Earlham Echo

August 22, 2023

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Football

Coming off a season when they won just three games, the Cardinals will look to bounce back to winning ways in 2023. One way they hope to do that is with a tweak to the offense. Coach Caskey and the Cards will unveil the single wing offense this year, which isn’t exactly a cutting-edge philosophy. The offense dates back to 1907.

“If people thought I was old-fashioned before, wait ‘til this season,” the coach joked.

Part of Coach Caskey’s core philosophy—on both sides of the ball—is to get his players to think less and rely more on natural reactions and physical ability. He and defensive coach Cory Thompson have done a fine job with this on defense the past few years, and he wants the offense to do the same thing.

“I spent my entire off season trying to fix the things that I screwed up last year,” said Coach Caskey. “I didn’t think we were physical enough on offense. I thought our linemen sometimes hesitated because they weren’t sure who to block. Part of the reason we went to the single wing was to simplify our blocking.”

The single wing simplifies things in the backfield, as well. The offense will have fewer play fakes and fewer multiple handoffs that are featured in the double wing that the Cards have run the past few years. The deception of the single wing lies in the formation and the defense not knowing to whom the ball will be snapped. The center will snap the ball to the quarterback, halfback, or fullback on most plays. Like in the double wing, a wingback will block a lot and also carry the ball occasionally.

The offense isn’t a radical departure from what the Cards have been doing. To most fans watching, it won’t look much different. For the players, the terminology is mostly the same.

“Our plays haven’t changed,” said Coach Caskey. “Last year we’d run 46 power and the quarterback gave the ball to the halfback. But our play fakes weren’t good. I couldn’t get them to focus on the play fakes because they were in such a hurry to get where they were going that they would forget that part.”

The offensive line, of course, is the key to any offense. This year’s line will be anchored by Brandon Maxwell. The senior suffered a knee injury early last season but looks to be 100% healthy in 2023.

“He’s big and super intelligent,” said Coach Caskey. “He’s gotten so much faster than he was last year. He went through that knee surgery last year and I think it’s twice as strong as it was. He’s so quick compared to what he was. It’s like a bionic knee.

Senior Ty Willem will be another strong starter on the line. Other starting positions aren’t etched in stone just yet, but there are plenty of good, young candidates to fill the roles.

Junior Blake Reynolds will take over at quarterback. He’s a good athlete and has been a varsity starter on the basketball team for two years, so the situation will not be too big for him. He has decent size, a good arm, and runs the ball well. After he makes the adjustment to the varsity game, he should be fine.

“It’s going to take the scrimmage and probably the first two games to catch up with the speed of the game to know, ‘Okay, I have to get rid of it now,’ versus JV when you could hold it a little longer,” said coach Caskey.

A wingback last season, Caleb Smith will be the halfback this season. He’s big, fast, shifty, and hard to bring down. In 2022, he ran for 550 yards on 83 carries (6.6 ypc). Senior Ryan Stiles returns at fullback. He’s a bruising runner and blocker that doesn’t mind doing the dirty work between the tackles. He carried the ball 94 times for 390 yards (4.1 ypc) last year. Ty Forcht, a willing, scrappy blocker, will take over at wingback. He had limited attempts last season but averaged 14.4 ypc.

Smith and Jeret Petersen were the team’s leading receivers last season and will lead a good group of pass catchers in 2023. Stiles, Forcht, Walker Hale, Brogan Wolfe, and Jaxen Speedling should also see the ball.

Just like the team as a whole, the Cardinal defense had its ups and downs last season. Coach Caskey will stick with his bend-but-don’t-break philosophy, but will be loading up at the linebacker position this season.

“We’re putting our best and most physical tacklers at linebacker,” he said. “They’re playing the four linebacker spots—and their interchangeable.”

Those players include Stiles and Smith—who were Cardinals’ 2^nd and 3^rd leading tacklers, respectively, in 2022—along with Petersen and Blake Tiedemann. Josh Winey and Cole Eitel will get plenty of playing time, as well.

The Cardinals special teams units almost always excel, and this year should be no exception. The Cardinals will be utilizing plenty of onside kicks again, and most of those will come off the foot of junior Klayton Wolken.

“He puts the ball wherever he wants to,” said Coach Caskey.

Re-districting has landed the Cardinals in Class A District 7, which includes three teams (AC/GC, Panorama, South Central Calhoun) that were in Class 1A last year. Including non-district teams Madrid, Central Decatur, the schedule doesn’t include any pushovers.

