Panthers heading in the right direction
Photo by JD Images
11/18/12
The 2013 senior class set many new standards for the Hilliard Darby football program. As a team they posted the programs first outright conference championship, first undefeated regular season and the best record by any class in school history with 26 wins and 7 losses. They are also the first class to make the playoffs two times.
Darby finished the 2012 season with an 11-1 overall
record following a 24-14 loss to Pickerington North in a Nov. 10 regional semifinal game at Gahanna. Pickerington North defeated Hilliard Davidson 21-0 the following week in the Region 3 championship game and will take on Cincinnati Moeller in the state semifinal.
Prior to the Nov. 10th playoff matchup, Darby defeated Westerville South 31-10 in the first round of the Region 3 playoffs. Other key wins during the regular season were an exciting come-from-behind 28-24 victory over Dublin Scioto, a 29-7 win over Westerville Central, a 28-14 win over Westerville South, and a clean sweep of the Hilliard gridiron, defeating Hilliard Davidson and Hilliard Bradley.
Leading the way for the Panthers was an extremely talented group of seniors, including quarterback/defensive back Chase Longwell, defensive back/slot back Caleb Day, linebacker/fullback Cameron Kohl, fullback/defensive end Hayden VanKirk and linemen Stephan Hernon and Zach Williams.
While his stats might not be the best in Central Ohio it is hard to believe that any other quarterback in the area could have lead this team the way Chase Longwell did. For his career Chase ran for 1,671 yard and 26 touchdowns on 312 carries, while completing 97 of 165 passes for 1,551 yards, 17 touchdowns with only 3 career interceptions. On defense Longwell
tallied 80 tackles, 3 interceptions and 11 pass deflections. Chase was named All-OCC three times and All-Central District twice. He is also one of roughly 6 Darby players to ever play varsity all four years.
Cameron Kohl, another four year varsity player, was the leader of the defense and became the programs all-time leading tackler this past season. For his career Kohl recorded 345 career tackles, 7 sacks, 2 INT’s, 2 fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. On offense Cameron rushed for 585 yards and 7 touchdowns on 85 carries. Cameron was named All-OCC three times and All-Central District twice (1st and 2nd team) during his four year career.
Caleb Day is arguably the most exciting player in school history with his all-around play on offense, defense and special teams. In three seasons Caleb ran for 1,005 yards and 15 touchdowns on 151 carries, and also caught 59 passes for 1,089 yards and 15 touchdowns on offense. On defense he recorded 109 tackles, 9 interceptions (2 for TD’s) and 27 pass break-ups. He also returned the ball 46 times for 812 yards on special teams. For his efforts Caleb was a two-time All-Ohio, All-Metro and ThisWeek News Super 25 performer, as well as a three-time All-OCC and All-District player. He was also the
conference Co-Player of the Year and Central District Defensive Player of the Year this past season. Day will continue his football career at the University of Illinois.
Despite sharing offensive touches with many other standouts, Hayden VanKirk was an extremely valuable asset to have at the fullback position. Over the past three seasons Hayden ran the ball 269 times for 1,422 yard and 14 touchdowns, to go along with 7 receptions for 96 yards and two scores. He also made 92 tackles on defense. Hayden was twice named All-OCC, and received honorable mention All-Central District this season.
One of the biggest surprises this year was Kyle Kaplan, a senior kicker. His kicking stats from the 2011 season were modest; however the 2012 season was an entirely different story. Kyle kicked off 75 times this season, placing 40 of those kicks in the endzone for touchbacks. He also converted 53 of 56 extra point attempts and made 8 of 11 field goal attempts with a long of 40 yards.
In the trenches, Zach Williams and Stephan Hernon stood out above the rest, both making second team All-District. Hernon especially stood out on the defensive ball, terrorizing opposing quarterbacks all season long. Zach Williams became only the 11th player in program history to be named team captain twice. Chase Longwell was also a two-time captain.
Other seniors lost are Devon Booth, Joe Casey, Jake Chetock, Jarrod Kelso, Alex Martin, Tim Meehan, Sam Pagan, Michael Porter, Danny Trujillo-Osorio and Sam Valenti.
Michael Porter finished fourth on the team in rushing with 344 yards and 4 touchdowns on 53 carries. Devon Booth and Sam Valenti were extremely important to a strong defensive backfield. Booth finished 3rd on the team with 56 tackles and also had 2 interceptions and 7 pass deflections. Valenti also has 2 interceptions to go along with his 49 tackles. Kelso and Martin missed a good portion of the season with injuries.
Though we say goodbye to an extremely special group of seniors the future looks bright for the Darby Panthers as they expect to return some solid juniors, as well as players from a 9-1 junior varsity team and an 8-2 freshman team.
