Grove City Christian looks to continue on last season’s success
By: Charlie Ihlenfeld
Posted on:
GROVE CITY, Ohio (WOUB) – One year after claiming the MSL-Cardinal, the Grove City Christian Eagles are eager to get back to work. No one embodies that more than head coach Ben Schall.
“I always feel like enthusiasm and passion for what you do helps make you successful,” said Schall. “We’ve been so blessed, and I’ve been so blessed. We’ve got a lot of guys on our staff that are really enthusiastic.”
His players have taken notice and note how important that is for their team.
“Coach Schall comes in 100% electric,” said Landen Sams, senior linebacker. “He’s the one who lifts us up, puts us where we need to be. He’s literally the rock for this football team.
The Eagles were a force in the conference last year. GCC outscored their conference opponents by a combined 236-21 en route to the conference crown. While they were undefeated in the conference, the Eagles had trouble in their non-conference slate, finishing 2-3 including their playoff loss.
But, the season was special for Schall, who got to watch players that had spent all three of his years at the helm with him host their first playoff game since 2009.
“They were sophomores during our first year as a staff,” said Schall. “Knowing that, for three years we’ve been waiting for that day.”
While they fell in the playoffs, the experience was unforgettable for the squad. Their 23-14 loss to Newcomerstown is fuel for this season.
“It was one of our main motivations of that season,” said Sams. “It’s everything we want this year too.”
This year’s squad will lose size on the defensive line and lose a fixture at running back. For the first time in Schall’s tenure, the team will not have a defensive linemen over 300 pounds.
“We’re going to be much smaller, much more athletic up front,” said Schall.
The Eagles will lose Cayden Carroll at running back. He pieced together three consecutive years of 1,000 yards for Grove City Christian. Their offense will have a new feature running back, Giovanni Cotton. Cotton played as a defensive end last year, racking up 16 TFLs.
But, without Carroll, the passing attack will be where the Eagles will have the most experience. Douglas Housley is ready to take to the air.
“I’m super excited,” said Housley. “I can’t wait to throw that thing deep and just score a bunch of touchdowns.”
Housley will have Josiah Harmeyer back at receiver. While the Eagles graduated Austin Dahmer, the senior duo will have the green light on offense. John Gibson will feature at wide receiver too.
“Our outside receivers, John Gibson and Josiah Harmeyer, are both proven receivers with the ability to do a lot of things for us,” said Schall.
Despite the turnover, the Eagles are ready to prove they are still the class of the conference.
“God’s going to put us through trials,” said Sams. “God’s going to put us in the valley because nothing grows when you’re on the mountain top. You always have to be in the valley to grow.”