Row 1: Wyatt Walkowski, Connor Hug, Wyatt Zulch, Jordan Whittaker, Brock Thiel, Trevor Green, Alex Baker, Levi Lemmon, Mike Peeples
Row 2: Kaden Sapp, Kenny Ordway, Cameron Castillo, Heath Brown, Luke Price, Brendon Fifer
Row 3: Landon Bloir, Tyler Seaman, Trey Walz, Ray Zigenbusch, Colten Lyman
Row 4: Zack Robertson, Preston Klingler, Blake Thiel, Jordan Julian, Levi Brandt, Jared Best
Row 5: Coaches Larry Thiel, Brock England, head coach Scott Staten, Jay Klingler, Jason Bloir
ABOUT THE TEAM
Coach: Brian Cooper, second year
Last season: 4-6, 2-5 NBC
Returning letter winners: 11
Returning starters: Offense 4, defense 4
Schemes: Pistol, Wing-T/Under
Top players: Seniors Aaron Arnold, 6-4, 180, WR-DB; Nolan Kerr. 5-10, 180, OL-DL; Justin Krouse, 6-3, 270, OL-DL; Sawyer Haines, 6-4, 230, TE-DL.
Outlook: Cooper is a former assistant at the University of Toledo (2009), along with stops at Swanton, Rossford, and Bryan.
He expects the Royals to make a big jump after posting back-to-back 4-6 seasons, including 2-5 marks in league play.
Cooper has 30 players, and looks for strong leadership from his nine seniors.
Haines earned All-NBC honorable mention at defensive end.
But Elmwood has inexperience at key positions, including the loss of the top two rushers and its quarterback from last season.
The last time the Royals won a league title was 2006 when they shared the Suburban Lakes League crown with Eastwood. Elmwood had won or shared three of four SLL titles from 2003-06.
“We had a great summer of learning the game and buying into our program,” Cooper said. “Our kids have a confidence that hasn’t been seen surrounding Elmwood football in a long time and they have set very attainable goals that probably were not even in the realm of conversation the last few years.”
EDON SCHEDULE
Aug. 30-Antwerp
Sep. 6-at Edgerton
Sep. 13-at Hicksville
Sep. 20-at Northwood
Sep. 27-Danbury
Oct. 4-Ottawa Hills
Oct. 11-at Hilltop
Oct. 18-Cardinal Stritch
Oct. 25-Toledo Christian
Nov. 1-at Gibsonburg
First Published August 27, 2013, 1:13 a.m.
