Head Coach: Chad Zolman (17th season)
2020 Schedule:
Aug. 21 Northrop
Aug. 28 at Concordia
Sep. 4 at Luers
Sep. 11 Dwenger
Sep. 18 at Snider
Sep. 25 North Side
Oct. 2 Carroll
Oct. 9 at Wayne
Oct. 16 at South Side
Key Returning Players:
RB Braeden Hardwick
WR Jared Kistler
OG Sean Rice
OG Brady Parker
OC Owen Hire
NG Matt Miller
MLB Luke Palmer
OLB Cole Etchison
SS Ryan Burton
Key Losses:
QB Luke Goode
WR Griffin Little
WR/FS Jake Archbold
OG Grant Parker
OLB Cam Rogers
OLB Nik Martin
K Gunnar Fry
2019 was a special year for Homestead football. It was the first time since 2012 that the Spartans had gone undefeated in the regular season, before they were a member of the Summit Athletic Conference. Everything went right for Sparty and they were unstoppable in the SAC, winning all but 1 regular season game by double digits. But as with every team, you will lose a lot of great players from the previous year. However, Homestead wasn’t hit all that hard, especially compared to schools like Snider, by players graduating.
On defense, the Spartans lose two of their top linebackers and leaders, with Cam Rogers and Nik Martin moving on, but they return two great ones too, with senior linebackers Luke Palmer and Cole Etchison filling those holes on defense. With these two right in the middle of things, Homestead won’t skip a beat on that side of the ball.
“I definitely think we can be as good as last year,” Palmer said. “We have very good team chemistry, that’s what we pride ourselves on. I think as long as we continue to work together like we have been in practice we’ll be just as good as last year.”
Luke Palmer made 97 tackles, 14 TFL, and had a sack last year with the Spartans. He was great alongside Cam Rogers who had 81 tackles, 12 TFL, and 2.5 sacks last year.
“He definitely taught me how to be a leader,” Palmer said of Rogers. “Leading by example, leading by being vocal. He’s really taught me the overall aspects of how to become a great leader.”
The rest of the Spartan defense will be really good this season once again. As mentioned, Cole Etchison will be a great linebacker this year, after having 54 tackles, 2 TFL, and 1 INT a season ago. On the defensive line, Matt Miller will look to have a breakout year. Last season as a sophomore, Miller had 36 tackles, 9.5 TFL, and 4.5 sacks. Then in the secondary, it will be Ryan Burton, who had 32 tackles and 4 TFL last season, as the primary threat at DB.
On offense, Homestead looks scary again. The offensive line has a lot of experience, with Sean Rice, Brady Parker, and Owen Hire all returning. At running back, Braeden Hardwick should see a heavy workload again. He rushed for 957 yds, 6.8 yds/car, and 15 TD before his season was cut short by injury. Then Homestead returns their top receiver from 2019, the 6’4” 205 lb Jared Kistler. Kistler had 35 rec, 677 yds, and 6 TD while sharing the field with WR Griffin Little (37 rec, 520 yds, 6TD) and WR Jake Archbold (40 rec, 665 yds, 13 TD). Kistler will be one of, if not the best wideout in the conference in 2020, and felt fortunate to have those senior receivers as teammates last season.
“They really took me under their wing,” Kistler said. “They would always help me through stuff. If I had questions they would answer them and try to tell me what they’ve gone through. It just helped me a lot through the season.”
The only real question mark on this team will be who plays quarterback. Luke Goode had a phenomenal year in 2019, passing for 2,778 yds and 27 TD with only 2 interceptions. However, with Goode choosing to focus on basketball this year, it will be up to either Evan Ormsby, Grady Swing, or Peyton Slaven to get the job done in 2020.
“I think any of the quarterbacks could come in and play at the starting position,” Kistler said. “Whoever’s going to compete the hardest is going to get the job.”
Though Coach Zolman hasn’t been able to do the full competition yet, he too has liked what he’s seen from each of his three guys.
“I think they’re all working hard, they want to get better,” Zolman said. “Coach Skelton does a really good job of training them and showing them what they need to do and how to improve. As long as they’re continuing to work on those things and improve on those things, we’ll be fine.”
At the end of the day, it might not matter who plays quarterback with all the talent and experience on the rest of Homestead’s roster. Another very impressive senior class will put the Spartans right in the thick of the SAC race again.
“We tell our seniors that this is their season,” Zolman said. “They control the locker room. They control the enthusiasm at practice, they control the intensity at practice, so we rely on those guys.”
“Last year’s senior group was great, they did a lot of good work, but that team is gone. Every year the challenge of high school football is that we have to start all over with a whole new group of seniors and we rotate another group in, so that’s the challenge. So the question is can this group get there. I really think they have some of the key things we’re looking for in a good football team and they continue to work and lead. They’re not necessarily the same type of leaders as the last group, but they have some potential to be really good, so that’s what we’re looking for.”
Homestead’s first chance to showcase their senior class will be at home against Northrop on August 21.
