Hart High set to hit the field
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the season, Hart High head coach Rick Herrington was happy to hear his brother Mike Herrington, who announced his retirement last year after a 40-year coaching career and more than 300 wins, decided to pull the headset off the shelf for one more year, at least.
“The big story for me was Mike agreeing to come and call the plays for
one more year,” Rick said with a laugh, adding that between his brother calling the offense and coach Dave Padilla calling the defense, it’s taken some pressure off so he can focus on getting the team as ready as possible in the short time they have.
As far as which aspect would be more dominant this year, he said people will have to “wait and see,”
as the Indians will have a relatively young squad with a lot of potential.
While his offensive and defensive lines will be young, there will be significant experience at wide receiver coming back this season, with four returning: Riley Bodemer, Daniel Larkins, Luke Madison and Ryan Tomaszewski. Of the returners, Tomaszewski led the group statistically with nearly 500 yards receiving last year.
“We‘ve got some pretty good receivers coming back,” Herrington said, “so that’s going to help
our new quarterback a little bit because they know a lot of the offense from last year.”
Under center, junior Chase DePaco is moving over from wide receiver and linebacker to try and be the next in line for a program steeped in tradition at the quarterback position. “He’s learning,” Herrington said. “He’s getting better and better each day.”
He’ll be following in the shoes of Zach Johnson, who threw for nearly 3,000 yards last year on his way to earning a spot
on the roster at University of California, Berkeley.
In the backfield, senior Ryan Rossi and sophomore Donovan Dunn — who had one brother play for Rick when he coached at Alemany and another just wrap up his career at College of the Canyons — are both expected to share carries for the Indians.
As a leader for the defense last year, Dylan Vradenburg is moving over from defensive end to linebacker, in hopes that he can be even more involved in the scheme.
“We’re gonna move him in there so he can be more involved and get even more tackles,” Herrington said.
Leading the defense at the middle linebacker position will be sophomore Alberto Favela, whom Herrington moved up from junior varsity after a couple of practices because of what he showed on the field in the first few practices when the teams returned to the field.
Senior Cade Cavin and junior Cole Spivey will also be expected to help lead the way on the offensive and defensive lines for the Indians.