Fredericktown football coach Will Hartley has hopes of contending for a conference championship with a huge amount of experience this season, with the Freddies returning 14 seniors, including up to 13 starters.
The Freddies are coming off a 5-5 regular season, including 3-4 in KMAC play, where they finished with a tight conference win over Centerburg. However, they took a first-round playoff loss to Northmor by a score of 28-14. Overall, the team was outscored 344-239.
This year, Hartley hopes that the ample experience on the squad will lead to big things. This year’s team has a rallying cry of “Make it happen,” which refers to the fact that the team has plenty of potential but needs to make it happen on the field.
“We have a lot of seniors returning, including Ben Mast at QB, Teegan Ruhl at running back, Kaid Carpenter at receiver and Xavier Mullins at tight-end,” Hartley said. “On the offensive line, we're led by seniors Lucas Herbst and Braden Sapp. On defense, Braden Sapp and Masen Hoeflich will anchor the defense at linebacker. Xavier Mullins and Drake Kessler could have a solid year at defensive line, and on the perimeter we return Kaid Carpenter, Logan Small and Teegan Ruhl.”
Ruhl rushed for 943 years on 6.5 yards per carry, along with 13 touchdowns, last season. He also had 32 catches for 311 yards and two touchdowns. On defense, he had two touchdowns. Logan Small also had a pair of picks.
Hartley added that move-in senior Jaxen Doup has had a really good summer entering the 2022 season.
On offense, the Freddies look to establish the running game but also spread the field to get the ball to players in open space to make plays. Traditionally, the Freddies have relied on a 3-3 stack defensively, but this year they are transitioning to a 4-2-5 to take advantage of the large amount of defensive linemen, as well as the experienced returning secondary players.
This is the 24th year coaching for Hartley. He has coached for 21 years at Fredericktown, and it is his sixth year at the helm. He has a record of 27-27 as a head coach. He said he finds his influence from his high school player experience, his college coaches and coaches he has worked under as an assistant.
“We're excited for the season to get started,” said Hartley. “As always, the KMAC will be tough from one week to the next; however, we feel we can compete with any team and hopefully put ourselves in a position to contend for the championship and make a run at the playoffs.”
Fredericktown started the season with a tough 17-14 road-game loss against Highland under the lights Friday and looks to nail down its first win this Friday, Aug. 27, at Northridge, in preparation of it first 2022 home game, Sept. 2 vs. Utica.
