TRENTON FOOTBALL

Members of the 2021 Trenton High School football team include, from left, front row, Nate Burkeybile, Kaden Owen, Cayson Harper, Bobby Shreckengaust, Luke Schilling, Caleb Johnson, Trevor Murphy; row two, Ian Elbert, Coleman Griffin, Gabe Gamble, Gavin Chambers, Sam Gibson, Josh Mago, Gaven Kelsall, Tucker Otto, Dylan Spencer; row three, Gabe Novak, Collin Taylor, Gabe Stark, Brayden Wiggins, Brayden Hughs, Cameron Christy, Gavin Cagle, Milo Simpson, Jake Schmadeke; row four, Kaleb McCallon, Remi Olmstead, Korbin Vandevender, Hunter Ledgerwood, Devin Baker, Riley Gott, Mason Rongey, Aiden Weyer, Hunter Smith; row five, coach Trey Shields, coach Travis Leeper, head coach Kevin Hixson, coach Jon Guthrie and coach Greg Dalrymple. Not pictured are Brody Polk and Tim Kempton.

BULLDOGS ‘CAN’T WAIT’

TO TURN PAGE IN 2021

The Trenton Bulldogs can’t wait. They can’t wait to step onto Burlington Field in Brookfield in week 1. They can’t wait to start hitting opponents. They can’t wait for the opportunity to put a winless season, one plagued by a COVID quarantine that cost them two games and set them two weeks behind every opponent the rest of the way, firmly in the past.

“ETC has always been our mantra,” head coach Kevin Hixson said. “Effort, toughness and commitment. But, this year, we talk a lot about ‘can’t wait.’ You have to have a ‘can’t wait’ attitude. You can’t wait to get to practice, you can’t wait for that first game, can’t wait to get the ball in my hands, can’t wait to throw that first touchdown pass.” Trenton is definitely eager to put last season away and get back into the win column this year. While there remains a lot of work to do to get back to winning football games, the Bulldogs are already light years ahead of where they were at this point a season ago.

Entering last season Trenton was throwing freshmen and sophomores to the wolves on Friday nights, playing what was essen-

2021 SCHEDULE

2020 DATE OPPONENT RESULT

8/27 @ Brookfield 0-50 9/3 EAST BUCHANAN 0-35 9/10 PRINCETON n/a 9/17 PUTNAM COUNTY n/a 9/24 @ Milan 6-43 10/1 POLO 14-27 10/8 MAYSVILLE 20-22 10/15 @ Gallatin 14-54 10/22@ South Harrison 16-48 10/29 Districts, TBA HEAD COACH

Kevin Hixson - third year at Trenton

Career Record: - 2-16 at Trenton

Last Year’s Awards: Royce Jackson, second team All-GRC, all-district; Coleman Griffin, second team All-GRC; Kayden Spencer, honorable mention All-GRC; Payden McCullough, all-district.

tially a junior varsity squad in terms of experience. Because of that, Trenton had to scale back its offense pretty dramatically to account for the youth on the field. Now, entering the 2021 season, Trenton returns nearly every starter from last season, many of whom have played eight games at the varsity level. In a year when seemingly every team in the Grand River Conference is getting younger and less experienced, Trenton comes in with a roster that, while still pretty young across the board, is way more equipped to handle what will be thrown at them on Friday nights this year.

One of the most notable improvements Trenton expects to see is at the quarterback position where Coleman Griffin, a junior, enters his second full season as the starting signal caller. Griffin made massive strides during the course of the 2020 season, putting together some highlight runs for Trenton in the last handful of games. At this point last season it wasn’t even a sure bet Griffin would start in week one, but having that spot locked up this offseason — one much more normal as COVID restrictions began to loosen — has only furthered his development ahead of his second season at the helm of Hixson’s offense.

“It helped a ton,” Hixson said of having Griffin start all eight games at the varsity level last season. “Then being able to take him to camp in June and having about four or five 7-on-7’s down in Chillicothe with different teams — I think he is starting to see things, starting to understand more. Find that safety, do a little bit better job of reading him. I think he understands the option more now. He has gotten a ton smarter and he is one of a couple of juniors that have really stepped up to be leaders.”

Another player who Trenton is looking forward to taking last year’s experience and parlaying that into a breakout season is fullback Sam Gibson. Gibson split time in the backfield with Payden McCullough last season, but with McCullough’s graduation, Gibson has the spot to himself more or less. Like Griffin, Gibson was starting as a sophomore last year. He showed flashes of talent, but has packed on more size ahead of 2021, looking to be a dynamic runner for the Bulldogs.

“Sam hit the weight room pretty hard this offseason,” Hixson said. “He has matured a little bit too. He was kind of a leader this summer in

Trenton is looking to junior Sam Gibson to be a leader on the field this year as well as a playmaker on both sides of the ball.

wrestling when they had open mats. He got a taste of that and some kids looking up to him. I’ve been telling him and his class since last year ‘guys, you are going to be juniors. My expectation is here. The gloves are off, we are going to be going knuckle to knuckle and we are going to get after it.’ I don’t cut those guys any slack. My expectations for those guys is to be good, if not great.”

Gabe Novak saw starting time in the backfield last year as a freshman and is back as a full-time starter for his sophomore campaign. Where Gibson will provide Trenton with a power runner, Novak will offer the Bulldogs speed off the edge to give Trenton what it hopes will be a dynamic one-two punch.

Junior Ian Elbert and sophomore Brayden Hughs round out Trenton’s varsity backfield. Both showed some break away speed at the Black and Gold game a week ago, carrying the ball for long touchdown runs. Novak also scored in the scrimmage on a long run so the big play potential is definitely there for the Bulldogs.

Trenton’s offensive line should provide some lanes for the backs this season. There is a lot of size up front, but that is just half of what makes a good offensive line. Trenton has been working to improve the footwork and technique of the bigs up front to give it the best possible opportunity to be successful this season.

Luke Schilling, Cayson Harper, Caleb Johnson, Gavin Cagle and Bob Shreckengaust will make up the unit, which averages 214 pounds per player. Trevor Murphy, who is 300 pounds and squats 500 in the weight room, Dylan Spencer, Brody Polk, Kaden Owen and Gabe Stark are also options up front for Trenton, who will certainly have depth at the position.

“The line is probably going to be our strong suit this year,” Hixson said. “They are a good unit together. (Assistant coach) Jon (Guthrie) has got those guys working kind of tight. They are a separate entity away from the team, they are a group within a group. So, I think they will kind of take care of each other and work for yards.” Nate Burkeybile, who is a solid blocker in his own right, will take over at tight end where Royce Jackson left due to graduation. Jackson is probably the biggest loss for