A new era has begun at Columbus East: The Class 6A Era.
Because of their success over the past several years, the Olympians first moved from 4A to 5A, and now from 5A to 6A under the IHSAA’s Tournament Success Factor. East now is in a sectional that includes perennial powers Center Grove and Columbus North, along with Franklin Central.
“We haven’t approached anything any different,” East coach Bob Gaddis said. “We know that our first opponent, Whiteland, is really good. Obviously, with North and Pickerington (Central from Ohio) early, it’s going to be really good before we get into our conference.”
Fortunately for the Olympians, they return a cast of players that should make them competitive at the highest level. Several key pieces are back from a team that went 11-3 and won Hoosier Hills Conference, sectional and regional titles before falling to Decatur Central 27-24 in the semistate, just missing a third consecutive trip to the 5A state finals.
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With Cole Gilley at quarterback, East threw the football more than in previous years. Gilley completed 148 or 246 passes for 2,463 yards and 28 touchdowns and only five interceptions as a junior.
“Cole has run the show,” Gaddis said. “He had a great season last year. I think he got a lot better as the year went on and got a lot more comfortable with what we were doing. I trust him to run our offense and check out of plays if we need to.”
The Olympians also return a pair of experienced running backs in junior Mark McDonald and senior Lance Greiwe. McDonald carried 215 times for 1,462 yards and 20 touchdowns, and Greiwe added 128 carries for 654 yards and 17 scores.
Greiwe, who also caught 14 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns, will start at slot receiver. He joins senior Dalton Back, who led East with 47 catches for 758 yards and seven touchdowns and junior Malachi Parks, who also is the backup quarterback, at receiver. Senior Tyler Settle will play in four-receiver sets, and senior Colin Phillips and juniors Charles Claycamp and Crase Bergman also could see action.
“Our two backs, McDonald and Greiwe are both very good and had really good seasons last season,” Gaddis said. “Dalton Back caught a lot of footballs for us and had a tremendous junior season. We have some depth at the receiver spot. We’re in good shape there.”
Junior Xander Brotzman moves from tackle to tight end. Senior Jake O’Connor returns at center. Junior Jesse Miller, who played some on the offensive and defensive lines, takes over at left tackle, and junior Matt Hutcheson will be the right tackle. Junior Hunter Nichalson steps in at right guard, and sophomores Ashton Hartwell and Josh Luedeke are battling at left guard.
“Our skill kids, we have a lot of guys that have some experience, and then up front, we have some kids that have some experience,” Gaddis said. “We have some that are completely green, but we have quite a few kids up there that played in some varsity games last year. It’s a good mixture of experience and newcomers.”
On defense, the Olympians return four players who were in the starting defensive line rotation. Senior Carson Yoder returns at end, where he will be joined by senior Seth Chandler, a converted defensive back.
Senior Jacob Crose moves from end to nose tackle. Junior Trent Henry and senior Hunter Hilderbrand return at defensive tackle. Junior Cam Shrum, who also saw plenty of action last year, will play on the defensive line.
“We like to go into a game with seven or eight defensive linemen,” Gaddis said.
Juniors Parker Harrison and T.J. Barkhimer return at outside linebacker, along with senior Tucker Schwarze, who saw plenty of action there. Junior Kai Stidham takes over at middle linebacker.
Senior Zander Gentry returns at corner, where he will be joined by Bergman. Senior Tyler Settle moves from corner to strong safety, and junior Elliott Koopman takes over at free safety.
Greiwe, Back and Parks also could play in the secondary, and McDonald could see action at linebacker.
“We always go into a defensive game plan with hopefully 18 or 19 guys ready to play, and we do play them so they can stay fresh,” Gaddis said. “We don’t have anybody starting both ways, but we have a lot of guys in our starting unit that are backups on the other side of the ball.”
Sophomore Branson Young takes over at kicker. Gilley, who punted as a sophomore, will take back those duties. Junior Elias VanCuren will be the long snapper.
Gaddis has liked what he has seen the first two weeks of practice.
“We’ve gone pretty hard,” Gaddis said. “We’ve gone a little bit longer at practice than we normally go in the regular season. Our kids have responded pretty well.”
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Friday;at Whiteland;7 p.m.
Aug. 30;Columbus North;7 p.m.
Sept. 6;Pickerington (Ohio) Central;7 p.m.
Sept. 13;Jeffersonville;7 p.m.
Sept. 20;at New Albany;7 p.m.
Sept. 27;Floyd Central;7 p.m.
Oct. 4;at Bedford North Lawrence;7 p.m.
Oct. 11;at Seymour;7 p.m.
Oct. 18;Madison;7 p.m.
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