Reinforcements: Handful of seniors with little football experience will look to help Wildcat Squad
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Ben Herrick was a part of a small junior class on Central Mountain's football team last year. Ahead of 2022, it looked like he'd be the only returning senior. As Herrick knows all too well, the Wildcats have had depth issues in recent years.
But during the offseason, second-year coach Shanon Manning and his staff have been hot on the trail of getting much needed reinforcements.
Herrick will be joined by three seniors -- Braylen Corter, Nate Helms and Cru Stover -- who have little to no experience playing football. But the trio have been slowly getting into the swing of offseason workouts three to four days a week this summer.
"There was definitely talk of them playing, but it was kinda hit or miss if they were actually gonna come out," Herrick said. "I kind of thought for a while I was gonna be the only (senior) coming out, but then we got on them about coming to workouts and they've been showing up and they're looking pretty good."
Corter, Helms and Stover are all teammates on Central Mountain's baseball team. While football is an entirely different beast, it won't be the first time some have been up close and personal with opponents off the diamond and on the mat.
"It’ll be different," Corter said. "I mean, I think not only baseball, but I think wrestling helps with not a lot of physical contact. So I think that helps with football a lot."
Rather than getting accustomed to the physical aspect of football, the fundamentals, Xs and Os are what the new blood is working on the most.
While they have their specializations in baseball, they're getting brought up to speed on the different positions, basic understanding of the rules and running through the motions of seven-on-sevens.
"Honestly, it’s like a humbling experience because baseball, I know what I'm doing and everything," Helms said. "Football, I don’t really know, so they have to teach me everything. Some things I don't really understand, but they explained it to me easily and they helped me out."
Still, it is the seniors' final school year. There's a lot to learn in a short amount of time before the fall rolls around.
"I mean, the coaches and my teammates are definitely doing a very good job helping me and other kids with learning the new stuff that we need to know," Corter said. "That's probably definitely one of the bigger factors as we get closer to the season."
While Herrick has been around Central Mountain's football program all three years of his high school career so far, he too is setting foot on the gridiron for the first time in a while.
After tearing his ACL during his sophomore year, Herrick then tore the meniscus in the same left knee during his junior wrestling season after he'd been cleared to come back. His MCL was also partially torn.
Herrick has been getting back into the swing of things in 7-on-7s. While getting comfortable with his leg again, the mental block of his injuries has been one that's been slowly dissipating through the motions.
"I'm still a little timid to fully use my leg," Herrick said. "With repetitions over and over again, I'm getting a little more comfortable with it."
Though Herrick wasn't able to play, he stayed involved with the program. He went to all of Central Mountain's games, recorded film and he still knows his coaching staff well.
This offseason, he sees the work Manning is putting in to not only restore the program's numbers, but establish a new culture for the team.
"Typically if they're able to come to an offseason workout, and they see the rapport the coaches and players have, I think they also like the expectations and structure that comes with the program," Manning said. "I think once they're there and they see what it looks like, I think they feel pretty confident that it's something they want to be a part of."
On changing Central Mountain's culture, Herrick added, "I think it definitely needs to be done. In years prior, we hadn't been the best with the culture being the greatest or the overall morale being there. I think that'll be a big help. It's definitely changing, a lot more effort being shown. A lot more dedication, so I think we're heading in the right direction."
Manning steered things in the right direction before when he previously coached at Bellefonte for seven years. The school lost the first 13 games under his tenure after going 0-10 his first season. Fast forward five years, Bellefonte won 10 games and a district title.
He’s been through the steps being taken at Central Mountain now, having non-football players join the ranks and learn the game on the fly. Manning is even taking them with virtually the same staff who helped him turn Bellefonte around.
Shawn Hale, Terry Bumgardner and Tony Confer are leading a Central Mountain football program that's fresh off a season that saw a 6-5 record and District 6 Class 5A final appearance.
Like their time at Bellefonte, those coaches are getting kids to not specialize in any particular sport, like baseball or wrestling, and come out to bolster the football team's numbers, inching along to more prosperous results.
"There's certain kids coming out who can help us get trending in the right direction," Manning said. "And once you get trending in the right direction, you really have to rely on that you've built a good foundation out of brick. Not one out of sand that washes away any time there's any type of adversity."
Manning noted that realistically, the process is "only about 14, 15 months into being there." But the second-year coach has already seen early signs of progress, more than just players initially showing up for offseason workouts. Though, that's the obvious first step of having it all come together.
"I know the program has had its depth struggles over the past 15 years or so," Manning said. "If we really want to get over the hump, it's gonna take a lot of those guys, or individuals who haven't played or been a part of the program, to bring the program around."
It's certainly early. Too early to tell how things will go. But even with 7-on-7s and offseason workouts, Central Mountain's first-year players are taking the first steps. They're showing up consistently, trying to learn the game and filling the void.
In years prior, there'd be a core group, a nucleus. And while that new foundation is still being laid out, the immediate issue of Wildcat football depth is being solved by athletes who want to learn, stay in shape during the fall and help out the program.
Some have high aspirations to do more than just reach the district title game, too.
"Hopefully (we) win a district title," Helms said. "That'd be an awesome experience for football, for me since I won one for baseball."
While there's no shortage of learning, conditioning and getting into a new groove, the upperclassmen at Central Mountain do have one thing working in their favor. They already have plenty of chemistry developed over years on the diamond.
"It's definitely gonna help knowing those guys and then translating it out on the football field," Corter said. "It definitely won't hurt."
Even Herrick shares some chemistry with his fellow seniors, having wrestled alongside them over the years. And now, the four will embark on another sport together while doing what they can to make strides for Central Mountain's school district.
Manning believes there's enough wind for the sails. Herrick wants to know how far that wind will carry.
"I want to see where we end up. We have a lot of young talent, I think we can do good things," Herrick said. "I think we can win a lot of football games and I'm excited to see what the season entails."