Maples’ youth movement continues
Rob Burchianti/For the Observer-Reporter
Mapletown running back Landan Stevenson, left, tries to avoid a Jefferson-Morgan tackler last season, Stevenson rushed for 987 yards and scored 120 points as a freshman a year ago.
Rob Burchianti/For the Observer-Reporter
Mapletown running back Landan Stevenson (1) is just 175 rushing yards shy of 4,000 for his career.
Rob Burchianti/For the Observer-Reporter
Mapletown quarterback Max Vanata (5) throws a swing pass to Lance Stevenson (3) in a game last season. Both players are among a the Maples' lengthy list of returning starters.
By Chris Dugan
Sports editor
dugan@observer-reporter.com
MAPLETOWN – When Mapletown’s veteran coach George Messich looked at his team last year, what he saw would make some younger, less-experienced coaches panic: freshmen and sophomores everywhere in the starting lineup.
“Last year, we started three freshmen and five sophomores on both offense and defense,” pointed out Messich, who will be entering his 38th season as Mapletown’s head coach. “They were all so young. We won two games with that group and we were excited about that because we knew all those guys were coming back.”
What is odd this year for the Maples is they’re still one of the youngest teams in the Class A Tri-County South Conference. That’s because the league was filled with teams rebuilding with underclassmen a year ago, which should mean more tightly contested games in the league this season.
“Looking at the conference, there are going to be more competitive games every Friday night because there are about four teams that are senior-laden,” Messich said.
Mapletown is still not one of those senior-dominated teams but the Maples have a lot of things going for them in an effort to make improvement over last year’s 2-8 record. After all, happiness for a football coach is nine returning starters on both offense and defense. It’s especially pleasant when you return the starting quarterback and a 900-yard running back.
Landan Stevenson rushed for 987 yards and scored 120 points as a freshman last year. He also caught 19 passes, averaging 19.5 yards per reception. He will be the hub of the offense.
“Landan can do some things you can’t coach,” Messich said. “He has speed, he has good vision, he has the ability to cut back, he makes people miss in the open field. Landan also could be a good wide receiver. He’s already a good running back. We were really impressed with some of the things he did as a freshman.”
Stevenson will be joined in the backfield by junior quarterback Max Vanata, who passed for 571 yards last year, completing 42 percent of his passes. Messich expects both numbers to improve this fall.
Cohen Stout, a 230-pound sophomore, is the fullback.
Stevenson, Vanata and Stout were Mapletown’s three selections on the all-conference team a year ago.
“We’re pleased with our backfield. We think it can do some good things,” Messich said.
Vanata has two experienced receivers in senior Lance Stevenson and junior Clay Menear.
Four starters, and a few others with experience, return to the offensive line. Senior Blake Holbert (6-1, 260), juniors James Thompson (5-9, 222), Riley Franks (5-9, 183) and Gaige Shaw (6-0, 268) return, as does Levi Howard, who started some games as a freshman last year. Junior Gage Siders and Isaac Hall, a 220-pound freshman, also should get playing time.
The defense must improve if the Maples are going to better last year’s win total. Mapletown gave up 182 rushing yards a game and 5.0 yards per carry last season.
“Our defensive backs led us in tackles last year. Does that tell you something?” Messich asked. “Our goal is to get better on the defensive line and at linebacker.”
The line should be much improved with Stout and Howard back at the ends after starting as freshmen, and Thompson and Holbert at the tackles.
A.J. Vanata, a freshman, will help at one of the linebacker spots. Menear and Lance Stevenson each intercepted three passes a year ago as defensive backs.
Mapletown’s scheduled is front-end loaded. The Maples open the season against defending conference champion West Greene, followed by Carmichaels, which is dropping from Class 2A, and California, the conference runner-up in 2019.
“We think we’re a better football team than last year. We’re a little bigger, a little older, a little stronger,” Messich said. “We should be a lot better on the offensive and defensive lines. These guys played like typical freshmen and sophomores last year. You look at great football teams and they don’t have many sophomores starting.
“We can be competitive. If we can start winning some games, then the future will look bright.”