Pictured: Tadessa Barnes, Nathan Petoney, David Addison.
(Photo courtesy of Scott VanSickle)
By Scott VanSickle
LocalSportsJournal.com
HOLTON - Change is on the horizon for the Holton football program and Coach Tommy Moore hopes it will be for the better.
After struggling with numbers like many schools have the last few years, highlighted by the loss of five games in 2024 due to a deflated roster, Holton is making the move to 8-man football in 2025.
And that hopefully will be part of a reinvention campaign for the program. The last time Holton earned a win came in the 2021 season, so this year’s group of players is hungry for a first win at the high school level. Moore likens the change to a new start for the program, working to find some success this year to build a new culture. Even the turf field is undergoing a resurfacing over the summer to go along with the rebuilding spirit in the air in Holton.
“Honestly, it’s an overdue move. We’ll be competing against schools our size finally and we’re at the cap for the playoffs, which is nice. You’ve got to be under 215 (high school students) and we’re at 213. We’re anxious to start a new regime, start a new legacy. We’ve got a new turf field being installed and hopefully we’re practicing on it next week,” Moore said during the opening week of practice. “We’ve really started to reinvent ourselves with 8-man football, like what kind of transition are we going to make? Are we going to be soft or are we coming out and be the toughest dudes in the division? Toughness is the theme and all year, it’s been ‘TPW’, tough people win.”
Along with that toughness, Moore is also trying to build in an atmosphere of competition.
“Everybody’s got to earn their position and that even goes for practice,” said Moore.
Moore noted that the school is basically on a 3-year plan when it comes to 8- or 11-man football and factors like roster size will go into determining what level the Red Devils will compete at in future years. But first and foremost, Moore wants a stable program with good numbers at the varsity and JV levels.
“Unless we get some more kids, (8-man) is where we can be competitive. I don’t want to rush back to the 11-man game if we can’t compete at the 11-man game,” Moore said.
And Moore is going to use that tough mindset that is being built during the hot days of preseason camp to hopefully control the line of scrimmage on offense and be able to grind opponents down with a powerful ground game.
“I’m taking it back old school where you have to run before you can pass and establishing a run-first offense. That’s what we’ve been preaching (in practice), downhill toughness. We’re going to smash you, you’re going to get up, and we’re going to smash you again,” said Moore. “We’re going to run it downhill and through people. And then when teams load the box, we’ve got a quarterback that can sling it a little bit. For us to be successful, it’s a war for 4 (yards). It’s 4 yards every play.
“We’re really focused on the run game here. We want to be able to run the ball until you try and stop the bleeding, and then once you stop the bleeding, we’re going to throw the ball all over the place. With our athletes, that’s really going to be our strength. We have great athletes at the quarterback and running back position on both levels, so we’ll be able to move the ball without having to put it in the air.”
While the alignments may look a little different this fall on the turf at Holton, Moore is excited about the opportunities that await his team due to the change.
“There’s not much difference,” Moore said of the contrast between traditional 11-man football and 8-man. “As far as scheme goes, there’s not much difference. I have to have five guys on the line of scrimmage. I can go 5 offensive linemen and 1 running back just like I could in 11-man football. It’s just finding those 8 guys and those formations instead of 11. The alleys and lanes for us to cut are going to be huge for our guys with speed.”
And one of those guys with speed is senior running back David Addison, who should get plenty of touches as one of the main Red Devil running backs.
“We need to be conditioned. We need communication with everyone and everyone needs to know what we’re doing,” Addison noted as keys to offensive success.
Joining Addison in the running back room is sophomore Fisher Mirkle. Tyler Pritizll is slated to take over as quarterback with Tee Barnes, Jake Crowell, Monica Mullins, Jacob Berghuis and Treyvon Tobias listed as wide receivers. Holton has some good size on its offensive line in seniors Riley Rull, Collin McAllister, Luke Urso and Brenden Kulka, who are all listed over 200 pounds, with sophomores Landyn Rudd and Rowan Bean also battling for snaps.
“I think covering for each other when we make mistakes, just work as a team and have fun out there, (will be important to our offense),” Barnes added.
On the defensive end, Moore wants to see his team be an aggressive, attacking team that wreaks havoc on opposing offenses.
“That’s what we’ve been focused on, it’s the fundamentals before the scheme. It doesn’t matter what scheme you run if you don’t have fundamentals correct. I anticipate us to be more of an aggressive defense, more of a Ravenna-type defense where we’ve got a man outside and we’re bringing pressure at you right now. I hope your 5 can block my 5,” Moore said of his defensive unit.
Barnes and classmate Nathan Pentoney led the way as the team’s top linebackers and tacklers. Rull, McAllister, and Urso should see time on the defensive line, and Crowell, Addison, Pritizl, Mirkle, Berghuis and Tobias all should see time in defensive backfield.
“So defensively, we need to focus on our fundamentals. Really get down on our tackling, always make the right reads and stay locked in,” Pentoney said.
On special teams, Moore hopes to use some of his best athletes to break big plays and flip field position in the return game.
“We’ve got some electric athletes to return kicks, but they’re young. We’ve got a couple sophomores that can return kicks. We’ve got some athleticism, and with the field being not as wide with less dudes out there, those athletes should shine out there a little more,” said Moore of his kick and punt returners.
The Red Devils are an independent school for football in the top division of 8-man, so a playoff berth will be the only source of potential hardware. A tough schedule faces the team this year and features four playoff qualifiers in 8-man last season, including Saturday games against semifinalists Britton-Deerfield and Indian River Inland Lakes. Holton opened the season on its new field with a loss against Colon on Thursday, Aug. 28 before road games against Coleman and Martin. After two home games, the Red Devils have three straight on the road against B-D (at Bellevue), Potterville and Gaylord St. Mary. A home game versus Muskegon Heights will close out the regular-season schedule.
So if Moore and the Red Devils can put things together and find their way into the playoffs, they will certainly have earned their stripes after a daunting regular-season schedule.
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