In the movie “Hacksaw Ridge,” when Desmond Doss (played by Andrew Garfield) is dragging his comrades in arms to safety, he keeps going back, asking God to “help me get one more.”
Perhaps the Northmor Golden Knights are playing off that with their slogan for the 2023 football season: ”As a team our slogan throughout the preseason has been 'One more.' Get one more rep in the weight room, run one more sprint hard, finish one more drill at championship level at practice,” coach Scott Armrose told the Mount Vernon News. Entering Friday's game against Mapleton, the Knights were 2-0, with blowout wins over Upper Sandusky 42-21 and South Central 60-0.
The team is using the slogan, with its echoes of a World War II hero, to help them get into peak physical and mental condition so they can finish the schedule stronger after a late-season stumble in 2022. The Golden Knights are coming off a 5-6 overall, 2-5 Knox Morrow Athletic Conference record last year, racking up four losses in a row, including a playoff game, to end the season.
With that, looking to the upcoming play, "We hope to be more competitive in the KMAC this season," Armrose said.
Northmor will do that by drawing on its Gun-T based offense.
“We feel it's a system that can be easily taught and executed,” Armrose, who has 25 years of coaching experience with this being his seventh with the Golden Knights, said. “We tweak each year to match the talent we have on the team.”
The Golden Knights know how to score. Last season, the team averaged more than 22 points per game and in two games this season, the Knights are averaging 51 points per game.
On the other side of the ball, they’ll run a 4-3, cover-2 defense that so far has allowed 21 points in two games.
“Our best athletes are on the field so we do not run a nickel or dime package,” Armrose said. “We keep things simple so we can play fast.”
The Golden Knights will be looking to junior quarterback A.J. Bower, named to the second team All-KMAC a year ago, to deliver the ball to some of the wide receivers. One of his choices will be senior Hunter Fulk, a first-team All-KMAC returner, who pulled down 46 receptions for more than 600 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022. The air game will be complemented by a ground attack that features Charles Naylor, another first-team conference player.
Second-team All-KMAC returning players, besides Bower, include juniors Bo Landin and Ashton Clark.
"We hope to improve and compete every week," Armrose said of the 2023 season. "We will need to do that to be more competitive in the KMAC conference this year. All of our skilled positions have made huge improvement from last season. With (Bower) at quarterback and four guys that can catch the ball and make plays we hope to have an explosive offense."
Armrose’s coaching philosophy follows that of coach Ryan Teglovic, who was fondly called "Coach Teg" and fell prey to pancreatic cancer in 2022, Armrose said.
“Coach Teg from Colonel Crawford (High School) had always been someone I have looked up to,” said Armrose, who worked as an assistant for Teglovic earlier in his career. “Every time I have a big decision to make, I think about what he would do.”
The Knights play Mapleton Friday, with details unavailable at press time.
