Submitted photo / Inter-State Studio The 2024 James A. Garfield High School football team.
GARRETTSVILLE -- Coming off a 12-1 season in which the team was held under 42 points just once, the Garfield G-Men are back and looking to do some damage in 2024.
The 2024 edition of the G-Men are young, but the hunger has shown through camp so far.
"There's some good, talented kids this year, (but we're young)," G-Men coach Mike Moser said. "That's high school football, right? Some guys move on, new guys come in and take their place. We don't have a lot of seniors on the team, or a lot of juniors, but we have a lot of sophomores, and a nice freshmen class. We're going to be a little younger in a lot of spots, but again, that makes things competitive."
Garfield, who hasn't finished under .500 since 2017, is a program that has had success at reloading, not rebuilding. Moser is hoping that this year is another example of that.
"That's the fun part of all this, right? It's fun to bring back a lot of returners, and those years are fun too, but these years are fun as well. When you're kind of setting yourself up for your next run and some young guys are getting a chance to play," Moser said. "Guys that got a lot of reps last year, whether it be in the second half of games or Saturdays, they played a lot of ball. These guys have waited their turn, and now it's their chance to get out there and show what they can do."
At Garfield, the standard is the standard. It all starts with winning at home. If they win at home, everything else will fall into place.
"The goals are always the same," Moser said. "We always talk about defending our home field, we always talk about competing for a league title and qualifying for the playoffs. We think if we do one, it leads to two, and if you do one and two, you should be in three. The goals don't really change, the expectations don't really change. Some of that stuff is so far down the road, right? I know it's coach-speak but you're just trying to get better every day and get yourself ready to play that first week against Edgewood."
It's a cliche, and Moser admits it, but it all starts with getting better each day.
"That's the thing we kind of always hang our hat on, is that we don't have control over talent or size or any of those types of things, but our work ethic and paying attention to detail and really getting after it every day," Moser said. "This group has put together some nice days, so it's really just that 1% better every day. I think we're going to get better as the year goes, so I'm excited to see what we can do as the weeks go on this year."
OFFENSE
Junior Jack Neikirk will start at quarterback for the G-Men this season.
Garfield is famous for their deep stable of talent rushing the ball, where several guys will see significant time carrying the ball. With all those fresh legs, it's helped the G-Men form a lethal offense over the years.
Devin Bates, Brandyn Bogucki, Colin McGranahan, Harper Troyer, Ryder Cain and Logan Sell should all see time carrying the ball.
"We have some nice underclassmen," Moser said. We have sophomore Logan Sell, Keegan Sell's brother. Logan is a nice kid. ... He has a lot of the same attributes (as his brother). The hard work ethic, and are both really good kids, so we're excited about him."
While the G-Men are a run-first offense, Garfield has plenty of athletes they plan to use in the passing game.
Aidan Hill leads the pack at the wide receiver spot, but he's not alone. Cade Rock, Oliver Walker and Nathan Baczkowski are all expected to contribute.
Colton Miller is expected to line up at the tight end spot.
"It's early in camp. We're spreading the rock, spreading the ball around," Moser said. We're seeing a lot of guys. Colton Miller, at the tight end spot, has been catching the ball well for us. We're kind of trying to figure out what we have here."
There's excitement surrounding the Garfield offensive line, which has a perfect mix of youth and experience.
Starters Ivan Trent and Michael Huebner return from last year's group at tackle and guard respectively.
Other names to watch out for are Richard Shackelford, who played significant time last season, and both Mason Kurtzman and Lucas Neiheisel, who have impressed so far at camp.
With how Garfield uses the running game, strong offensive line play will be crucial as always.
DEFENSE
Trent, Huebner, Shackleford and Kurtzman all return to the team from last year's group with solid experience under their belts.
Tyler Lutz and Henry Veccia will also see time up front.
If not up front, Lutz will be one of the team's linebackers rotating in. Bates and Troyer will each also be options on the inside linebacker spots.
Rock, Hill, Miller, Sell and Evan Martin will be brought in at the outside linebacker spots.
The secondary, like the lines, has a perfect blend of youth and experience.
"The defensive backfield we feel pretty good about," Moser said. "You bring back Neikirk, you bring back a couple of guys with some experience there. Ryder Cain has flashed, played very well out there, as well as Baczkowski who has played really well. McGranahan has played really well. Will Simon, he's a little banged up right now, but he's definitely going to be in that secondary for us. Oliver Walker has worked his way up the depth chart a little bit. So again, there's five, six, seven guys (that can start), but you're trying to find the four that fit the best."
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicking and punting duties have yet to be decided, but Hill and Troyer are both presently the two favorites so far.
Any of the skill position players could be called on to return kicks and punts.
Garfield opens the season against Ashtabula Edgewood.
When asked if there was a particular game the team was eager for, Moser said Week 1, echoing a philosophy they've instilled in the kids.
"We kind of always stress that you earn the right to play in big games later on in the year," Moser said. "So if you don't take care of us at the beginning of the year, then some of those things don't mean as much at the end. We were really just trying to get locked in on a new team, an Edgewood team that we've never seen before. That's really where we're at right now."