“There isn’t a game on the schedule we can’t win, but there’s also none on the schedule that we can’t lose,” said Coach Caskey. “All the teams are kind of even. There aren’t any of those teams that you see on film and say, ‘Okay, as long as we don’t screw this up, we’re going to be okay.’ There just isn’t that game. We’ll have to come out every week and we’ll have to go. A couple mistakes, and all of the sudden you lose.”

Coach Caskey is assisted by Cory Thompson, Brian Sheffield, and Kaden Howard.

Volleyball

Half of the Cardinals’ 2022 starters graduated. That’s the bad news. The good news is that in 2023, there will be plenty of candidates to take their places. With 33 girls in grades 9-12 out this season, that’s the most Coach Harskamp has had at practice since the early 2000s. Participation in the varsity program has grown, in large part, due to the recent increased interest in the off-season club program.

“A lot of these girls played during the winter,” said Coach Harskamp. “The younger ones, it kind of hooks them. The freshman class is huge this year—13, 14. That’s more than I expected.”

With the increase in the quantity of players, the quality has increased, too. Coach Harskamp will have some tough decisions to make when she’s handing out varsity uniforms and making her starting lineup.

“We have a lot of kids that can play, which is a good thing,” she said. “But also, for them, not everybody is going to play. You have to be able to do something that stands out. If you want the nod, you have to figure out something that gives you a unique look. So, we have options. If a kid is having a bad night, somebody else can fill in.”

What the team lacks in size, they should make up for with quickness. Without a truly dominant hitter, they will rely on execution and guile.

The team is loaded with freshmen and sophomores, so they’ll be young. Seniors Rowen Fisk and Lily Conry will provide veteran leadership. Conry was 2^nd on the team with 180 kills and Fisk led the Cards with 354 digs. Fisk is the more vocal leader of the two, while Conry is more of a lead-by-example type.

“Rowen does a really good job of making the right comments at the right time,” said Coach Harskamp. “When emotions get high, she’s able to level people out. She knows the game, so she’s able to help everybody at every position. And the kids really respond to that. Lily is a worker. You don’t have to get on her about giving her best effort. And honestly, she’s almost too hard on herself sometimes.”

Other seniors include Kaylee Schmidt, Charley Mineart, and Presley Davison.

Sophomores Kenna Harskamp and Ava Harris played a lot last year and will step into starting roles this season. Both are excellent athletes that are quick to the ball. They will share setting duties in the 6-2 offense (6 hitters, 2 setters) that the Cards will run. Harskamp was 2^nd on the team last year with 127 assists. Also, she served at over 92%.

At 5-8, junior Presley Koberg is the tallest player on the team. She started 28 matches last year and had 30 kills. She should be ready to step up this season and take on a bigger hitting role.

Junior Kennady Ridout transferred to Earlham last spring and will play her first volleyball season this year. She’s another good athlete that hits the ball hard, is a good teammate, and should fit right into the lineup.

Sophomore Olivia Nixt played in 25 matches last season and should get much more playing this year. Others in the talented sophomore class that could provide additional depth are Keeley Keller, CeCe Stanley, and Ally Presler.

So far this season, practices have been energetic and crisp, and the team might be a little ahead of schedule. Chalk that up to the experience that the kids have gained playing club ball.

“Those guys have played all winter,” said Coach Harskamp. “Years ago, we would spend the first two weeks just learning the defense or rotation. We don’t have to do that anymore. Now, we’re playing, working on offense, running set plays—that sort of thing.”

Like last season, Des Moines Christian and Van Meter should be the class of the West Central Activities Conference. After that, there will be a jumble of teams that will compete for supremacy in the ‘middle of the pack.’ In what should be a growing year for the Cardinals, they will be in that mix. The team’s positive attitude and good work ethic will help them improve as the season moves along.

“It’s a fun group,” said Coach Harskamp. “They just work hard, which makes it easy to coach. I talk to coaches all the time that say, ‘Oh, I have all these issues.’ I don’t have those. I know these guys aren’t perfect, but I just don’t have to deal with a lot of issues. I feel pretty fortunate.”

Coach Harskamp is assisted by Cameryn Caskey and Kelcie Hale.

