By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After an impressive 7-3 campaign and another trip to the 3A round of 16, the Chapman Fighting Irish bring back a great deal of veteran leadership and will look to make another run in 2022.
“We had a good group of overachievers last year that didn’t have a lot of success in middle school or JV but they all found their role and things started to click for them,” fifth-year Chapman head coach Kurt Webster said. “We still need to get over the hump of the second round of the playoffs if we want to get where we ultimately want to be.”
With another year of experience under their belts, this year’s Fighting Irish squad will look to do just that behind two lines that return eight of their nine members from a season ago.
In the offensive trenches, Brayden Lexow, Troy Boyd, Weston Langvardt and Xander Yeauger all return for another season of hard-nose run-dominant Chapman football.
“Our plan is always to be run-heavy with the kids that we have,” Webster said. “We want to be strong and powerful off the ball and we like running downhill.”
The Irish will also return senior quarterback Nick Anderson to run the offense after a very productive offseason.
“Nick has been incredible for us,” he said. “Last year he was a fantastic decision maker in his first year and he’s worked hard and added a lot of strength and speed since last season. He’s a guy who never really made a bad decision and that’s what you need at quarterback, especially in a system like ours.”
For Chapman, the biggest question mark on offense comes in the form of a 1,920-yard hole left by bruising back Eli Riegel. Riegel will be replaced this season by converted receiver Ian Suther and junior Aidan Whitley, who averaged six yards per carry last year in a small sample size.
Defensive standout DJ Messerly will see time at tight end this season, while Cooper Lewis, Andre Miles, Blake Hornaday, and Ben Griffis fill out the receiving corps.
In addition to an all-new backfield, Chapman will have to replace their entire linebacking corps from a season ago, something the team has confidence in their culture to do.
“We need to have some guys step up,” Webster said. “We talk about the standard we want our kids to operate at and the names and numbers shouldn’t matter year to year, we hold everyone to that. It will be interesting to see who rises up and finds themselves a role.”
Going into week one, two of those holes at linebacker will be filled by Ben Griffis and Ryan Clark, with Nick Anderson and Cade Hanney patrolling the deepest parts of the field as safeties.
On the D-Line, DJ Messerly, Brayden Lexow, Kendan Blacketer, and Weston Langvardt all return from last season while Ian Suther and Andre Miles reprise their roles at corner.
While the ultimate goal for Chapman lies beyond the round of sixteen, the Irish are committed to taking things one step at a time to get there, with similar goals again this season.
“We always talk about winning a league championship here and then from there we want to win a district championship,” Webster said. “We want to be the most physical team throughout the season to earn a good playoff spot and from there the sky is the limit.”
Chapman’s 2022 campaign will get underway on Friday, September 2nd when the Irish travel to Concordia for a date with the Panthers.
For more on Fighting Irish football all season long stay tuned to the Salina Post.