Your #1 source for Trucker Football

 

...enhancing their resumes

Clockwise left to right: Spencer Krebs, Drew Williams, Kyle Kurtz, and Josh Cook look over and compare their resumes for the 2006 season.

As the 2006 season gets ready to kick off, below is a positional breakdown of what to expect from the Norwalk Truckers as they look to use their past experience to break through the Northern Ohio League and contend for the first winning season at Norwalk High School since 1977.

Quarterback- One of the few positions on the roster where little concern lies in terms of production. Kyle Kurtz is coming off a 2005 campaign in which he became the first NHS quarterback to be named all-district as a sophomore, while leading the Northern Ohio League in passing yardage. Kurtz finished the season 135-of-262 (51.5%) for 1,411 yards with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He will again be expected to lead the Norwalk offense as a junior.

"Obviously Kyle has improved and gotten stronger and better," Norwalk coach Jeff Cole said. "He's smart, has a very strong arm, and will be again one of the leaders on offense."

Running back- An area that will need to be improved from last season more than any, as the Truckers were last in rushing yardage in the NOL with just 936 yards as a team. Leading the limited attack last year was Trent Ringle, as he ran 99 times for 380 yards and three touchdowns. Josh Cook will be back at fullback, returning 59 attempts for 205 yards and a touchdown. In a revamped look, it will be a junior trio in the backfield with Tyler Smith moving from tight end to share some carries with Ringle and Cook.

"Trent is a good hard working kid, and he picks up things well and offers great speed to the backfield," Cole said. "Josh is a quick, hard-nosed kid, and Tyler is smart, intelligent runner converted to the backfield. He has played a variety of positions in his young career, and I'm anxious to see how he responds back there."

Offensive Line- Co-captain senior Kevin Drake will look to anchor the line, while staying healthy. During the league opener at Shelby last season, Drake broke his leg and missed the final six games. Others along the line will include juniors Brent Marett and Drew Williams, as well as Dean Smith and sophomore Jared Torrence.

"Kevin is a very strong kid who's worked very hard in the weight room," Cole said. "His leadership is evident by his captain selection, and I felt he was starting to come on last year when he got hurt so I'm anxious to see how he comes out of the gates this year. Dean Smith last year was in a  reserve role, but he worked heard in the off-season and has really come on and filled in and done a nice job for us. Brent might be pound-for-pound the toughest kid on the team, while Drew is clearly the strongest on the team. He works as hard as anyone in the weight room and played really well for us last year. Jared is a kid that looks older than his age, and talk about someone who's improved...he's gotten better, worked hard in weight room, and brings intensity into game. He comes ready to play every day, and that's a great compliment."

Wide Receivers- Senior co-captain Clay Duncan will return after an all-league season of 38 catches for 424 yards and four touchdowns. On the other side junior Spencer Krebs will return 21 catches for 230 yards and two touchdowns. Others looking to see time at receiver will include sophomores Andrew Enderle and Ryan Wagner, and junior Anthony Supeck. Working at tight end will be senior Jake Vislay and Jack Felter.

"Clay is as hard a working kid as there is," Cole said. "He plays all the time at 100 percent. Just an outstanding kid to coach and a great athlete. Spencer has gotten better and we challenged him to improve himself. He's gotten stronger in upper body and has done everything asked of him. I'm, also anxious to see him out there, because he could be an exciting player to watch."

Defensive Line- Most of the defensive line will be starters carrying over from the offensive line, including Drake, Williams, and Marett. Others that will see time are junior Chris Lau and Wagner. Cole talked about the unit as a whole.

"They've been improving day by day," he said. "I saw improvement in practice, and it's a good mix of athletes, so we feel it's a group that can get better."

Linebackers- At outside backer, Vislay, Tyler Smith, and Felter will all see time at the position. Vislay had 31 tackles and 3.5 sacks a year ago, while Smith had 28 tackles and three sacks. At inside backer will be Cook, Ringle, Torrence, and Supeck, the junior transfer from Virginia. Cook was all-league with 68 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 2005, while Ringle had 28 tackles and two sacks.

"Those guys have gotten better, and there is a lot of potential to get better," said Cole. " Linebackers have to learn the game, reads, get in the right spots, be good hitters, and of course be good tacklers. Last year they got to learn the speed of the game and pick up on things. I think it will show they are better at all those things, and having Supeck added to the group will help. If you find the ball you'll find Anthony. He has an excellent sense of the game of football, and a great nose for the ball."

Secondary-  Duncan, Krebs, and Kurtz will make up the secondary, with Enderle and possibly Jacob McKenzie working into the mix. Duncan made 44 tackles with three interceptions last season, while Krebs had 35 tackles and two interceptions.

"The secondary has worked hard," Cole said. "They had more work than anyone in summer with the 7-vs.-7 passing camps, so they got a lot of work in which was good to see. Just looking back to last year, you can already see the improvement from then to now."

Special teams- Kickoff duties will be handled by Tyler Smith, with Wagner being a emergency backup. Kurtz will again handle the extra point duties, as he kicked nine extra points in 2005. Duncan took over the punting duties halfway through 2005, and will return at the position in 2006 after making 31 punts for 963 yards (31.1 average).

"Usually in a game, special teams is what turns the tide," Cole said. "Whether it's a blocked punt, extra point, etc. We looked back to last year in a couple games and our special teams struggled. We've been working harder at it, and we have veteran guys that have done it and that will certainly help. Any time you put a younger player in there, it's a big pressure situation, and I think that caught up to us a bit last year in that regard."

Overall- Cole talked about the state of the team with the opener just days away.

"We will go continue to move forward with our theme we've talked about all year so far. We talked about it with the coaches and team...we want to improve in everything. We keep stressing improvement, and not getting satisfied. I've felt we improved last year during the season, maybe not as fast as we liked, but we did get better. We told the kids in the off-season everyone has to get better and stronger. During two-a-days we said in two weeks we have to be better. The theme has been working to get better  and improving week by week...day by day. Are we there yet? No, but I feel like we are going in the right direction."