Delphos St. John's Blue Jays B Section

8/8/2019 Delphos St. John's Blue Jays B Section

1/8

The Herald Congratulations Jays December 2010 1B

Congratulations State Champions!

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2/8

2B The Herald Congratulations Jays December 2010

DEWITT

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3/8


Mr. DonHuysman

Principal

MorrisChiropractic Clinic

933 Elida Avenue, DelphosPh. 419-692-9050

Your Opportunity for Better Health

Assistant Coaches: Kneeling, left to right, Adam Lee, Neal Miller, JayLeininger, Dan Metzger, Jerry Jackson. Row two: Assistant Head CoachSteve Recker, Dave Desenberg, Dick Clark, Sean Hulihan, Jerry Burgei.

662 Elida Ave., Delphos

419-692-0007Open Daily 5:00 am to 9:00 pm

Cheerleaders& Mascot

545 S. Main St., Delphos

Varsity Cheerleaders: Lexi Miller, daughter of Mark

& Christine Miller; Stephanie Metzger, daughter

of Cindy Metzger & Carl Metzger; Carissa Shafer,

daughter of Andrea Shafer & Jeff Shafer; Samantha

Ginter, daughter of Joel & Cindy Moorman & the late

Michael Ginter; Taylor Mueller, daughter of Lisa

Mueller & Randy Mueller; Meagan Hemping,

daughter of Chuck & Sue Hemping; Mascot is

Payton Curran, son of Michael & Karyn Curran.

By JIM [email protected]

DELPHOS When a player is selected team captain, thatsays something about the respect his or her teammates holdfor the person.

From putting in the extra time to perhaps being willing tochange positions, they are to provide the good leadership ateam needs to be successful, in-season and out.

When you consider that the St. Johns football teamsmotto for 2010 was Together As One, that carried muchmore meaning for this group.

The St. Johns football team sent out the senior quartet

of quarterback Jordan Leininger, tailback Evan Burgei, lefttackle Austin Vogt and free safety Tyler Bergfeld all keycogs of the 2008 title-winning crew to represent them inthe coin flips all season long.

They led in more ways than that.Leininger moved from tailback, where he had been a

2-year starter and rushed for 2,985 yards in 2-plus seasons, tounder center to replace 3-year starter Wes Ulm.

I had played quarterback some on varsity as a freshmanand I was the backup the last two years, so it wasnt thatbig an adjustment. They are two different positions and twodifference perspectives, so I had to get used to that all thetime, Leininger began. The running was a little different; Ihad to make the quick decisions on the option, for example.However, the biggest difference was the passing game, read-ing coverages. As I got more comfortable there, Coach (ToddSchulte) got more confident in calling passing plays. I keptgetting better at knowing what I was doing.

Burgei also gained a better feel for the position as hemoved from defense a 2-year starter at cornerback tooffense to replace Leininger at tailback.

Ive been the backup my last two years at tailback, so itreally wasnt that much of an adjustment. I enjoyed playingdefense but I didnt play much there this year; the coacheswanted me to focus on just playing tailback and stayingfresh, Burgei began. They emphasized that if I was fresheragainst a tiring defense late in games, I had the advantage.Thats what happened against Ada (a 42-14 victory in theregional semifinals). I was fresher and their defense wastired, so I had two long touchdown runs late in the game. Ilike having the ball in my hands more. It makes you feel likeyoure really contributing more. I like to make plays and be adifference-maker.

Still, it meant certain things had to be done differently inthe off-season.

I always knew I had it in me to be a tailback but I had to

bulk up a little bit more to take the pounding. I needed to makesure I was in good shape so I could get through the season; Impretty beat up now, Burgei continued. Fifteen games is a lotof games and I wanted to stay healthy. Not only did I work onmy speed and quickness but I also got a lot stronger in the off-season. I got better as the season wore on. Playing tailback inthis offense is not only about being strong and fast but its alsoabout learning your proper reads, getting a feel for the defenseand what theyre doing. As I got more playing time and morereps at practice, I got more comfortable in the position.

As well, we had a great offensive line. I think it will godown as one of the best-ever at St. Johns. They were creatingholes all season long and its much easier to run when youdont have to deal with a lot of traffic.

Vogt was asked to play more both ways as a defensivetackle, especially when injuries started to take out some ofthe D-linemen.

I didnt mind that at all. Ive always wanted to play moredefense anyway, he asserted.

The coaching staff: Schulte, defensive coordinator Steve

Recker, Neil Miller, Dave Desenberg, Dan Metzger, Dr. JerryBurgei, Jerry Jackson, Sean Hulihan, Adam Lee, Dick Clarkand Jay Leininger; came in for high praise.

The coaches are great, too; you can have the most won-derful athletes but if you dont have the coaching, you arent

going anywhere. They kept us focused on the job at hand and

never let us look ahead, Leininger asserted.Our coaches did a great job of preparing us well all sea-

son. We didnt have a lot to worry about each week; we wereready to go, Vogt chimed in. For example, (offensive linecoach) Coach Desenberg focused a lot on technique. He toldus that when things got tough and we were tired, techniquewould be the key. As a group, weve been able to developreally good relationships with our coaches.

