The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Case excited about upgrades, expectations for 2019 season
For a picturesque smallschool college football setting, the scenery at Case Western Reserve’s DiSanto Field is about as good as it gets.
Surrounded by classic brick college buildings, Case’s football field has the feel of being in the heart of campus.
By his own admittance, Coach Greg Debeljak said that wasn’t the feeling for the program’s locker room — until now.
Thanks to a donation of more than $100,000, the Spartans’ football locker room received a makeover, and the players are pumped.
They are equally excited for the prospects of 2019 on the gridiron, and for good reason. Case’s top wide receiver — Colt Morgan (1,094 yards, 18 touchdowns in 2018) — is a preseason All-America pick, and several other starters — including co-captain and offense lineman Thomas Strayer of Mentor — return from an 8-2 squad last season.
On offense, it all starts with sophomore quarterback Drew Saxton, who arrived at Case a year ago as a record-setting prep star from the football-rich Western Pennsylvania area and did not disappoint.
He threw for 3,033 yards and 34 touchdowns, and could be in line for more in 2019.
“Drew exceeded our expectations for sure,” said Debeljak. “We knew he was really good. He’s so sharp. This time last year, we were deciding, ‘Should we start him or not?’ He was clearly the best quarterback we had but he didn’t know enough about the offense.”
In the Spartans’ first game last season, Saxton rotated with another QB. By the team’s second contest, he took the position for his own. Now he’ll enter this fall as a confident sophomore looking to break in the young group of receivers surrounding the seasoned Morgan.
“That’s the key, getting the young receivers up to speed,” said Saxton.
There’s also this for Saxton: He’s been voted a team co-captain for 2019.
“It’s definitely an honor,” said Saxton, whose team opens the season Sept. 7 at Rochester.
As for the locker room upgrade, the renovation began in July. It included a new paint job, carpeting, the mounting of six TVs, a new sound system, plus signages and graphics honoring the program’s five undefeated teams and the program’s All-Americans, which includes Willoughby South graduate and recordsetting Case quarterback Dan Whalen. There’s also a Ping-Pong table in the center of the locker room.
“Didn’t think it would be that big of a deal, but (the players) love it,” said Debeljak.
They also love the new accommodations, which the coach called long overdue.
“My goal was to make it more like a home than a basement because that’s what it was,” he said. “You didn’t get a sense it was a locker room. It was like walking into a basement with lockers.”