When Richwood hosts rival Webster County in the annual Wagon Wheel game to open the 2022 high school football season, it will usher in the Todd Russell era for the Lumberjacks.
Needless to say, the first year head coach may be a little more nervous than his players.
“This is my dream job. I went to high school at Richwood, graduated from there and I have worked my way up through the Pee Wee program,” Russell said in an interview over the summer. “I got a chance to coach at the high school and this is where I want to be. I bleed black and orange.”
Since making the playoffs back in 2017, the Lumberjacks have not had a winning season. Russell feels like that could change this year.
“I feel like we are going to shock some people if we can stay healthy,” Russell said.
Richwood will have some holes to fill on the offensive line, but when it comes to the skill players, Russell has some weapons at his disposal.
Senior Cooper Donahue returns at quarterback after starting every game last year to go along with big play threat, junior Tyler Barnhouse.
“Cooper has come a long ways. His confidence is way up and he is throwing a much better ball,” Russell said. “He looked really good over the summer and has looked really good in the preseason practices. Cooper will take the majority of the snaps this year.”
Barnhouse is a 5-foot-7 speedster that may look like a slot receiver, but he will play outside for Russell.
“When the ball goes up in the air you better go with him because he is going to high point the ball and he will go get it,” Russell said. “He will play outside for us just because his routes are so good. Teams have trouble guarding him one-on-one. Him and Cooper have really good chemistry. They have come a long way this summer.”
Fellow junior Landen Hamon will be another outside receiver for the Lumberjacks. Hamon is a big target at 6-foot-3 and will also serve as the back-up quarterback.
“He has an absolute cannon for an arm, we just have to get him dialed in on the accuracy,” Russell said.
Keaton Crowder will handle the majority of the carries at the running back position, while Braiden Hayhurst will be part of the big back package.
“Keaton will be our main back. We are running a lot of empty (sets) and four-wide, but he will be our guy getting the majority of the carries,” Russell said. “Then we have another senior, Dakota O’Dell. This will be his first year playing with us, but he will be a handful for teams. He is not a big kid by any means, but he is fast and strong and he runs mean.”
After losing three four-year starters on the offensive line due to graduation, Russell admitted that the interior has been the biggest area of concern for him and his staff.
“We wondered if this group could give us enough time to do what we wanted on offense, but they have really come on throughout the preseason,” Russell said.
Junior Aaron Mann and senior Evan Bailey are the leaders of the men in the trenches. Mann will play the center position, while Bailey will be on the outside at right tackle.
“Mann is our vocal leader while Bailey is a lead-by-example type of guy. Evan started a little bit his sophomore year and was a full-time starter his junior year. Mann was a full-time starter last year.” Russell said. “The other tackle is junior Casey Beard who is very athletic. Zane Spencer is a sophomore, also 6-foot-2 with arms that go forever. He has a huge reach. Hayhurst will also spend a lot of time at the right guard spot.”
Defensively the Lumberjacks will look like a mirror image of the offense with all 11 players likely playing both ways,
“I have a couple of freshman and sophomores that could take some starting spots, but my first 11 are basically all playing both ways. Hayhurst will probably play some linebacker, but basically they all will just flip to the other side,” Russell said. “Hamon will take a defensive end spot because of his speed. Dakota Sizemore will play corner and Tyler will play safety.”
Russell is also hoping for a big year from Crowder who was a defensive beast as a sophomore.
“Crowder leads the defense. He had a rough year last year with being quarantined and all, but in his sophomore year, he had 111 tackles. If he can get back to that, our defense should be pretty stout,” Russell said.
After hosting Webster in Week 1, Richwood goes on the road for three straight weeks to play Meadow Bridge, Van and Midland Trail.
“Webster has a new coach with a lot of kids out. They will change some things up. Meadow Bridge made the playoffs last year,” Russell said. “Van will be a hard team to stop. (Brady) Green is one of the hardest running backs to stop in single-A and Midland Trail is always tough.”
2022 Schedule
08/26/22 7:00PM H – WEBSTER COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
09/02/22 7:00PM A – MEADOW BRIDGE HIGH
09/09/22 7:00PM A – VAN SENIOR/MIDDLE SCHOOL
09/16/22 7:00PM A – MIDLAND TRAIL HIGH SCHOOL
09/19/22 7:00PM H – HUNDRED
09/23/22 7:00PM H – POCAHONTAS COUNTY
09/30/22 7:00PM H – TYGARTS VALLEY MIDDLE/SENIOR HIGH
10/07/22 7:00PM A – WYOMING EAST
10/14/22 7:00PM H – MADONNA
10/21/22 OPEN
10/28/22 OPEN
11/04/22 7:00PM A – RIVER VIEW