Last seasons loss in the final five seconds of the statefinals weighed heavily on the minds of those returning fromthat team.

Definitely, weve been thinking about playing at state all

Tyler Bergfeld

Jordan Leininger

Austin Vogt

Evan Burgei

Captains set the tone for Together As One season

See CAPTAINS, page 6B

You couldnt have a better feelingas a high school athlete than winning

a state title in your final season.

Tyler Bergfeld


4/8


Freshmanteam

Kneeling, left to right: Kellen Schoemaeker, JDan Risner,Nate Schroeder, Kyle Pohlman, Andy May, Ben Wrasman. Rowtwo: Coach Dick Clark, Tyler Jettinghoff, Cody Looser, RyanSchumaker, Spencer Ginter, Jason Wittler, Luke MacLennan,Coach Jay Leininger.

Elizabeth at Market

Allentown at Cable

Bellefontaine at Kibby

Hamburg Pickle On Top!

Makes Your

Go Flippity Flop!

SINCE 1928

SENIOR BAND MEMBERS

Sabryna

Ashbydaughter of Dave

Ashby & Jeannette

Passmore

Trevor

Kroegerson of Tom and

Lori

Alex

Schnipkeson of

Scott & Lisa

Chris

Goodwinson of

Steve & Sandy

Katie

Knodererdaughter of

Brian & Ann

Ashley

Hoffmandaughter of

Jim & Diana

Tyler

Koesterson of

Mark & Sherri

Jamie

Klausingson of

John & Nancy

Meghan

Rybadaughter of

Michael & Mary

Megan

Klausingdaughter of

Linda Guthrie

Sidney

Bradleydaughter of

Lindsey & Kaye

Dani

Haledaughter of

Dan & Amy

Thank you Blue Jay Marching Bandfor the fantastic entertainment!

Charlie & Marg Ashby


DELPHOS St. Johnshad a chance to capture statefootball title number six allin Division VI last fall.

The Blue Jays came upshort, dropping a bitter 24-21decision to first-time cham-pion Norwalk St. Paul in the

finals.This season, the Jays gotback to the title game andgave no doubts about thischampionship as they rolledup a 15-0 record.

It handed 12th-year headcoach Todd Schulte his fourthcrown at the helm of the BlueJay gridders.

He added a title to previ-ous ones in his first cam-paign a perfect 15-0 in1999, replacing Vic Whiting;in 2005, when his team went13-2 and got red-hot in theplayoffs; and 2008, when asophomore-laden lineup ranoff the last seven in a row.

Last seasons 14-1 staterunners-up was also the firstsecond-place trophy in the

programs history.Schultes unit fell three

times in the state semifi-nals: 2000, his second sea-son, when the teams staterecord 57-game winningstreak was sliced by MACcolleague Marion Local (whothemselves went on to back-to-back titles in DivisionVI); 2002, when they fell in

the swamp at Mansfield toeventual Division V champSmithville; and 2003, fallingto eventual titlist ColumbusGahanna Academy in over-time at Tiffin.

Schulte now stands at127-32 in his 12 seasons,including a 34-5 mark in 39playoff encounters, for anoverall .799 record. He hasput together four perfect reg-ular seasons.

He continues the job begunby Whiting, who took over in1988 and laid the foundationfor what was to come.

His 94-28 mark in 11 sea-sons included two back-to-back Division VI crowns anda 28-0 mark: in 1997 and1998.

His .770 winning percent-age included a 10-2 playoffrecord and a loss to St. Henryin the 1994 state semifinals the teams first-ever berthin the state semifinal footballround to end up 12-1. Thatwas the teams first-ever per-fect regular season.

That puts the number ofteam or individual state cham-

pionships in the schools his-tory at 23: eight for boys andgirls track and field; six forfootball; five for girls basket-ball; three in boys hoops; andone in boys golf.

The program now standswith a 331-260-3 mark (.557winning percentage) in 56campaigns and 594 games.

Before Whitings tenure,the program had a 110-200-3mark in 33 seasons.

Only one of the previousnine coaches had an over-.500 mark: Tom Zimmer(9-8-1) in 1956-57.

The coach in the first sea-son of 1955 was Bob Arnzen,finishing 3-4-2.

George Rafferty (1965-71) finished 31-32 (14-10 in their four years in the Tri-

County League, with one titlein 1968 and a runner-up thenext year) in his stint. Priorto this, the Jays played anindependent slate.

William Rocco had thenext-best mark in his threeseasons as head coach (1958-60) 12-16-1.

Ed Zalar went 15-22 in1961-64.

All those seasons wereeither in the Tri-CountyLeague or as an independent.

The Jays entered the

Western Buckeye League inthe 1972 season with a newhead coach, Ray Funk. Afterresigning after the 1978 sea-son, his mark stood at 19-50-1 (16-46-1 in the league, withone runner-up in 1977).

Rod Moorman, a formerplayer for St. Johns whoplayed collegiately at Toledo,ran the team for five sea-sons.

Three of those were still inthe WBL: 2-27-1, including2-25 in the WBL.