A good offense is built around a good offensive line, and the Panthers return a solid nucleus there with tackle Josh Humbert
(2nd team All-OCC), guard Anthony Hajjar and center David Still (both special mention All-OCC). The returning offensive linemen is a good start, however the skill players have a lot of hard work ahead of them this offseason, as 2,362 rushing yards and 34 rushing touchdowns will be graduating in June. Nate Green should take over the quarterback spot (21 carries for 117 yards), while Jacob Stacy (14 carries for 164 yards and 2 td’s, honorable mention All-OCC) and Hunter McSweeney (17 carries for 96 yards) have the most experience at the running back positions. Devon Rogers is the leading receiver with 5 receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown.
Key players expected to return on defense are linebackers Nate Green and Trevor Parker, linemen Kyle Knudsen and Brian Casey, as well as defensive backs Stacy, McSweeney and Rogers. Parker leads the defensive returnees with 76 tackles, 2 sacks and an interception, followed by Green (49 tackles, 2 sacks), Stacy (34 tackles, 1 sack & 1 INT), Ben Radcliffe (22 tackles) and Brian Casey (17 tackles, 1.5 sacks).
On special teams Nate Green (special mention All-District and 2nd team All-OCC) will return as one of the best punters in Central Ohio. This season Green punted 30 times for an average of 36.7 yards per punt, while placing 12 punts inside the opponent 20 yard line.
The freshmen team, lead by former Darby standout Matt Burgei, finished the season at 8-2. Captains were Jake Harms, Willie Lewis, Nick Powers and Christopher Schultz.
The freshmen season was highlighted by a thrilling one point victory over Westerville South and a 6-0 win over rival Hilliard Davidson.
Leading the way for the freshmen team was quarterback Nick Powers. Powers rushed for 1,078 yards and 15 touchdowns on 134 carries, while passing for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns on 31 attempts. Fullback Kyle Colvin rushed for 740 yards and 12 touchdowns on 121 carries. Richie Palsgrove was the leading receiver with 5 receptions for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns.
On defense, linebacker Thomas Scholl lead the way with 62 tackles (10.5 TFL), followed by defensive end Jake Harms (51.5 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 11.5 TFL), Josh Norris (36 tackles, 4 TFL) and defensive backs Braedon Hook (34 tackles, 5 INT) and Willie Lewis (30 tackles).
The 2013 senior class set many new standards for the Hilliard Darby football program. As a team they posted the programs first outright conference championship, first undefeated regular season and the best record by any class in school history with 26 wins and 7 losses. They are also the first class to make the playoffs two times.
Darby finished the 2012 season with an 11-1 overall
record following a 24-14 loss to Pickerington North in a Nov. 10 regional semifinal game at Gahanna. Pickerington North defeated Hilliard Davidson 21-0 the following week in the Region 3 championship game and will take on Cincinnati Moeller in the state semifinal.
Prior to the Nov. 10th playoff matchup, Darby defeated Westerville South 31-10 in the first round of the Region 3 playoffs. Other key wins during the regular season were an exciting come-from-behind 28-24 victory over Dublin Scioto, a 29-7 win over Westerville Central, a 28-14 win over Westerville South, and a clean sweep of the Hilliard gridiron, defeating Hilliard Davidson and Hilliard Bradley.
Leading the way for the Panthers was an extremely talented group of seniors, including quarterback/defensive back Chase Longwell, defensive back/slot back Caleb Day, linebacker/fullback Cameron Kohl, fullback/defensive end Hayden VanKirk and linemen Stephan Hernon and Zach Williams.
While his stats might not be the best in Central Ohio it is hard to believe that any other quarterback in the area could have lead this team the way Chase Longwell did. For his career Chase ran for 1,671 yard and 26 touchdowns on 312 carries, while completing 97 of 165 passes for 1,551 yards, 17 touchdowns with only 3 career interceptions. On defense Longwell
tallied 80 tackles, 3 interceptions and 11 pass deflections. Chase was named All-OCC three times and All-Central District twice. He is also one of roughly 6 Darby players to ever play varsity all four years.
Cameron Kohl, another four year varsity player, was the leader of the defense and became the programs all-time leading tackler this past season. For his career Kohl recorded 345 career tackles, 7 sacks, 2 INT’s, 2 fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. On offense Cameron rushed for 585 yards and 7 touchdowns on 85 carries. Cameron was named All-OCC three times and All-Central District twice (1st and 2nd team) during his four year career.
