By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor
The master scheduler did Terre Haute South’s football team darn near zero favors this fall. The Braves played the state’s eighth-toughest schedule in 2007 according to the Sagarin power ratings, and it certainly doesn’t look any easier this season.
The Braves face five road games, including four of their first five. Terre Haute South will open at perennial Conference Indiana power Bloomington South in Week 1 before heading to Vincennes Lincoln, defending Class 5A state champion Carmel, and 5A monster Center Grove in Weeks 3-5.
After that season-opening donnybrook, the Braves get to host perhaps-returning-to-glory Ben Davis and serious Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference sleeper North Central (Indianapolis) before heading to 5A juggernaut Warren Central and finishing at home against Lawrence North.
At least South gets to host rival Terre Haute North this year (Week 2, Aug. 29). Eesh.
Despite that daunting slate o’ games, second-year coach Mark Raetz remains upbeat after his initial season as a head coach ended with a 2-8 finish.
”It’s going to be another fun and exciting season of football in the MIC,” Raetz said.
Everyone knows the “poor, normal-sized Terre Haute schools having to play in the gigantic MIC” tale of woe. And it’s true that the best finish that THS has managed over the past seven seasons is a tie for sixth with Terre Haute North at 2-5 in 2002.
But Raetz is not letting that mentality dictate what he wants to do in Season 2.
“We need to get outstanding leadership from our senior class, stay injury-free for the entire season, and compete hard and have confidence each week we play,” Raetz said. “And of course we need some luck.”
Gone are six All-Wabash Valley performers. Back are 14 starters, including seven on each side of the ball. So there is a nucleus from which to build for the Braves, whose last real taste of success came 20 years ago with sectional and regional championships in 1988.
Offensively, junior quarterback Bryn Schwartz (6’0”, 170 pounds) will take over for Koby Kraemer (now playing at Indiana State), while a contingent of a half-dozen running backs will vie to replace Brock Lough (also at Indiana State) in the backfield. Raetz is counting on a big season from 5’9”, 160-pound senior wide receiver Elias Brown.
On the defensive side, the Braves will look to leadership from 6’2”, 225-pound senior linebacker Michael Mardis and his LB mate, junior Billy Byerley (5’9”, 180). Brown will go both ways in manning one spot in the defensive backfield, and he’ll be joined back there by senior Michael Nasser (5’8,” 150).
Brown and Nasser will handle the kick return duties, hoping to provide a spark for a South team that will be looking for a better postseason result than a year ago, when a loaded Columbus North team posted a 47-0 shutout in the sectional opener.
The Braves once again will compete in the eight-team 5A Sectional 7 with Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Center Grove, Columbus North, Decatur Central, Martinsville, and Terre Haute North.
Top returners
QB Bryn Schwartz, JR, 6’0,” 170
WR Jonathan Thacker, SR, 6’0,” 175
TE/LB Michael Mardis, SR, 6’2,” 225
OL/K Ethan Buske, SR, 6’2,” 250
OL Josh Bridwell, SR, 6’2,” 270
OL Cody Kraemer, SR, 6’0,” 230
DE Kyle Krockenberger, SR, 6’1,” 215
DB Cody Bell, JR, 5’10,” 190
DB Michael Nasser, SR, 5’8,” 150
Key departures
QB/DB Koby Kraemer (Indiana State)
RB/LB Brock Lough (Indiana State)
TE/LB Tony Barton (Heidelberg)
OL Joey Moore
DL DaRon Lewis
DL Jason Tolliver
The THS schedule:
8/22/2008 7:00 PM EST @ Bloomington South
8/29/2008 7:00 PM EST vs. Home Terre Haute North
9/5/2008 7:30 PM EST @ Vincennes Lincoln
9/12/2008 7:00 PM EST @ Carmel
9/19/2008 7:00 PM EST @ Center Grove
9/26/2008 7:00 PM EST vs. Ben Davis
10/3/2008 7:00 PM EST vs. North Central (Indianapolis)
10/10/2008 7:00 PM EST @ Warren Central
10/17/2008 7:00 PM EST vs. Lawrence North
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