Springboro
Coach: Ryan Wilhite, 10th season (63-30)
OHSAA designation: Division I, Region 2
Playoff history: 3-6 in six appearances (1999, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2014)
2014 record: 9-2 overall, 5-0 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference South Division (first)
Schedule: Aug. 28 — Mason, 7 p.m.; Sept. 4 — at Centerville, 7 p.m.; Sept. 11 — at Franklin, 7 p.m.; Sept. 18 — at Beavercreek, 7 p.m.; Sept. 25 — Northmont, 7 p.m.; Oct. 2 — Fairborn, 7 p.m.; Oct. 9 — at Xenia, 7 p.m.; Oct. 16 — West Carrollton, 7 p.m.; Oct. 23 — at Miamisburg, 7 p.m.; Oct. 30 — Lebanon, 7 p.m.
The Springboro High School football team spent much of the offseason last year on finding ways to improve its middle-of-the-pack defense.
It paid off in the form of one of the program’s best defensive seasons.
The Panthers surrendered a Greater Western Ohio Conference-low 8.1 points per game en route to a third straight South division title and 9-2 finish in 2014. Both losses were decided by seven points or less — the first by a field goal to Centerville and the second a 7-0 Division I playoff game against Lakota East.
Now, the defense again is the focus, but this time because it has been depleted by graduation and injury, which left defensive lineman Jon Floyd as the only returning starter.
“We had a great defense last year, but we lost a lot,” coach Ryan Wilhite said. “… To say we have one returning starter, we’re a little more experienced than that sounds, but I still think we are a young group on defense for sure. We have a lot of growing to do there.”
Among those gone is GWOC South Defensive Athlete of the Year Kevin Earles. Fellow linebacker Nic Thomas would have given the Panthers a second returning starter on defense, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice.
Wilhite said despite those losses, the linebacker corps remains the strongest aspect of the defense thanks to some depth developed last year with players like Tyler Stephenson, Ethen Miller and Collin Troxell.
Springboro entered Friday’s scrimmage at Piqua still sorting out the defensive line and secondary spots, but defensive backs Keegan Brown and Levi Ethridge have stood out and Luke Wyatt joins Floyd as a leader on the line.
“As long as we hustle and get a lot of gang tackles and play together as a unit, we’ll be a lot better, but we just have to work on trusting each other right now,” Wyatt said. “We’re working hard and improving every day.”
The offense remains in much better shape, even without two-time GWOC South Offensive Athlete of the Year D.L. Knock (789 yards receiving, 11 touchdowns) and leading rusher Devon Henry (1,068 yards, 10 touchdowns).
Bowling Green commit Elijah Cunningham returns as a third-year starting quarterback and has tight end Justin Rigg (Kentucky) and All-GWOC South wide receiver Nick Kovacs back as solid targets, along with Alex Feldman, who was hindered by injuries last year. Liam Foley, the team’s No. 2 back last year, also returns and is joined in the backfield by Franklin transfer Dylan Jones.
The only real concern for Wilhite on that side of the ball is how quickly a young offensive line will develop behind two returning starters in Danny Welsh and Justin Albrecht.
“We’ve got some really potentially good linemen in our program, but a lot of them are really young,” Wilhite said. “I think they will continue to get better as the season goes on, but the question is how ready will they be when you’ve got Mason and Centerville early on? They are going to have to be ready to play.”
Mason and Centerville in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively, will be especially important games when it comes to earning playoff points down the road. The Panthers remain the favorite to win the GWOC South in the final year before division realignments, but they also have sights set on the program’s first playoff win since 2005 — the last year before Boro moved to Division I.
Lakota East has stood in the way two of the past three years, while powerhouse Colerain was the roadblock in 2013.
“We really wanted to get that first (Division I) playoff win, and we fought hard,” Welsh said. “We played stellar defense, but our offense just couldn’t produce that game and it left a bad taste in our mouths. It’s definitely motivating — we want to four-peat in the GWOC South and get that first playoff win.”
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