Coal City – It’s been awhile since there’s been this much anticipation and excitement around Independence football.
Rightfully so.
The Patriots come into the 2021 season after securing a playoff berth a year ago and suffering few losses to graduation. They return 10 of their 11 starters on defense and are led by a Warner and Kennedy Award candidate in Atticus Goodson.
That’s led to high expectations.
“I think our expectations as a team are to take the next step,” Indy head coach John H. Lilly said. “We want to learn how to defang the wolf. I think they haven’t won a playoff game since 1987 so I think they’re wanting to try and do something about that. We’ve got a lot of folks back. We’re not ready yet, that’s for sure, but they’re enthusiastic, they work hard and we’ve had almost 100 percent attendance. They’ve got good character, good work ethic so I’m pleased with where we’re at right now.”
While the Patriots do return many of last year’s starters, they’ll be breaking in a relatively new quarterback in Logan Phalin. He’s not completely unfamiliar with the position. As the Patriots battled COVID last year he was called upon to play more.
“Fortunately for us we had some big leads last year and Logan got a lot of repetitions in,” Lilly said. “He also got to run the offense for three weeks when we got hit by COVID. He’s got a lot of experience there and I think the kids are really high on him. Another thing too is work ethic. He works really hard. All summer long whether we have practice or not he’s got kids over here trying to throw the ball and work on getting better. You’ve got some key qualities there. You’ve got some kids that have good work ethic and some kids that care about each other.”
Though helping ease Phalin’s transition to the fulltime signal caller is a stable of skill players that are amongst the best in the state. Aside from Goodson manning the running back spot, his younger brother Cyrus is a 6-foot-3 receiver with the speed and athleticism to stretch the field vertically and generate big plays in the passing game. Trey Bowers and Judah Price also provide quick, shifty targets for Phalin in the passing game.
But the engine of the team will still be the elder Goodson. Lilly, who’s coached accomplished players in the past, realizes that and continues to challenge him.
“We try to find a weak spot,” Lilly said. “We changed him on defense from safety to outside linebacker so that’s challenging him to a new position. So I think that’s the key. I’ve had three Player of the Year guys and I kind of approach it the same way. You challenge them to work on the things they’re not good at instead of relying on the things they are good at.”
Goodson isn’t the only player that’s been moved around.
Though the Patriots are returning most of their starters on defense, several of them will be moving to new positions since they’ve gotten bigger and stronger in the team’s offseason program.
“Yes and no,” Lilly said when asked if it was easier having that many starters return. “They recognize things a little easier but they’ve gotten so much bigger and stronger that we moved people up from the secondary to put more speed on the field.”
Of course to get to where they want to be, the Patriots need to be tested. They’ve already garnered attention from other teams locally, as several have circled their matchups with Indy. It’s flattering to hear but Lilly is teaching his team to handle what’s in front of it.
“I don’t really every think about it,” Lilly said. “Over the years I’ve had some good teams in other places and as cliché as it sounds, we’ve really been working hard to train our guys to look at it one game at a time.
“Naturally you want to do well against your rivals, but we’re just trying to get in shape right now. This heat’s been brutal on everybody. It says 78 in the parking lot and it’s 118 degrees on the field so we’re trying to fight through that. But right now, we haven’t really even talked bout another team yet. We’re just focused on us and trying to get better. I think you fall into a trap if you start worrying about other people.”
The Patriots will open the season on Aug. 27 when they travel to Liberty.
Contact Tyler Jackson at tylerjackson@lootpress.com, call him at 304-731-5542 and follow on Twitter @tjack94
Independence Schedule
1 08/27/21 7:30PM A – LIBERTY (RALEIGH) –
2 09/10/21 7:00PM H – POCA –
3 09/17/21 7:00PM H – SHADY SPRING –
4 09/24/21 7:00PM H – WESTSIDE –
5 10/01/21 7:30PM A – SUMMERS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL –
6 10/08/21 7:30 PM A – MIDLAND TRAIL HIGH SCHOOL –
7 10/15/21 7:00PM H – MAN HIGH SCHOOL –
8 10/22/21 7:00PM A – NICHOLAS COUNTY –
9 10/29/21 7:00PM H – WYOMING EAST –
Roster
# Pos. Name Gr Ht Wt Avg
1 WR Trey Bowers 10 5’10 186
2 WR Cyrus Goodson 11 6’2 170
3 RB Atticus Goodson 12 6’1 225
4 WR Dalton Adkins 9 5’7 145
7 WR Jared Steinkamp 11 5’6 140
7 WR Jared Steinkamp 11 5’9 160
8 WR Evan Kotson 10 5’7 140
10 RB Judah Price 11 5’6 150
12 QB Logan Phalin 12 6’3 212
13 WR Colten Caron 11 6’1 170
17 K Ragland Chase 10 5’6 155
20 WR Jeremy Hughes Jr. 9 5’11 175
24 TE D Hypes 10 6’2 205
25 TE Michael Lacy 9 5’7 165
26 RB Tyler Linkswiler 10 5’9 155
27 WR Colton Miller 11 5’11 165
28 TE Zachary Helmick 11 5’10 160
30 QB/LS JD Monroe 11 5’7 165
36 RB Jordan Harvey 11 5’10 212
45 TE Derek Howell 11 5’10 188
50 OL Chase Nelson 11 5’7 165
51 OL Jeremiah Hatcher 11 6’1 200
52 OL Kaleb Williams 9 6 190
53 OL Aaron Shiflett 11 6’0 258
55 OL Brady Grimmett 11 5’11 294
56 OL Logan Lester 11 5’11 205
57 OL Fisher Williams 10 5’10 300
60 OL Parker Withrow 11 6’3 260
61 OL Logan Thomas 11 5’10 266
64 Allen Dixon 9
66 OL Micah Brown 10 6’1 300
69 OL Logan Isom 11 6’4 285
70 OL Michael Cheek 12 6’1 305
71 OL Joel Garretson 12 5’11 263
72 OL Jordan Coleman 9 5’9 177
73 OL Coleman Derrick 9 5’10 300
74 Kalob Murray 9
76 OL Shea Powell 10 5’10 220
76 OL Andrew Bryson 9 6’7 297
77 OL Dylan Young 11 5’10 177
78 OL Bradley Hopkins 10 5’8 190
80 TE Scott Kester 11 6’0 180
88 TE Braxton Mckinney 11 6’0 218