Caleb Day is arguably the most exciting player in school history with his all-around play on offense, defense and special teams. In three seasons Caleb ran for 1,005 yards and 15 touchdowns on 151 carries, and also caught 59 passes for 1,089 yards and 15 touchdowns on offense. On defense he recorded 109 tackles, 9 interceptions (2 for TD’s) and 27 pass break-ups. He also returned the ball 46 times for 812 yards on special teams. For his efforts Caleb was a two-time All-Ohio, All-Metro and ThisWeek News Super 25 performer, as well as a three-time All-OCC and All-District player. He was also the
conference Co-Player of the Year and Central District Defensive Player of the Year this past season. Day will continue his football career at the University of Illinois.
Despite sharing offensive touches with many other standouts, Hayden VanKirk was an extremely valuable asset to have at the fullback position. Over the past three seasons Hayden ran the ball 269 times for 1,422 yard and 14 touchdowns, to go along with 7 receptions for 96 yards and two scores. He also made 92 tackles on defense. Hayden was twice named All-OCC, and received honorable mention All-Central District this season.
One of the biggest surprises this year was Kyle Kaplan, a senior kicker. His kicking stats from the 2011 season were modest; however the 2012 season was an entirely different story. Kyle kicked off 75 times this season, placing 40 of those kicks in the endzone for touchbacks. He also converted 53 of 56 extra point attempts and made 8 of 11 field goal attempts with a long of 40 yards.
In the trenches, Zach Williams and Stephan Hernon stood out above the rest, both making second team All-District. Hernon especially stood out on the defensive ball, terrorizing opposing quarterbacks all season long. Zach Williams became only the 11th player in program history to be named team captain twice. Chase Longwell was also a two-time captain.
Other seniors lost are Devon Booth, Joe Casey, Jake Chetock, Jarrod Kelso, Alex Martin, Tim Meehan, Sam Pagan, Michael Porter, Danny Trujillo-Osorio and Sam Valenti.
Michael Porter finished fourth on the team in rushing with 344 yards and 4 touchdowns on 53 carries. Devon Booth and Sam Valenti were extremely important to a strong defensive backfield. Booth finished 3rd on the team with 56 tackles and also had 2 interceptions and 7 pass deflections. Valenti also has 2 interceptions to go along with his 49 tackles. Kelso and Martin missed a good portion of the season with injuries.
Though we say goodbye to an extremely special group of seniors the future looks bright for the Darby Panthers as they expect to return some solid juniors, as well as players from a 9-1 junior varsity team and an 8-2 freshman team.
A good offense is built around a good offensive line, and the Panthers return a solid nucleus there with tackle Josh Humbert
(2nd team All-OCC), guard Anthony Hajjar and center David Still (both special mention All-OCC). The returning offensive linemen is a good start, however the skill players have a lot of hard work ahead of them this offseason, as 2,362 rushing yards and 34 rushing touchdowns will be graduating in June. Nate Green should take over the quarterback spot (21 carries for 117 yards), while Jacob Stacy (14 carries for 164 yards and 2 td’s, honorable mention All-OCC) and Hunter McSweeney (17 carries for 96 yards) have the most experience at the running back positions. Devon Rogers is the leading receiver with 5 receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown.
Key players expected to return on defense are linebackers Nate Green and Trevor Parker, linemen Kyle Knudsen and Brian Casey, as well as defensive backs Stacy, McSweeney and Rogers. Parker leads the defensive returnees with 76 tackles, 2 sacks and an interception, followed by Green (49 tackles, 2 sacks), Stacy (34 tackles, 1 sack & 1 INT), Ben Radcliffe (22 tackles) and Brian Casey (17 tackles, 1.5 sacks).
On special teams Nate Green (special mention All-District and 2nd team All-OCC) will return as one of the best punters in Central Ohio. This season Green punted 30 times for an average of 36.7 yards per punt, while placing 12 punts inside the opponent 20 yard line.
The freshmen team, lead by former Darby standout Matt Burgei, finished the season at 8-2. Captains were Jake Harms, Willie Lewis, Nick Powers and Christopher Schultz.
The freshmen season was highlighted by a thrilling one point victory over Westerville South and a 6-0 win over rival Hilliard Davidson.
Leading the way for the freshmen team was quarterback Nick Powers. Powers rushed for 1,078 yards and 15 touchdowns on 134 carries, while passing for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns on 31 attempts. Fullback Kyle Colvin rushed for 740 yards and 12 touchdowns on 121 carries. Richie Palsgrove was the leading receiver with 5 receptions for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns.
On defense, linebacker Thomas Scholl lead the way with 62 tackles (10.5 TFL), followed by defensive end Jake Harms (51.5 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 11.5 TFL), Josh Norris (36 tackles, 4 TFL) and defensive backs Braedon Hook (34 tackles, 5 INT) and Willie Lewis (30 tackles).