Trojans eye consistency in 2025

GREENWICH — After three straight postseason appearances, South Central has sat at home the last two years. The Trojans limped to a 2-8 record last season and that included a 2-5 mark in the Firelands Conference. South Central wants to get back to the playoffs and a small group of 28 is ready to do just that. "Right now, the focus is just getting better every day," third-year coach Derek Fisher said. "I know it sounds cliché, but we have some young guys that we're going to be counting on a little earlier. Some of the older guys are even trying to catch up to speed. "We changed some things in the offseason with personnel and schemes and we're trying to get everybody on the same page at this point." South Central played better late in the season last year. The Trojans played Mapleton within two points (29-27 loss), hung around with St. Paul and beat Plymouth. "We did have some games where it started to click," Fisher said. "Toward the end of the year, it seemed like we were starting to get the hang of it. We lost our quarterback, so we're working in some new guys and trying new guys in spots. "Overall, we did a lot of stuff in the offseason to deep dive into what we're good at and what we're not good at and accent the positive and somewhat avoid the negative." Offense The Trojans will have a new quarterback this season after the graduation of Aaron Hauler. Junior Brayden Viock, who transferred to South Central just after the 2024 football season, takes the reigns from an offense that averaged 15.1 points per game. Hauler completed 90 of 174 passes for 936 yards, six touchdowns and eight interceptions. "We lost some senior production and we're going to miss that," Fisher said. "We're trying to get our kids to understand that we keep an eye on the future and look at what we have upcoming. "We look at the clientele that we're working with and realize there's certain things we'd like to do, but we can't. So we have to find the best system that fits us now, and the future." Senior Cole Frankart was the leading receiver with 30 catches for 388 yards and three touchdowns. He, Troy Ayers and Grayson Fisher will be viable options for Viock, who completed 56 of 114 passes for 569 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions for Norwalk last year. Alex Hamons, Kaden Blair and Lucas Smith return with experience on the offensive line. "We've got some skilled guys outside and three-fifths of our offensive line experienced," coach Fisher said. "We're led by a couple seniors and at a smaller school, we've got holes to plug. There's a lot of variables where everything is domino effect where if this kid goes here, now we've got three different positions to fill. We're making the most of it." Defense The Trojans struggled defensively last season. South Central gave up 27 or more points eight times. "We face a lot of teams at the beginning of the season that are going to be spread teams," Fisher said. "In the Firelands Conference, it's going to be all about stopping the run. If you can run the ball and control the clock and you can stop the run, that's where most of your success lies." Diton Farnsworth led South Central with 80 tackles, but graduated. Greyson Fisher was second on the team with 67 tackles. Coach Fisher expects senior Dixon Blanton to have a big year. South Central will benefit from the return of Brantley Ellis, who was an all-conference pick as a sophomore before missing last year due to an injury. Frankart, Ayers and Viock will fill in spots defensively. Another Norwalk transfer, junior Jerry Shelton, will factor into the defense as well. "We're trying to figure out what works best and how we can be competitive week to week and not just gear up for one team and then completely scrap our plan for the next week based on who we're playing," coach Fisher said. "We're trying to build a system rather than a collection of plays." The Trojans open once again with Willard, a team that has topped South Central 32-7 and 35-6 the past two seasons. "We're anxious. I love football," Fisher said. "We're chomping at the bit to get started. A lot of our kids have really bought in. The record has not been indicative of the three years we've had. I think the kids are really starting to love football. I think they're starting to figure out the nuisances of it. I wish we had 10 hours a day with them because there's so much we could teach them." 2025 schedule Aug. 22: at Willard, 7 p.m. Aug. 29: at Buckeye Central, 7 p.m. Sept. 5: Rittman, 7 p.m. Sept. 12: Monroeville, 7 p.m. Sept. 19: Ashland Crestview, 7 p.m. Sept. 26: at Ashland Mapleton, 7 p.m. Oct. 3: Western Reserve, 7 p.m. Oct. 10: at St. Paul, 7 p.m. Oct. 17: at New London, 7 p.m. Oct. 24: at Plymouth, 7 p.m. 2024 results (2-8) Willard 32, South Central 7 Galion Northmor 49, South Central 0 Rittman 37, South Central 14 South Central 33, New London 12 Monroeville 41, South Central 0 Ashland Crestview 47, South Central 6 Ashland Mapleton 29, South Central 27 Western Reserve 41, South Central 15 St. Paul 34, South Central 20 South Central 29, Plymouth 14 2025 roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. 1 Greyson Fisher TE/LB 6-1 180 11 2 Cam Beverly RB/LB 5-11 215 10 3 Landon Harris TE/LB 6-1 190 12 4 Justin Gillum RB/LB 5-9 175 10 5 Cole Frankart ATH/DB 5-11 170 12 6 Dixon Blanton RB/LB 5-10 175 12 7 Brayden Viock QB/DB 6-1 195 11 8 Troy Ayers WR/DB 6-1 165 12 10 Jaxson Strickland WR/B 5-7 170 10 11 Jerry Shelton WR/DB 6-1 175 11 12 Brick Barnett WR/DB 5-10 160 12 13 Rex Phillips WR/DB 5-2 115 9 14 Price Knoll QB/DB 6-2 185 9 15 Lucas Kilgore RB/LB 5-11 170 12 16 Lucas Williams WR/DB 5-8 160 9 28 Brantley Ellis RB/LB 5-9 155 12 50 Brady Lyons OL/DL 5-7 190 10 51 Reese Hamilton OL/DL 6-1 240 9 52 Travis Steele OL/DL 5-10 215 10 54 Broc Schlarb OL/DL 5-9 160 9 57 James Blaker Jr. OL/DL 6-0 190 9 58 Alex Hamons OL/DL 5-9 220 12 64 Lucas Smith OL/DL 6-0 265 11 66 Kaden Blair OL/DL 6-0 225 12 70 Connor Moffit OL/DL 6-0 190 11 75 Bryson Shepherd OL/DL 5-10 290 10 76 Briar Sparks OL/DL 5-11 325 10 78 Zithyn Bays OL/DL 6-0 300 9