NEWARK ― Bringing in a proven coach to guide well-tested players might be the tonic Newark Catholic needs to revive a storied program.
Tom Phillips has won everywhere he’s been, including Bexley (three years), Pickerington North (10 years) and Stow-Munroe Falls (four years), and now he’ll try to get the Green Wave back on track after they went 6-24 following 2022’s state semifinal appearance.
“I saw Newark Catholic’s tradition first hand at Bexley, when the fans would come and set their blankets up at 11 a.m. for games,” said Phillips, who led Pickerington North to a 2012 Division I regional title, and is well aware NC has eight state championships and seven state runnerup finishes. “We’re flushing it (the recent past), and trying to get these kids to believe, and have fun.”
The bulk of starters return from a 2-8 team that could have been 5-5 and made the postseason, had it not lost three games by a total of five points. There are 20 lettermen, including a pair of seniors (Jaxon Holman and Max Childers) going for their fourth letters and eight more who are after their third. Plus, they’ll have senior Kyler Dales and junior Raife Shook for the whole season, after they missed the last half due to the transfer rule, and have added a promising sophomore in Colton Castle of Lakewood.
“We’ve taken a lot of lumps and have gotten chances to prove ourself at the varsity level, but in the past three years, we haven’t really gotten anywhere,” senior quarterback Malone Hutchison said. “Which is why we have to make the most of this last chance. These coaches have come in and are teaching us how to do it.”
That includes defensive coordinator Lyle Sawyer, dad of former Pickerington North and Ohio State star Jack Sawyer who is now with the Steelers, along with offensive coordinator Derrek Christy, receivers coach Sam Johnson and strength and conditioning coach Mike Knapp. They all have connections with Phillips from either Bexley or Pickerington North. Jim Winters and Chris Grieb from NC have stayed on.
“In a word, we’re going to be aggressive,” Sawyer said of the defense. “We’re going to play as many guys as we can close to the line of scrimmage, but still be solid in the back. It’s a lot of changes, a totally different scheme. It’s a lot of learning, but these are smart kids and it’s been a good experience, especially for the young guys. We’re going to play a lot of them.”
Said senior defensive end-tight end Carter Chupka: “The defense has to step up. Last year, we gave up so many yards rushing.”
Phillips has stressed that they have to learn how to play multiple positions, moving defensive backs to the defensive line and a linebacker to nose guard. “Don’t be selfish,” he said.
NC has a pair of bookend defensive ends in Chupka (6-foot-4, 226) and Shook (6-3, 225), with state wrestler Childers shifting from linebacker to nose guard and Max Moore at tackle. Another wrestler, Noah Richards, along with Jack Gossett and Moore will play linebacker, with Holman and Alex Nagel shoring up the run defense from strong safety and talented sophomore Landon Cox at free safety, where he had two interceptions last year. Corners will come from Dales, Jace Johnson, Castle and Eli Windon.
Holman has battled injuries but still ran for over 1,000 yards and seven scores last year while catching 31 passes and adding three more TDs. Dales had 20 receptions and five touchdowns in just half a season, while Hutchison threw for nearly 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns, but had 10 interceptions.
Dales, Cox and Johnson should be threats at wide receiver, with Chupka a proven tight end and Shook providing an extra weapon at H-back. Richards and Nagel will back up Holman running the ball. A veteran line features Jack Lohri at center, flanked by Moore, Gossett, Payton Rothweiler and Chance King, a 255-pound sophomore.
“We have good kids up front, but we’re thin numbers wise,” Christy acknowledged. “So we have to stay healthy.”
That can be said of both sides of the ball, with just 36 on the roster. But Chupka said a new mindset is taking hold.
“It’s so much different. Kids are now excited to play defense, then go be great on offfense,” he said. “We have a great strength and conditioning coach who has taught us different techniques.”
The future looks great for the Green Wave. “We’ll have numbers coming up from junior high, and the sophomore class is huge,” Sawyer said. “And we have five new kids in the freshman class.”
But the future is now for the seniors, who will now play three games at the high school (the opener against Huntington, Week 3 against Buckeye Trail and Week 8 vs. Northridge), with anticipation of getting turf and a track sometime down the road.
Leading into 2-a-days, four-hour practices were marked by music blaring and a 20-minute break, similar to what they would have at halftime of a game. “It actually goes fast,” Phillips said. They wore practice shirts with WIN on the back, for What’s Important Now and everyone being held accountable.
Phillips was locked into the director of football operations job at Youngstown State, under head coach and brother Doug Phillips. But his wife wanted to move back to Central Ohio to be closer to family. He was excited to find the NC job open.
“This might be the most fun I’ve had in my 39 years of coaching,” he said.
At a Glance
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: NC eyes big-time bounceback behind new coaching staff, veteran seniors
Reporting by Dave Weidig, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dave Weidig, Newark Advocate | USA TODAY Network
