HOBART BRICKIES
COACH: Ryan Turley.
COACH’S RECORD: At school: 19-23 (fifth year). Overall: 19-23 (fifth year).
LAST SEASON: Lost 27-24 to South Bend St. Joseph in sectional opener.
KEY RETURNEES: QB/WR Jared Zanolla, TE/LB Dakota Bock, FB/LB Nick Ray, P/OL/LB Luke Budzielek, QB/DB Mickey Wolfe.
KEY LOSSES: RB/LB Noah Smith, K Antonio Delgrosso, FB/LB Julio Trujillo.
SCHEDULE
Aug. 21 West Side
Aug. 28 LaPorte
Sep. 4 at Griffith *
Sep. 11 Kankakee Valley *
Sep. 18 at Andrean *
Sep. 25 Lowell *
Oct. 2 Munster *
Oct. 9 at Morton
Oct. 16 at Highland *
* denotes Northwest Crossroads Conference game
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SEASON OUTLOOK
The graduation loss of two-time 1,000-yard rusher Noah Smith will be a challenge because he meant more than his numbers. He brought leadership to Hobart. But the Brickies are full of juniors and seniors who want to lead and put last season’s 3-7 record behind them.
Returnee Zanolla is a good start. His first varsity pass was a touchdown against West Side. But Zanolla will also go out on the wing and Wolfe will take some snaps under center.
“We have two great kids that are competing really hard,” Turley said. “Jared is an great athlete overall and we want to utilize him in other spots. It’s always good to have two quarterbacks. You watched Ohio State (win the championship). You can never have enough of them. It’s a physical game.”
On defense, Turley expects Budzielek and Bock to step up. Ray, a junior, is 40 pounds heavier and looks to play a lot of minutes.
“Nick played as a sophomore, but most of his time was special teams,” Turley said. “He’s bulked up 40 pounds and we expect big things out of him.”