The football campaign last year for Jaden Gladwell might be best described as a stranger in a strange land.
Heading into his senior season, Gladwell is a stranger no more.
After playing his first two years at Meadow Bridge, Gladwell not only changed schools, he transferred to county rival Midland Trail for his junior year.
“I was very nervous, but I was also excited,” Gladwell said about the change in environment. “I didn’t know what to expect at first. When I got here, everybody treated me great. So far, everything has gone well and I love being here.”
While his junior season was a success leading the Patriots to a 6-4 record, it was not quite the level of success the Patriots were looking for in 2022.
Six wins left Trail just outside the top 16 teams in Class A and out of the postseason playoffs.
However, when you weigh the circumstances of the season, six wins becomes more than enough to qualify as successful.
For starters, last year was the first year as a high school signal caller for the former Wildcat. So, as could be expected, there were ups and down with some growing pains along the way.
“I wasn’t necessarily expecting to be the (starting) quarterback, so when I ended up getting it, I was shocked by that,” Gladwell said. “It was actually the first year that I had played high school quarterback. Mistakes are going to happen and you have to move on and learn from them.”
Not only was the new QB1 seeing his first action under center, he was playing for a new head coach, Jeremy Moore, who was taking over in Hico for his first high school head coaching job.
“With it being my first year as a head coach, I really didn’t know what I was doing and I was feeling my way through it all,” Moore said. “Jaden was thrown to the wolves, so to speak. We didn’t anticipate throwing the ball that much.”
Inexperience across the offensive line, along with injuries throughout the year, left Trail with a limited run game which forced the ball in the air much more than the first year head coach would have liked.
“We had Cody (Harrell) and Zane Burford on the outside. We wanted to compliment the running game, but we had such a young offensive line that it never really developed.” Moore said. “I didn’t want to stick Cody or Zane in the backfield because we had decent backs. So, to put all of those interceptions on Jaden is not fair because we were so limited. Some of those interceptions were thrown with guys hanging off of him.”
Although he was under intense pressure, Gladwell still completed 50 percent of his passes for just over 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Even though the errant tosses were understandable at times, it was the first thing Gladwell pointed to when asked about moving forward.
“I know there were a few game that I threw the ball pretty well. All in all it was a good season,” Gladwell said. “One thing I really want to change this year is we have to limit the turnovers. We threw the ball a lot last year, but we have to limit the turnovers.”
While he always felt welcome in Hico, there was still an adjustment period and some odd feeling moments. One of the oddest came in week three when Gladwell returned to Meadow Bridge for a battle between the Wildcats and the Patriots.
“It was kind of crazy,” Gladwell said. “Just being on the opposite sideline in general and warming up on the opposite end was really different. I just took it all in one piece at a time. It took me a little bit to get used to, but we found our groove a little bit.”
“There were some people that I got certain reactions from that I wasn’t expecting, but that comes with the territory,” Gladwell went on to say. “It’s sports and rivalries in sports make it fun. It’s pretty cool competing against those guys and I am looking forward to competing against them again this year.”
With a full season under his belt and plenty of off-season work to boot, naturally, Gladwell feels much more comfortable heading into the 2023 campaign.
“I have more confidence for sure. Last year I was unsure going into everything,” Gladwell said. “Now I am more comfortable in general with reading coverages and putting the ball in tight places.”
He is also ready to lead the Patriots back to the postseason.
“Everybody is crazy motivated this year. Everyone has been in the weight room and doing everything that we can to get ready for the season,” Gladwell said. “Obviously we weren’t happy about missing the playoffs last year and we want to make it back this year.”
Should the Patriots make it back to the postseason this year, they will truly be battled tested.
The losses last year were very respectable with all four teams hosting first round playoff games. However, those same four teams are on the schedule again this year with three of the games being played on the road.
Toss in a trip to Wheeling Island Stadium to battle Wheeling Central and it is easy to see just how big the postseason mountain is for Trail.
“We will have to win some tough games this year, but we are going to be ready,” Gladwell said. “Picking up Wheeling I feel like was a good one. They are the standard for football. They are in position to win a state championship every year and that is where you want to be as a program.”
“I think it is good to play them and see where we are as a team,” Gladwell said about the trip to the northern panhandle. “The other games we have to come in mentally prepared and focused. We play some double-A teams which would be some big wins and can give us a lot of points. We will definitely have to come ready every week.”
The final piece to the puzzle of success for Midland Trail this year could be the relationship between quarterback and coach which has also reached a new level of confidence.
“I think it was definitely a learning experience for both of us. Overall it was a good year and we both learned a lot for sure,” Gladwell said. “I love having him as a coach. He is such a great guy and he truly cares about everyone. He just wants everybody to get better in general. He has helped me and guided me a lot at the quarterback spot and I really appreciate him.”