Cross Country

The Earlham girls reached the top of the mountain last year by winning their first-ever state title. On the cusp of the 2023 season, the Cards are ranked #1 in Class A in the Iowa Association of Track Coaches poll. But with all their accomplishments and added attention, the team isn’t sitting around dreaming about another state championship. They’re doing what they’ve always done—working to get better.

“You won’t catch (Coach Braet and I) talking ‘repeat,’” said Coach Dalton. “I don’t think the kids will either. But they have high expectations.”

They should. They’ll arguably have the top 1-2-3 combo of any team in Class 1A. Sophomore Mackenzie Harger finished 5^th at the state meet last year, senior Olivia Spurling was 22nd, and junior Hannah Frank was 33^rd. This year, they are ranked 3^rd, 16^th, and 25th, respectively.

“We’re expecting to go to state again,” said Coach Braet. “Now, where we place when we get there, it’s hard to tell. You can’t play defense. I don’t know what other people have until we start seeing meet results.”

Harger and Frank made massive gains as last season progressed and they both still have plenty of upside. Spurling has been an excellent, steady performer for 3 years and has approached off-season training before her senior year like there’s no tomorrow—maybe even with a little too much gusto.

“She had a fantastic summer,” said Coach Dalton. “I have been running with her to slow her down. She’s healthy and wants to put herself on the podium.”

The team was dealt a blow when sophomore Amanda Smith was lost for the season. She recently had surgery to repair an injury that she suffered during track season last spring and will not be able to run this fall. Smith finished 32^nd at state last year and is ranked #24 in the pre-season poll.

Any team in any sport experiences ups and downs, but this ‘down’ before the season even starts is a whopper. But Earlham teams are taught to only worry about what they can control—and Smith’s injury qualifies as the ultimate ‘uncontrollable,’ so the Cards are moving forward.

“Losing Amanda for the season is a hard hit, but they took it in stride,” said Coach Braet. “When they found out Amanda was done for the season, they just said, ‘Well, we have to step it up even more.’”

“They felt worse for Amanda than themselves,” said Coach Braet. “It didn’t impact their attitude or their training.”

After losing one senior from last season, Coaches Braet and Dalton thought they’d need to find a #5 runner. Now they’ll need to coach up two athletes to fill the varsity roster. There are a few candidates, including sophomore Darby Moore and senior Katie Steward, who both ran in some varsity races last season. Sophomore CeCe Stanley and junior Lily Conry are both volleyball players who are ‘doubling.’ That’s difficult, but either or both runners could be a factor. Sophomore Taylor Rodgers was a track sprinter until Coach Peterson moved her to the 800m last season. She did well at the distance, so cross country could be to her liking. Freshman Lila Aubert is new to the sport, but has had some good early-season workouts.

One of the things the Cardinal coaching staff does well is manage expectations of the younger, less-experienced athletes. Many kids want to be fast right away, and that just doesn’t always happen. Persuading athletes to stick to the process and not get discouraged is critical. It might be a slower process than normal this season, but most likely, a couple runners will emerge to join the top three once the state qualifying meet nears.

“That’s what’s nice about experience,” said Coach Dalton. “Some of those kids that have seen it are able to let the other kids know, ‘Hey, you’ll get there. It’s different from athlete to athlete, kid to kid. Some of them get it. Others have to see it first. So, you just have to keep showing up and doing what we’re doing. Once they see the results of consistency, they understand.”

The Cardinal boys may have been overshadowed by what the girls accomplished in 2022, but they had a good season, too. Had they not been in such a stacked district, they might have made it to state as a team. They finished 3^rd at the state qualifying meet behind AC/GC, who finished 2^nd at state, and IKM-Manning, who was 5^th.

Juniors Carson Maly and Blake Tiemeyer qualified for state as individuals in 2022, and they will anchor this year’s team.

“I think that Carson and Blake were just happy to be at state last year,” said Coach Braet. “This year, they know they should make it again, and they want to perform well there—which will pull everyone else along too.”

“They’re looking really strong,” Coach Dalton added. “I think you just get that as boys age, they get better. Both those boys are state champs in track (in the 4×800 relay), too. They have high expectations, which I think trickles down to everybody else on the boys’ team.”

Seniors Payton Harger and Cooper Michael, junior Blake Petersen, and sophomore Donovan Braet all return from last year’s team and will compete against each other for the 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th spots. Also in that mix will be freshman Dawson Braet. Five other freshman that competed well in junior high will help make this a deep Cardinal team.

Coaches Braet and Dalton are assisted by Jon Peterson.