an alignment problem, but we think we have that corrected. Those are types of things we have to work on every day with this team."

Special Teams- This area of the team will have several different contributors at any given time during the season. Smith, Koubek, or Ramos will do the kickoff's, while Kyle Kurtz is the extra point and field goal kicker. Meanwhile, Sternberg will be back at punter where he had limited punts last year (eight for 234 yards w/29.3 avg.) but Smith could also punt if needed. The kick and punt returners are both the same, as Duncan and Krebs are the top two, while Ringle, Phillips, and Clark could also all see time at the position. "This is the one position that gets the least amount of attention during scrimmages," Cole said. "And it is the one area that worries me the most because you don't know what to expect. You can never spend enough time on special teams, and with this many sophomores you get nervous about this area because special teams always leads to a big play."

Overall comments- "I think this is a team that is very young," Cole said. "This is a team that probably will be an uphill battle because of experience. Every team we play will have more experience than us. The thing to watch with this team, and the thing that people should focus in on, and what I'd like to see is to watch us in week one...then watch us in week four. See what the difference is. What we don't want to see is this team hitting a plateau or sliding back. We want to see this team get better and better. We have a very tough schedule and we aren't making any excuses, but it is what it is, and it's a young team. That is a factor. However, with this kind of inexperience, the advantage is they get to go out there and learn quickly. These younger players get to come back better players for us. When do we get to the point when we start winning? I don't know. We are facing a lot of teams junior-senior dominated. We just need to get a little better and I really like this developmental year. The younger guys are working hard with a good work ethic, and they are getting better. I think we are getting better day-by-day and week-by-week, but we need to see that week-to-week improvement as well."