The Logansport football team has moved into a Hoosier Conference but has the same goal: winning the state and conference championships and getting the Baldini Trophy back home. The Berries had a hot start in a 49-7 blowout victory against the Peru Tigers, completing their Baldini Trophy goal.
“The group of seniors were dreaming of this,” senior center Kyle Rozzi said. “We knew that trophy was ours, and when we held the trophy up after the game, it felt like we had conquered the world.”
All of the position groups looked strong in the scrimmage against Lewis Cass and in the win over Peru. Senior tight end and linebacker Deagan Kitchel was happy with the way his defensive position group played in the game.
“Our linebackers have really improved,” Kitchel said. “We have made great progress in the weight room. We also improved our football knowledge, making us have that advantage over other teams.”
Along with Kitchel, several seniors play linebackers, including Tate Strong, Chris Anthony Del Valle and Cody Doke.
The same goes for the offensive line group. Room leader Rozzi has only great things to say about the group he gets to lead into battle every Friday night.
“The offensive line had a great game last week,” Rozzi said. “Compared to last year, we were unprepared. We weren’t expecting different blitzes, and when we needed to adjust, we caved and didn’t know what to do. But, this year was different. I’ve never seen a team and coaching staff like ours work so hard for two weeks to beat one team. Losing only one senior on the o-line last year was a great part of that because we all had experience and knew what it took to win. I can’t tell you how much film the offensive line watched, but it was a lot. We knew exactly what their defense was going to be doing. I’m very proud of our position group and can’t wait to see what’s to come next.”
This effort stems from long-time head coach Mike Johnson, who has set a couple of very achievable goals for his team this year. He reinforced what his center Rozzi said.
“We accomplished what we set out to do,” Johnson said. “We played really well in almost all facets of the game. We were physical against a physical team, which was good to see. We were much improved from a year ago.”
These goals are clearly shared from top to bottom on what the team plans to accomplish this year. They set out on their next game this Friday at South Bend Adams High School. The team’s first home game takes place on Sep. 6 against Lafayette Central Catholic High School. The theme for this game is yet to be determined. Follow lhs.pep.club on Instagram to stay in the loop.
