We went to a team camp at Indiana University June 12 – 14. Our football team had a great experience at camp and grew immensely. We competed, embraced work, and grew closer together as a football team. We have one more week of work this summer during the week of July 17. We are preparing for school and getting ready for the official start of practice during the week of the 24th.
Our program has done an outstanding of giving back to the community and taking on several different opportunities to make a difference in the school and community. Our program assisted in the SERVE Noblesville Community Service initiative. We also helped the technology department unpack the iPads for the start of school. Our players continue to embrace the opportunities to give back the community that has shown our program a great deal of support.
“Culture precedes positive results,” is a quote that we have put in front of our players this off-season. While we have grown in a lot of areas, we need to continue to embrace work, compete, and enhance the level of accountability in our program. These three components will help elevate the culture in our program. We feel really good about the growth our freshmen class has shown this summer. We are excited about the opportunity to continue to grow and develop these young players.
We feel great about the competition we have building in the kicking game. We return senior Chase Evans and junior Jack Knight from the 2016 season. Both players will continue to challenge each other for the kickoff, place kicking, and punting jobs. We also return a very good and experienced long snapper in Grant Christie. Our short snapper, Andy Cleverly returns and will look to add more to his plate this season while competing for playing time along the offensive line. The return duties will be handled by committee while we progress during the early part of the season.
We are fortunate to return a lot of experience defensively. We will be as good as our defensive line is this season. Dalton Davis is a standout defensive linemen that has elevated his game this summer. Dalton has grown as a leader and a football player to add a lot of value to our program. Kenja Jenkins is another junior defensive lineman that returns with varsity experience. Kenja had a great offseason and is looking to have a breakout season in his junior campaign. We have spent the summer work to develop depth on the defensive line. Jack Yeakey, Seth Pope, Jakob Kendall, Darius Dowdell, Kalalena Kalili, Alex Nogoda, Luke Shannon, Tegwin Stephenson, Sam Wertz, and Max Ely.
Our linebacker position is shaping up to be a strength of our program. Ryan Barnes and Chase Yadon are two seniors that have shown value on both sides of the ball. Both players have shown the ability to play the outside linebacker position with a high motor. Ryan and Chase have played good football on the defensive side of the ball this summer. Inside linebacker has seen Austin Bridenthal and 2016 leading tackler, Eddie Dziennik, pulling the volume of the reps. Eddie has continued to grow his game and add to what was a stellar sophomore campaign. Austin is building off of great offseason to have a good senior season. Kody Leach and Jacob Hamm are two sophomores that have carried hard work in the off-season into a good summer. Kody brings a great deal of versatility, leadership, and grit to our team.
The secondary is being led by Dylan Retherford. Dylan had a really good camp at IU and carried the momentum from that camp into a solid summer. He has continued to flourish in his role as a leader and in the secondary. Wyatt Blades is coming off of a sophomore campaign that had him play a lot of different positions. Wyatt has settled in at safety and showing the ability to be a play maker and leader. His football IQ and experience playing multiple position on the back end have served him well this summer. Depth at safety has come in the form of sophomores Nathan Blanford and Kolby Bullard. Jazz Terrell and Aaron Brewer are two seniors that have manned the corner spots. They have continued to grow as football players this summer. Several underclassmen will continue to push the two seniors heading into the season.
We have a lot of inexperience on the offensive side of the ball that has been this summer and will continue to be tested into the season. The offensive line will be anchored the most veteran of the group, Seth Pope. Seth was a 10-game starter in 2016. Seth brings leadership and experience to an otherwise inexperienced group. Remington Brodhead and Jaydon Turner are two seniors that have had a good summer. They are ready to embrace their opportunity to play on Friday nights. Juniors Andy Cleverly, Sam Wertz, John Cook, Brady Killion, and Ayden Rayl are working to improve and provide depth. Cameron Knight is a sophomore that has grown up and had a solid summer along the offensive front.
The tight end/halfback position is a critical one in our offense. Ryan Barnes, Chase Yadon, and Will Hampton are three seniors that have shared reps in an effective manner this summer. Ryan and Chase have shown the ability to be good blockers, good route runners, and good finishers. Will has done a solid job this summer and can always be trusted to do the right thing. The youth in this position group has a lot to offer. Greg Langlois and Lucas Williams are two sophomores that have done a great job this summer.
The inexperience really shows up in the offensive skill positions. Nick Rusie is the leading receiver returning from 2016. Nick is joined by seniors Anthony Nale and Christian Reed competing for playing time at the wide receiver positions. Zach Gruver, Carson Sanders, Christian Blaettner, and Grant Gremel are underclassmen that will compete for varsity minutes at the wide receiver position this fall. The running back position has seen Luke Blevins and Christian Collier have solid summers. Both players compliment our offensive line well. They are aggressive hitting the hole and finish plays with an edge.
The quarterback battle will be one to watch leading into Week 1. Ryan Barnes returns from a Junior campaign that saw him on pace to rush for 1,000 yards and throw for 1,000 before having his season cut short. Ryan has had a solid off-season as a leader and competitor. Grant Gremel came on and played well in Ryan’s absence at the end of the season. Grant has also had a good off-season competing and showing signs of being a good leader. Both players have shown the ability to play multiple positions, as well as quarterback, this off-season. Konnor Gutting has grown as a quarterback this off-season as well.
Noblesville senior Ryan Barnes is figuring prominently in the Miller football lineup for the 2017 season. As quarterback, Barnes was on pace for a 1000-yard passing and rushing season before his season was cut short. Barnes has also played well over the summer at the linebacker and tight/end halfback positions. (Kent Graham/File photo)