'You got to go out and earn everything': Garfield football looks to keep running, winning
Year after year, Garfield football has run the ball like few other teams, including 3,425 rushing yards on 8.5 yards per carry in 2022.
What's the secret sauce?
Physical runners? That's a given. Powerful linemen? That's a constant as well. A strong scheme? No question.
G-Men coach Mike Moser also notes they have been fortunate.
Graduation takes its toll on every team, and it has taken its toll on Garfield as well, but it seems like the G-Men have always had a decent number of experienced returners to carry the ball or man the line, if not both.
"If you got to break in new guys running the ball, you'd like to have some experience up front, and sometimes, if you're a little inexperienced up front, well, then you want to be real experienced behind them, right?" Moser said. "That's kind of what it seems like we've been, back and forth. Senior-heavy backs, young line. Senior-heavy line, younger backs. We've been kind of fortunate with the way it's bouncing back and forth a little bit."
This is one of those senior-heavy line years. The G-Men return nearly their entire offensive line, led by powerful tackle Jon Wiczen. On the other hand, they graduated three of their four leaders in carries from a year ago.
A year ago, it was the opposite.
Last year's team had a number of experienced runners but was "breaking in almost a whole new offensive line," per Moser. Wiczen was the lone returning starter and even he was making a move, from center to tackle.
This year, Wiczen is staying at tackle and he is joined by Michael Huebner, Aiden Kissell, Ivan Trent and Kaid Turnbull, all powerful returnees on the line.
Together, they should create plenty of running lanes for the inexperienced backs who will join Keegan Sell, who led Garfield in carries last year.
A strong returning line is just one point of strength for a Garfield team that has won nine-plus games in each of the past four seasons.
Overall, the G-Men's numbers remain strong, including roughly 18 sophomores and 15 freshmen.
"I think every coach wants to get their numbers up and keep them up," Moser said. "It's not always a sign of a healthy program, but it's one of them when you're getting 50-plus kids to come out and play at a small Division V school and keeping 50 kids on the team all year-round. I think it does speak for the culture and it speaks for the direction of the program."
Still, as Moser noted, neither numbers nor past success guarantee anything.
"Just because you've won nine games four years in a row doesn't mean you're going to win nine the fifth year," Moser said. "You got to go out and earn everything, and I think our kids are real good at recognizing that."
Garfield faces a challenging schedule
Week 1: at Cardinal (Aug. 18); Week 2: at Warren JFK (Aug. 26); Week 3: Normandy (Sept. 1); Week 4: at LaBrae (Sept. 8); Week 5: Champion (Sept. 15); Week 6: Memorial (Sept. 22); Week 7: at Liberty (Sept. 29); Week 8: at Newton Falls (Oct. 6); Week 9: Crestview (Oct. 13); Week 10: Brookfield (Oct. 20)
Garfield's first two opponents, Cardinal and Warren JFK, haven't changed from past years. Week 3 is a different story.
"We were looking for a Week 3 game," Moser said. "There wasn't much out there and we were fortunate to find Normandy. Our kids were excited about the opportunity to play a big Division II school."
League play brings plenty of challenges as well, including welcoming 2022 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier champion Brookfield to JAG Field for what should be a tantalizing regular-season finale.
"They're the league champions and return some really good players," Moser said. "They got to be considered up there. Liberty is an impressive team to play. It's an athletic conference. It's a fast conference. It's a wide-open conference for the most part and then you get some teams that run some traditional stuff, but your athleticism is going to be tested."
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Garfield football looks to maintain strong running, winning traditions
