As a high school football program goes through the years, players come and players go.
Sheridan coach Bud Wright is used to that inevitability, more so probably than any other coach in Indiana. But that doesn’t faze Wright, who will begin his 54th season of coaching the Blackhawks on Friday when they host Western Boone. It has happened before, and it also means new players get a chance to prove themselves.
There will be a handful of athletes coming back for Sheridan, but the majority of players on both offense and defense will be new, and young.
“We only got four returners on both sides of the ball,” said Wright. “We lost a lot of kids last year. Our senior class is small and our junior class is small, so we’re going to have to play a lot of younger kids.”
The Blackhawks will have some experience here and there. Junior Cameron Hovey was Sheridan’s second-leading rusher last season, with 733 yards and six touchdowns. Two returning sophomores, Evan Bourdon and Silas DeVaney, both got varsity experience last year as freshmen, and played well. Bourdon scored two touchdowns and DeVaney scored one. Those three players also had solid defensive numbers as well: Hovey had 99 total tackles, DeVaney had 69 and Bourdon had 60.
Two key seniors returning are Chris Starks and Charlie Cronin. Starks led the ‘Hawks last season in tackles for a loss with 12 and totaled 69 tackles, while Cronin had 29.
After that, there will likely be younger players stepping in. Wright said those younger athletes are coming along and have been working hard.
“We got a long ways to go, but we’re learning,” said Wright.
The young players will get a stern introduction to varsity football when Western Boone comes to Bud Wright Stadium. The Stars were supposed to host Friday’s game, but they recently installed a new turf field, and concerns about the field’s readiness prompted the game to be switched to Sheridan.
Western Boone is the defending Class 2A state champion and will come into the game ranked No. 1 in that class. This will be a continuation of a long-standing rivalry: Sheridan has played the Stars in the first game of the season every year since 1997.
Silas DeVaney (15) and Chris Starks (75) are two returning players for Sheridan this season. While the Blackhawks have a handful of athletes back from last season, many of the players on the field this year will be young. (Si DeVaney III/File photo)