SECTION IV FOOTBALL: WAVERLY'S MILLER BELIEVES WOLVERINES ARE CAPABLE OF BIG THINGS IN 2022 (2022-09-02)

By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
WAVERLY — Longtime Waverly coach Jason Miller believes his team has the “potential” to do big things in 2022, but knows full well potential doesn’t mean much.

The Wolverines are coming off a 10-1 season that ended with a loss to eventual state champion Chenango Forks in the Section IV, Class C championship game. They return the majority of their starters on both sides of the ball.

“I think we have tremendous potential, but you know where that falls in the alphabet,” said Miller. “The tools are there, we just have to know how to use them.

“There are a lot of variables that go into success,” he noted. “The one variable we control is effort. Another variable we control is how we handle adverse situations, and how we handle success.

“I hate to refer to last year, but it’s a task to win every game,” continued Miller. “You have to prepare every week, you have to have a focus, and you have to respect your opponents.

“I think we have a lot of room for growth,” added Miller. “We’re not even close to where we want to be, but if we make sure we maintain focus, and are attentive to detail every week, then we’ll be successful.”

Senior Ty Beeman will anchor the offensive line at center, with senior Landy Gunderson serving as his back-up.

Sophomore Kam Hills and junior Jake Benjamin with start at right guard and right tackle, respectively, with sophomore J.T. Williams and junior Alex Burgess backing them up.

Freshman Troy Beeman and senior Zack Vanderpool will start at left guard and left tackle, respectively, with junior Dylan Baggerly and 8th-grader Carson Rockwell backing them up.

Senior Nate DeLill will start at tight end, with freshman Matthias Welles and junior Ryan Shepard backing him up.

“We’re still a little raw, and young up front, and the back-ups are young,” said Miller. “Our line is bigger up front than we’re use to — we replaced a pair of 155-pound linemen with Troy Beeman, who is probably going 225, and Kam Hills, who is 310.

“All five our guys started in the Sectional championship game last year, and picked up good experience,” he noted. “They’re really improving on their technique, and gelling. I think we’re going to have a pretty good offensive line.

“Overall, our biggest concern is depth on the offensive line, but these young kids are really developing quickly. The younger kids have good size,” added Miller. “Carson (Rockwell) is an 8th-grader, and J.T. Williams, who came from Elmira, is a sophomore, and we have a slew of freshmen on the line that are deeper on the depth chart.”

Junior Joey Tomasso returns for his fourth year as starting signal-caller. He threw for 1,847 yards and 18 TDs, with just five picks in 2021, and also ran for a team-best 552 yards and 13 TDs.

“Joey (Tomasso) has a great grasp of our offense,” said Miller.“We have a lot of stuff in, and we have a lot of personnel packages because of that.”

Junior Gage Stull will serve as Tomasso’s back-up.

Senior Isaiah Bretz (16 receptions for 191 yards, and three TDs), and junior newcomers Carter George and Jake VanHouten will rotate in at X-receiver. Freshman Hogan Shaw could also see time there.

Junior Jay Pipher (42-666-6) will start at the slot with senior Landon McCarty, sophomores Peyton Fravel, and Seth Noto, and juniors Braedon Nichols and Edward Barker also vying for time.

“We’re definitely deeper at the skill positions than we have been, and we got thousands of reps over the summer,” said Miller.

“Isaiah (Bretz) is catching the ball really well, and Nate (DeLill) has become much more consistent … and both of them are really good blockers.

“Pipher is dynamic, while (Jake) VanHouten and (Carter) George are new football players … it’s probably going to take a little while for them to develop, but they both have tremendous potential. They are huge additions to the team,” noted Miller.

“Landon McCarty is someone who is improving every day,” added Miller. “It will probably take a few games for him to start repping in, but he’s learning the system quickly and is a good athlete.”

Seniors Gage Tedesco (547 rushing yards and eight TDs), Braeden Nichols (125 yards and two TDs), Kayleb Bechy, and Connor Stotler will likely account for the large majority of reps at running back, but 8th-grader Bryce LaForest and freshman Brance VanDyke could see action.

“I’m happy with our backs — all four run well,” said Miller. “(Kayleb) Bechy is electric, and Gage (Tedesco) runs hard, he doesn’t go down with one tackler.

“Braeden Hills is a tough runner, and Connor Stotler is explosive. Connor doesn’t have a lot of size, but he hits hard,” noted Miller.

“You’ll see us in some different sets than you’ve seen in the past. We’re not just going to be a spread team. We’ll be in two-back, two-tight end sets, we’ll be in two-back, one-tight end sets.

“Our emphasis is to avoid situations late in the year where we’re relying on the pass,” added Miller. “And, I believe we have the personnel to develop a pretty good run game.”

Defensively, Kam Hills and Troy Beeman will anchor the defensive line at the tackle spots, and will be backed up by Rockwell and freshman Cane McCutcheon.

DeLill and Benjamin will man the defensive end spots, with Williams, Welles, and Shepard vying for time there as well.

Ty Beeman and Stotler will start at inside linebacker, with Baggerly and Stull backing them up, while Tedesco and Bretz will start at outside linebacker.

“Inside linebacker is probably the one place on defense where we have the least depth,” said Miller. “We would have to move Gage (Tedesco) inside, and move some other guys around because the younger guys are just not ready.

“The outside and inside linebackers are inter-changeable depending on the personnel,” added Miller. “On paper, our depth doesn’t look good there, but there are ways to create depth by position changes.”

George and Bechy will start at corner back, with Fravel providing back-up.

Pipher, Tomasso, and VanHouten will rotate at safeties, with Nichols, McCarty, and Noto providing back-up in the secondary.

Senior Ryan Clark will handle the kicking duties for the Wolverines.

“Ryan (Clark) is a weapon for us, and can really impact the field-position battle with his leg,” said Miller.

LOOKING AROUND SECTION IV, CLASS C
With just six teams in Class C, Waverly will play every team, with the top four qualifying for the postseason. The top two teams will get a home game in the semifinals, and the highest remaining seed will host the championship game.

Miller is a big fan of the current system.

“You earn your way into the playoffs, and there’s no subjectivity in terms of East and West divisions,” he said. “You play everybody, and the seeds are based on how you perform in divisional play. It’s fair, and a good system.

“Inevitably that means playing teams twice, which means we have to be good coaches, and learn from what you’re successful at, and what you’re not successful doing and adjust in that second game,” noted Miller.

“Certainly, our goal is to finish at the top of the division, which is a tough task because Forks — the defending state champ — is there,” Miller continued.

“Susquehanna Valley is always tough,” he noted. “Chenango Valley has a good coaching staff, and always seems to have a good plan for us.

“We struggled early against Oneonta last year, and their quarterback is returning.

“When you’re talking about divisional opponents, if you want to have a home playoff game, or two, you have to perform well every week,” added Miller. “Every divisional game is a must-win game.”

As usual, says Miller, all roads to the state playoffs run through Chenango Forks, which graduated two all-state running backs, the best lineman in Section IV, and lost an all-star tight end to a season-ending injury.

“I would never dismiss Forks regardless of who they have and who they don’t have,” said Miller. “They have great coaches, who do a great job of coaching their kids up. They get better every week.

“They have three starting linemen back, and defensively they are stifling.

“Everybody has that game circled in Week 6,” added Miller. “I’m not gonna think about it until Week 6 unless I’m scouting them because it’s irrelevant our first six weeks, and I think that’s very very important.”

Waverly opens the 2022 campaign Saturday evening when it hosts Section IX’s Chester.

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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly junior Joey Tomasso.