Freeburg coaches have a lot of decisions to make

By Todd Eschman

Updated August 21, 2016 8:43 AM

For all the conditioning drills being done by players in the scorching heat at Freeburg Field, nobody is working harder that the Midgets’ coaching staff.

It’ll be the job of head coach Ronnie Stuart and his assistants to fit a lot of loose parts into a lot of empty holes.

“Off the top of my head, I think we have probably two main starters coming back this year that started for us last year offensively,” said Stuart, who begins his 12th season in Freeburg. “We lost a lot and so we have a lot of new faces. A lot of different guys will play a lot of different positions and we’re still just seeing where they fit in best for us.”

Some of the losses are huge. Keegan Baxmeyer, Davon Gravot (255 yards rushing, four touchdowns), Will Hogan (28 catches, 332 yards, five TDs) and record-crushing quarterback Joe Wolf (137-of-215, 1,826 yards, 14 TDs) are gone, courtesy of graduation.

This first couple of weeks will be just finding out who can do what and where we can put guys. I'm sure as the year goes on, things are going to change from week to week, depending on who steps up and who doesn't.

Ronnie Stuart

Freeburg head football coach

John Hilpert (20 catches, 298 yards, five TDs), Jordan Fritz (15 catches, 128 yards) and Parker Weiss (seven catches, 72 yards) shifted their focus to other sports.

“This first couple of weeks will be just finding out who can do what and where we can put guys,” said Stuart. “I’m sure as the year goes on, things are going to change from week to week, depending on who steps up and who doesn’t.”

The Midgets finished a disappointing 3-6, including four straight losses after injuries took a bite out of their roster.

Offense

Bobby Tedesco (64 carries, 439 yards; 25 catches, 339 yards) moves from wide receiver to quarterback.

“Since he’s a quarterback we can package him in different ways, do some trick plays with him and throw the ball off of that,” Stuart said. “Last year after Keegan went down he was our next best guy to put in at running back. He’s a very athletic kid, a very good runner.”

Led by seniors Peyton Ledbetter and Alan Branneker, the line may be where the Midgets find their other strength. Jeremy Schmidt, Dylan Sandheinrich, Chandler Benkendorf, Clay Lents and Patrick Belt all bring experience.

At running back, Stuart has “a plethora of guys.” Prospects include Hayden Shea (12 carries, 37 yards), Brendan Meng (two carries, 15 yards), Cody Haak, Jake Kerber and Tyler White. These are the same contenders for time at wide receiver.

“I can’t really put my finger on who really does what the best,” Stuart said. “It’s just an opportunity. Maybe somebody will emerge from that group and become our main-stay tailback, but as of right now everybody is going from either receiver or running back.”

Defense

The seven contenders for playing time at offensive line will have to turn around and man the defensive front as well.

Shea returns to start at one of the corner back spots. The other will come from a mix of Haak, White and Kerber. Sandheinrich also is back at one of the linebacker spots, the other come from another plethora that includes Benkendorf, Cal Claussen and Hunger Borger.

Rounding out the defense will be Brennin Kimes and Meng, who will share time at safety.

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