By Joanna Chadwick
Andale has won four of the last five Class 3A championships, and no surprise, the Indians are expected to contend for a second straight this fall.
“There’s a mentality that if we don’t get it done, it’s not a very good year,” coach Dylan Schmidt said. “There’s good and bad about it.”
Winning is obviously the goal, but is it bigger than that? Schmidt says it is.
“What we’re doing is bigger than football. As we get older, you get perspective about what matters most, and it’s what kind of kids are we creating,” he said.
“What you hope is you’re developing some young men of character, that you’re doing the right things. If you do those things, wins will take care of themselves.”
Some years are better than others. Some years athletes are better than others.
And Schmidt knows he’s in a good spot.
“It is important to win,” Schmidt said, “and we’re lucky to be at Andale to have that opportunity every year. There’s great coaches who are out there working hard, doing a great job, and it’s not as good a setup.
“Our place is a special situation — people care, kids care. There’s an infrastructure to support success.”
So when a player like Sam Harp comes along, the base is there for him — and the team — to reach full potential.
“The program is more than a kid, but you have to recognize your kids,” Schmidt said. “… Sam is as special a kid as we’ve ever worked with. He’s an absolute stud. If he goes down, we’re in real trouble.”
Harp is a three-year starter and strong leader. He had 1,057 rushing yards on 101 carries with 35 touchdowns, and was 35-of-54 passing for 813 yards, 13 touchdowns and no interceptions for an offense that averaged 56 points a game.
“He legitimately played half a football game in 80% of our games last year, and it was the same the year before,” Schmidt said.
The offense only returns three starters, including receiver Jack Horsch (256 yards receiving) and tight end Hunter Grimes.
The defense has six starters back after allowing 9.8 points per game. Grimes, a linebacker, had 73 tackles last year, and Horsch is a three-year starter.
“Those are three key individuals,” Schmidt said. “I could go on, but our offensive line play will be key. We replace all five offensive line starters…. but our junior varsity, our juniors, our sophomores, they always get a ton of reps. They’re battle tested. There’s some peace of mind there.”
