Members of the Jonathan Alder football team are from left, Jackson Izzard and JT Keith; second row, Zach Russell, Dylan Moore, Breckin Francis, Kyle Kidd, Alec Schrock, Hunter Hardesty, Denver Petersheim, Brendan Liford, Josh Kaeser and Tyson Mast; third row, Jonathan Keith, Andrew McGlaughlin, Chase Maynard, Will Heisler, Taber Headings, Jayden Truitt, Nick Finke, Colin Komisarek, Damon Hay, Austin Preston and Wyatt Kaizer; fourth row, Owen Crabtree, Hank Shoemaker, Aidan Burke, Logan Shafley, Jackson Bennett, Baylor Petzinger, Isaak Ricker, Wyatt Bruce, Doug Nussbaum, Blake Seum; fifth, row, Ryan Bailey, Keeghan DeWitt, Gibby Wilson, Andrew Richey, Eli Trbovich, Cammarn Smith, Simon Fenik, Alex McCafferty, Dominic Kroninger, Cam Potter and Johann Boeckl; sixth row, Mason Miller, Brevin Bourquin, Jake Neumeier, Ryan Wilkins, Connor Bodey, Brock Neal, Omar Rodriguez, Andrew Heisler, Charlie Aurin and Forrest Gregory; seventh row, Owen Larison, Wyatt Hunt, Ty Moore, Scottie Wallace, Mason Daniel and Alex Boggs; eighth row, coaches Craig Kyle, Tim Brink, Brett Glass (head coach), Elliott Glass, and Josh Bope; ninth row, coaches Donnie Glick, Chris Clapham, Chris Tilton and Chris Homan. (Photo submitted)
Many high school football coaches would love to be in the shoes of Jonathan Alder’s Brett Glass.
The veteran Pioneer boss has a plethora of lettermen back from a squad that posted a 12-1 record and was a Division III regional runner-up in 2019.
JA is led by senior quarterback J.T. Keith, who threw for 32 touchdowns and 2,475 yards.
Keith is coming back from surgery that occurred after he injured his knee during the final game of the season against Columbus Bishop Hartley.
“Having a three-year starting quarterback is huge,” said Glass.
Keith has a solid receiver at his disposal in senior Jackson Izzard. He snared 66 passes for 963 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Keith and Izzard are just two of the lettermen on the Pioneer roster.
Other offensive veterans include receivers Tyson Mast, Tabor Headings, Jackson Bennett and Jonathan Keith; running backs Will Heisler (who is slated to replace the graduated Garret Proxmire), Brendan Lyford, Hank Shoemaker, Cam Smith and Blake Seum; fullbacks Chase Maynard and Denver Peterscheim; linemen Alex Schrock, Andrew McGauglin, Kyle Kidd, Breckin Francis and Aidan Barker; and place kicker Dyan Moore.
Moore was spot on with all 66 of his extra point attempts and his four field goal tries last year.
The Pioneer offense has not changed from previous seasons.
“We are going to be multiple on offense,” said Glass. “We always want to establish the run, but with our combination of J.T. and Jackson, you also have to throw the ball.
“Our goal is always to get the ball into our playmakers’ hands.”
Alder will continue to employ a 4-2-5 defense.
Linemen include Logan Shafley, Daman Hay, Baylor Petzinger and several of the offensive line lettermen.
Maynard, Heisler and Hunter Hardesy will see action at linebacker.
Among those manning positions in the secondary will be Izzard, Jonathan Keith and Headings.
Glass is optimistic heading into an abbreviated COVID-19 regular season.
All teams in Ohio are scheduled to play six games before the playoffs.
“Our seniors have proven to be outstanding leaders for our younger players,” said Glass. “These guys have played a lot of football and know how to win.”
The Pioneer coach said he really doesn’t have any concerns going into the campaign.
“It’s more of an unknown,” said Glass. “We really don’t know yet how some of our younger players are going to respond on Friday nights.”
Football teams in the state weren’t allowed to conduct a full preseason scrimmage schedule in order to take a look at younger players.
The Pioneers were able to scrimmage at Fairbanks last Friday evening.
Glass acknowledges his squad will face a stout schedule.
“We start off the season with a tough Central Buckeye Conference cross-over game at North Union (on Friday).
“We also finish the regular season against London, which is always a big rivalry game.”
JA is also set to play Kenton Ridge, Bellefontaine, Tecumseh and Springfield Shawnee.
“It’s a highly-competitive schedule, but I feel confident we can fit in well,” said Glass. “One of our goals is always to win the conference championship.”
Another yearly goal is to qualify for the playoffs.
That’s already been achieved without the first snap, since each team in Ohio is eligible for the post-season this year.
“I’ve told the guys we’re already in the playoffs,” said Glass. “We now just want to make a long post-season run.”