WHITE HALL - Donnie Allen knew there would be growing pains in his first year as a head coach.
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The skipper of the North Greene Spartans took over a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2014 and has won four games during this current span. Last year was more of the same with a 1-8 season, but the Spartans did end the year with a 24-12 victory over Brown County that snapped a 23-game losing streak giving them something positive to build on.
“I told the kids last year was like building the foundation, and now we’re putting up the building,” Allen said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re playing team x. Whoever we line up against we’re going to play our style of football and make the other team adjust to that instead of adjusting to them. That was something we got in bad habits of last year letting the other team dictate how the game was going to go.”
Allen and the Spartans have reason to be optimistic why 2019 will be different with most of the starters returning and several promising underclassmen stepping into the fold, including the junior class.
“We got some really good senior leadership, but the junior class is pretty special,” Allen said.
Among them are linemen Kai Crane and linebacker Tyler Goodall.
“[Tyler’s] got great hands and great build. He’s a good leader, and he’s been in the weight room all offseason,” Allen said. “[Kai’s] a standout. He’s a big, strong kid. He’s been in the weight room with Tyler all offseason and looks more mannish than last year.”
The Spartans bring back seven starters on an offense that averaged 14 points a game and tallied double-digits three times.
Another junior is Dalton Mitchell (6-1, 151 lbs) who will take over the reins at quarterback. Although he saw limited varsity minutes last year, Allen is very high on Mitchell. The junior will utilize his speed more than his passing ability in North Greene’s read-option spread offense.
“He is something special. He’s a fast kid and is going to be really good running the read-option,” Allen said. “He doesn’t have the strongest arm in the world, but we don’t really ask him to throw it down the field too far anyway. He makes good decisions, good reads, and can burn you with his feet.”
Juniors Karter Heberling (5-8, 150 lbs) Jacob Suttles (6-3, 175 lbs) and Taylor Gaige (5-10, 140 lbs), will line up as wide receivers.
The offensive line returns four starters: Crane (6-1, 277 lbs), Ethan Darringer (6-0, 219 lbs), Dylan Gaffney (5-11, 262 lbs), and Owen Baird (6-1, 256 lbs). Senior running back, Taylor Scott rushed for 427 yards on 97 carries with one touchdown.
“Tempo’s a big deal with this offense. We can go fast this year,” Allen said. “Don’t get me wrong; there are talented kids, but a lot of that is having a full year into the system and understanding what’s going on.
Perhaps North Greene’s most exciting player is sophomore Gunnar Speaker. The running back was broke his arm early last year and was out for the remainder season. Had he not been injured, he would have started.
“He would’ve started last year as a freshman in the backfield, but then he broke his arm and out for the rest of the season. He’ll get plenty of touches at our tailback position,” Allen said. “He’ll also play some outside linebacker. He’s probably the fastest kid on the team.”
On defense, Baird, and Dalton Smith (6-3, 235 lbs) return to the defensive line. Darringer, Goodall, Heberling, and Speaker will fill in the linebacker positions. Brady Brown (5-11, 165 lbs), who led the team and area in tackles a year ago is back at free safety.
With several starters coming back and a talented underclass, North Greene expects significant improvements this season. One of which is to get into the playoffs for the first time since 2014. To do that, Allen knows his players require the right mindset and deal with adversity better compared to years past.
“I fully think that’s within our scope. It’s not what you have talent-wise it’s what you do with it,” Allen said. “The buy-in, the work you put in, and dealing with adversity from down to down. My expectations are being better with our mental toughness and finishing things we start instead of letting it snowball into bad things. I think we’ll make better adjustments this year than we did last year.”
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