The Whippets will look to
improve on a very uncharacteristic 2-8 season. First year head coach Chris Solis welcomes 12 letter winners, including 5 starters on both offense and defense, on a 44 player varsity roster. Although this will be Coach Solis' first year as head coach, he is no stranger to Shelby or the Northern Ohio League having been a Whippet assistant coach from 1998-2000. He spent the last three seasons at Heath High School as defensive coordinator. Shelby has some talented players on which to hang their hopes for this season. Rob Lash is probably the best all-around athlete on the team and will likely play most downs on both offense (tailback) and defense (corner) and is also a very dangerous return man. Look for Lash to be one of the top players in the league this season running out of the Whippet power I offense. If the Whippets decide to go to the air, Zach Thurman has the size to put up big receiving numbers. The Whippets may decide to stay on the ground behind the experienced, if not huge, offensive line. On defense, the line is also very experienced and, along with an experienced secondary, should make the Shelby defense formidable. Another strength of this year's Whippet team is an experienced Sophomore class, most of whom played JV ball last year as Shelby did not have a Freshman team. They will provide needed depth. Coach Solis faces the challenge of getting his players to believe they can win. Most of last year's losses were close (7 points or less). They have the talent to be close in most games this season as well. The question will be if they can win some of those games. Solis hopes to bring a winning attitude to Shelby, but nothing does that better than actually winning. The first few games of the season should set the stage for this campaign. If the Whippets can win a few close ones early, this could be a surprisingly successful football season in Shelby.

Media's 2004 Predicted League Finish :
4th

Passing: Josh Calver
7 com. 10 att., 77 yds., 0 tds. 0 ints.

Rushing: No one returning

Receiving: Kyle Hipsher
4 rec., 48 yds., 1 tds

Scoring: Kyle Hipsher
2 tds, 12 pts.

Punting: Emily Aldefer,
1 att. 32 avg.

Kicking: Pete Champer,
8 pts

Tackles: Pete Champer
104 tackles

Sacks: Pete Champer
3 sacks

Interceptions: Hipsher, Gurney and Hummel each with
1 int

Kickoff returns: Brad Wechter
7 ret., 19.6 avg.

Punt returns: Jon Gurney
8 ret. 12.1 avg.

Written by Gumcoach

Defensive line: Like the offensive line, the defensive line looks to be a strong point for this year's edition of the Whippets. Tyler Ross returns at defensive end after a strong 2002 season where he had 56 tackles and a team high 7 sacks. Caleb Jones saw considerable time last year at the end recording 25 tackles and a sack and should be a starter this year. At tackle, Jon Hoffman and Brad King return as starters. Hoffman recorded 18 tackles and King 37 last season but they both have been pressured by Seniors Mark Schroeder and Brian Ervin for the starting spots. Seniors Matt Brewster (6'3", 190), Shawn Howell, and several sophomores add good depth and hope to compete for playing time.

Linebackers: Coach Solis must replace the entire linebacker corps this year. Seniors Nate Schroeder (5'10", 160), Rusty Reed (5'7", 175), John Mckinney, Shane Gearhart (6'0", 200), and Nick Frankl and Juniors Kyle Hipsher (6'1", 165) and Frank Schroeder are all top candidates to see playing time. Look for several Sophomores, including Pete Champer (6'2", 180), to possibly see playing time at linebacker as well. Right now, Nate Schroeder appears to be a leading candidate at one outside Linebacker spot, Reed at the other, and Champer and Nick Frankl at the Inside spots.

Secondary: Two starters return for the Whippets in the defensive secondary. Rob Lash returns at one corner and Cody Gullett at safety. Lash had 35 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 interception in 2002. Gullett recorded 19 tackles from the safety position last year. Senior Craig Cooke and Sophomore Jon Gurney (5'9", 140) look to be the top contenders for the other corner spot. Junior Brennan Aldous and Sophomores Josh Calver and Brad Wechter (5'11", 155) will add depth, and possibly see time in the secondary.

Special teams: Rob Lash will handle most of the kickoff and punt return duties and should be a dangerous weapon for the Whippets. He had 13 kickoff returns, for an average of 16.6 yards per return, and 9 punt returns with an 18 yard average last season. Zack Thurman and Cody Gullett shared punting duties in 2002 with both averaging about 30 yards per kick. Nick Frankl handled place kicking duties in 2002, but is being challenged by Sophomore Emily Alderfer (5'8", 160) who was a state finalist in the 2002 punt, pass, and kick competition.

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"How They Look"

- An opposing NOL team's head coach sizes up the Whippets

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