When you are one of the youngest teams in Division 7 in Ohio, there are bound to be bumps along the road to maturity.
Windham met a 56-6 bump last night, and its name was Strasburg-Franklin. The Tigers are a team the Bombers have never faced before. They had the same number of players, and each of them had only two arms and legs.
Now we know how Vanlue felt last year when the Bombers steamrolled them.
When there are only a couple of returning players with significant experience from that 2024 juggernaut – Matt Kolaczek and massive Azeon Davis being the two that come to mind – one knows that Jake Eye is going to have to do the coaching job of his life this year.
To make matters worse, almost 20% of the 23 players who suited up for the game were on the bench with injuries before the end of the first half. Jordan Ridenbaugh, counted on to be a vital backfield cog in this year’s machine, is out for the season with an ACL torn in practice.
These kids are going to have to grow up really fast. There are better teams than Strasburg on the horizon, and most of them are in the Northeastern Athletic Conference.
The Tigers scored their first touchdown before the kids in the stands had even begun to chew on their doughy pretzels. 12 seconds is not a long time, but when a receiver with a one-foot height advantage over Gavin Kiser, returning from a hiatus from the gridiron, stretches out, there were basically just 70 yards of free sailing in front of him.
It got worse from there. By halftime, Strasburg had a 41-0 lead, and the 35-point mercy rule, which calls for a running clock, had been passed with blazing speed. Sadly, the mercy rule is only invoked in the second half.
What were the problems? Well, the eternal Bomber bugaboo of no defense around the end was one. Another was that some of the players must have had buttered popcorn in the locker room, because the ball saw more time on the ground than in the hands of Windham runners.
Tackling is another area that the coaches need to work on. Strasburg had some runners reminiscent of Don Nottingham, the Bomber that got away back in Leo Kot’s era and ended up in the NFL, and those boys don’t go down with grasping at the shoulders.
What are the signs that the Bombers, if they stay healthy, can rebound to a decent season?
Sophomore Bryan Smithberger, who only saw occasional work last year, has an arm that can fling a pigskin half the length of the field. He was starting his very first game, and in the middle of a debacle no one could have foreseen, his two interceptions were not the reason they lost. Bryan will grow in decision making as the season progresses.
There is hope on the line. Windham, aside from Bryan Stanley years ago and Tim Murton more recently, has had a dearth of really big boys, but this year, Azeon Davis, Cam Peet, Devin Sherman, and Loudon Collins have the girth to protect Smithberger and the young runners, such as Xavier Bruton, Dejuan Ramsey, and Cam Witherspoon, behind them.
Matt Kolaczek is the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife of this team, able to fill any position on the field. And Jake should have him taking snaps in practice, as it may come to that if Smithberger rushes as many times as he did last night.
On the coaching side, Jake Eye remains fearless. In the face of a crushing defeat, he still gambles with double reverses, totally unbalanced lines, and fake punts. Sooner or later, Windham will be playing a team those will work on (just not last night).
What is the number one thing for Jake and his staff to work on? To this observer, it appears that these boys really don’t know each other.
Last year, seniors Dylan McCune, Jack Eye, Nick Hopper, and Carlos Bruton played instinctively. Sure, Jake fetched Dylan over to the sidelines to give him plays, something he’s again doing with Smithberger this year also, but fans in the stands could see the 2024 players adjusting to the call on the fly.
When a team is starting a flock of baby Bombers, though, they are going to have to know the player next to them inside and out, to know without looking what they are going to do on any given play. Football is not a game of absolutes; it’s a game that ebbs and flows second by second. Really knowing your teammates also reduces the penalty flags that littered Ed Liddle Field last night.
Of course, when the kid next to you is lying on the ground waiting for trainer Lisa Murton’s ministrations, that might not be so easy to do.
The Bombers are young, lacking in experience, and it shows. But one game does not make a season. Jake knew this would be a rebuilding season, but if these kids can stay healthy, the spankings they take now will mold champions down the line.
It’s happened before. The real fans will be with you every step of the way.
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