The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Quarterback puts Sailors on winning path
He sits in a dark room next to a couple of teammates and coaches watching film with 20 minutes to go before practice, reviewing each play on how he can get better as the heart of the Vermilion offense.
It’s Tuesday afternoon, just days after a quality win over Oak Harbor, but Vermilion
quarterback Seth Hurd is back at the grind to continue one of the best seasons in Sailors football lore.
Sitting at 5-1, Hurd’s job is far from over, but the impact of
this season is already resonating through the Vermilion community.
The quarterback and first-year coach Matt Kobal have accepted a job to take Sailors football to the next level and gain respect along the way. Respect is unfortunately something that has escaped Vermilion football since Hurd came up to the varsity level as a sophomore. The Sailors have combined to win six games coming into this season and had failed to collect a single Sandusky Bay Conference win since entering the conference in 2016.
Bringing new life this season with an enhanced level of commitment, the Sailors are a tough opponent with three SBC wins and all of its season goals still on the table.
“It’s a great feeling. I mean we put in major work in the offseason and we’ve all been working hard in the weight room and on the practice field,” Hurd said.
Gaining an edge with offseason prep, Hurd said that the contagious nature of winning has led to improved practices and players focusing on getting better when no one is watching. On top of that, the level of trust Hurd has while running an option offense has made the Sailors mesh like never before.
“I trust every single one of my receivers. They’re working their butts off at practice every day along with (running back) Caine (Zannoni). We all just go out there every day and work,” Hurd said. “We built that trust up over the offseason. I’ve been playing with these guys since fifth and sixth grade on a traveling team called the mini Sailors and since then we’ve all just built that trust and came together as brothers and now we’re just putting it together.”
Hurd said it has been in the back of the seniors’ minds to start a turnaround and inspire the younger classes.
“That was our goal along with the coaches and the players, to bring Vermilion football back,” Hurd said. “It obviously hasn’t been here the last few years with a lot of losing records and now I think we’re definitely bringing it back with the 5-1 record. Hopefully that will bring more players out, get our numbers up a little bit and build the younger kids’ minds up that Vermilion football is back and it’s not going away now.”
Hurd and Kobal have been involved with the Sailors’ program for the past few years and knew the direction they wanted to go when the opportunity came. Now that the time has come, Kobal said there’s no one he would rather have running his offense.
“I’ve coached here for the last few years, so I’ve known Seth since he was an eighthgrader and even then you could tell he was the most
competitive person that I’ve known,” Kobal said. “Now there’s a couple of other kids that really want to compete with him. But he’s by far the best leader that I’ve coached and this year he’s been competing at everything he does. He goes as hard as he can. He gets frustrated with himself when he makes a mistake, but when things are going good and he’s making the right reads, we’re a very successful offense and defense.”
Hurd has already put up some big numbers as he as scored 20 touchdowns (13 pass, seven rush), tossed for 875 yards and is second on the team in rushing with 330 yards behind Zannoni (344 yards).
Hurd worked hard this offseason with his coaches to improve his decision making. Cutting down on his turnovers, Hurd has just four interceptions this season while completing 67 percent of his passes.
“Seth has a read on every play whether to give it or pull it based off what the defense does, and passing-wise, we have a great group of wide receivers who get open and he makes his reads really well and quick and is able to get the ball out as quick as he can,” Kobal said. “When he tries to make too much of a play, that’s when he gets himself into trouble. But, fortunately, this year he’s done a great job of making the reads and getting the ball to the right people at the right time.”
While Hurd has all of the physical tools to be a sensational player, Kobal said his biggest step forward was his decision making and slowing the game down.
“Last year he tried to make all the plays on his own and this year he’s done a great job of spreading the wealth,” Kobal said. “He’s done a great job of seeing who’s open and hitting the receivers. There’s still some of that gunslinger mentality that he has in himself, but once he forgets that and makes the right reads, we’re a very effective offense.”
Hurd is taking each game at a time and is pleased all of the team’s goals are still on the table.
“We can’t just practice, we have to compete at practice,” Hurd said. “We need the scout team to go as hard as they can so we can figure out the mistakes that we need to fix for that upcoming week. We just need to keep working at practice and I think that’s what we struggled with the last few years is that practice was kind of taken lightly, like no one wanted to be there. This year, people want to be there, people want to get better and that’s just what we need. People need to stay hungry throughout the rest of the year and not get content with where we’re at because we have so much more potential that we haven’t even shown yet.”