Big back happy to be running for Trojans

By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post

ELMWOOD – In many prep football programs, Layne Johnson would have pushed harder to be quarterback. Not so much at Elmwood-Brimfield, where the offense goes entire games without throwing a pass.

And so Johnson, one of two full-time starters and two part-time starters back on offense for the Trojans, is happy to be playing wingback.

“Definitely, I like playing running back a little bit more than quarterback in our offense. Just watch the film,” Johnson said. “But I’m willing to play any position coach puts me in.”

Expectations are that the 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior back will be in a position to run the ball plenty for E-B, which must replace last year’s dynamic running attack of Bo Windish (1,822 rushing yards) and Matthew Glenn (1,727 yards). Both backs graduated, as did four starting linemen.

But E-B is not without experience up front, which helps explain why Coach Todd Hollis thinks that side of the ball is better prepared for the season ahead.

“On offense we’re pretty solid, even guys that weren’t playing last year,” he said. “They understand how the offense feels when it feels right. We run so many reps of it.”

As is generally the case for E-B, the Trojans go as the offensive line goes. The lone returnee is senior guard Walter Lampe (5-foot-11, 245 pounds), though returning senior tight end Tommy Burkitt (6-2, 190) is also called on to block most plays.

Stepping up into the trenches will be senior center Hayden Brugger (5-10, 180), senior tackle Baron Case (5-8, 265), junior tackle Owen Thornton (6-4, 250), sophomore guard Adam Rust (5-9, 210) and senior tight end Beau Grunow (5-11, 185).

Brugger started in the playoffs last year and has come on strong for a line that Hollis praises for its brains as much as for its brawn. He notes that Lampe is tied for No. 1 in his class (along with quarterback Evan Patterson), while Case, Brugger, Thornton and Grunow are all near the top of their classes for grade-point average.

Hollis says all those smarts help linemen make adjustments and communicate well. “And they’re all really good friends so they communicate well already,” Hollis said.

Even so, it also helps to have some talented running backs.

“Layne reminds me a little of Jackson Harkness or Paul Bennett, the guy that ran for our first conference championship team,” Hollis said. “He’s going to move piles. When you have a guy that teams are really going to have to load up some dudes to stop, that opens up some other things.”
That means there should be holes for wingbacks Dylan Shane and Logan Estes and fullback Myles Alger. And don’t be surprised to see QB Patterson run some, as he is one of the team’s strongest players. Might he even pass the ball a few times?

“He might be the wild card,” Hollis said. “If he hits a couple guys deep or carries the ball himself, that might be the difference.”

The bigger question for E-B is on defense, where Burkitt and Shane return in the defensive backfield and Johnson is back at middle linebacker.

The rest of the linebacking corps will be young, featuring juniors Estes and Emery Baumann and sophomore Liam Newman – one of three second-years expected to start on defense.

“It’s a very talented (sophomore) class,” Hollis said. “There’s potential at some point we could have six sophomores playing on the offensive or defensive side.”

Two of those youngsters are tall, athletic defensive ends Gavin Strom (6-5, 195) and Cole Cox (6-5, 200). In the middle figure to be nose guard Lampe and 6-4 tackle Thornton.

Grunow will be the other starter in the defensive backfield.

All those newcomers and a new scheme make the defense a work in progress, according to coaches and players.
“We’re putting in a new defensive look this year and trying something new to see if it works for this year’s team compared to last year,” Johnson said. “We’ll pick it up. It’s just a matter of time.”

Hollis agrees the Trojans may look much different later in the season than the teams that opens at home against Knoxville on Friday, Aug. 29.

“Unlike last year, where I thought we were at a pretty high level from the start, this year because of the lack of experience, this group has the ability to continue to grow,” Hollis said. “All the mistakes early are really fixable and the sophomores, a lot of them are going to get play on the other side of the ball Monday nights and they will get in a little extra football.”