The Jays then got into theMidwest Athletic Conferenceand Moorman went 15-5 for

an overall mark of 17-32-1,including 9-3 in the MAC and

a runner-up finish in 1983.Tom McCurdy then was

the head man for three sea-sons (84-86) and amassed a3-27 mark (1-17 MAC), fol-lowing by the 1-year 2-8 (0-6MAC) stint of Tom Sawyer(1987).

Whiting took over for the1988 campaign and beganthe turnaround. He finished49-22 in the MAC: fourundisputed titles (1998,1997, 1994 and 1991); onerunner-up (1993); and a tri-championship (1989).

Schulte has a 71-26 MACmark with four outright titles:2010, 2009, 2000 and 1999.

All told, the Jays were14-10 in the TCL; 18-71-1in the WBL; 122-74 in theMAC; and 39-7 in the secondseason.

This years team did itwith 14 returning starters,including fourth-year letter-men/starters in left tackle/defensive tackle AustinVogt (25 pancake blocks; 13total stops), free safety/widereceiver Tyler Bergfeld (28catches, 541 yards, 10 TDs;23 tackles, 4 picks; 10 kickoff

returns, 29.3-yard average, 1score; 26 punt returns, 7.8-

yard average), right guard/right defensive end DerekDozer Klaus (15 pancakeblocks; 45 solos, 21 assists,10 sacks, 33 quarterbackharassments; 1 pick) andtailback-turned-quarterbackJordan Leininger (162 rushes,1,234 yards, 12 scores; 83-of-158 passing, 1,398 yards,19 TDs, 3 picks, 162.7 QBrating). Leininger ended upfourth on the schools careerrushing list with 4,219 yards(with a 6.9-yard average)behind Zach Weber, Chad

Schulte and Matt Shumakerand became the third-lead-ing scorer with 392, passingShumaker and trailing Weberand Schulte. Bergfeld endedhis career 50 grabs for 1,091yards and 17 scores, goodfor sixth, fifth and fourth,respectively, on the Jays all-time list. He also now standssecond in interceptions for acareer with 18, only trailingthe 20 of Randy Grothaus.Klaus is now third behindolder brother Rocky sacksfor a season with 10.

Among the 21 seniors, sixmore were in their third sea-

sons of starting, led by center/

Title No. 6 comes in dominating fashion

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I & K

DISTRIBUTORS

CONGRATULATIONS

BLUE JAYS!

WHAT A GREAT SEASON!

YOUVE MADE US

ALL PROUD.

See TITLE, page 6B


5/8


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DELPHOS Winning never gets old.Just ask St. Johns and its football pro-

gram.The Blue Jays finished off another suc-

cessful season with a perfect 15-0 mark andthe programs sixth Division VI state title.

The man at the helm for four of thosetitles, 12th-year head coach Todd Schulte(127-32 mark), knows his place in the tradi-

tion that has become St. Johns football.He is the main man at the helm but he gets

a lot of help.I know I get my name in the paper and I

get the wins and losses but it wouldnt hap-pen without my assistants. When we talkabout team around here, we talk about beinga family, he began. It starts with the playersand coaches that have come before and arehere now. They were and are great kids andare respectful. I tell todays parents all thetime that it is the kids credit we are in theposition we are. The Xs and Os dont workwithout the Jims and Joes. Its the players andcoaches that have gone before that have laida great foundation that I know I am part oftrying to maintain and build more.

My whole staff are good men and good

coaches; they are as committed to makingthis team the best it can be week after week asI am. They are great around the kids and theyare quality men off the field. They wouldntbe around if they werent. They have sacri-ficed time with their families and personaltime to do this.

We have 21 seniors and these kids havegiven four years to this program. Several ofmy coaches have been here longer than Ihave. My wins and losses dont happen with-out their work. I know I can trust them to dotheir jobs so I can focus on mine. Weve alsoworked to establish a good relationship withthe players.

Success in any sport has become muchmore that the physical part, according toSchulte.

Games are won and lost long before youtake the field; youre not just going to stepon the field Friday and win games. We as acoaching staff are committed to preparing ourplayers the best we can from watching andbreaking down films on Saturday mornings,putting together game plans and scoutingreports and work on the field from Mondayto Thursdays, he explained. I tell peoplethat is where games are won and lost and thatis where I and my staff most help our playerswin; if you dont practice and prepare well,mentally and physically, that is how you willtend to play. I think that is one of the thingsI am better at than I was; preparation. Thereare things I used to think were important thatI dont anymore and others that I didnt thinkwere important then that I do now.

Each of us tries to do things camps,

clinics, whatever is needed to becomebetter professionally as coaches. We owe the

kids that because we ask them to do whateverneeds to be done to be better players and astronger team. Were always looking for abetter way to do the same thing, to say it in adifferent way that is just as effective. Everyyear, we tweak our system on both sides ofthe ball to see if we can do it better withoutchanging the base.

Building those relationships, as well as ateam, is a two-way street for Schulte.

The players work so hard all year around if you want to compete and be successful,

no matter the sport, there really is no off-season anymore and I and my staff dontwant to take short-cuts, either; we work ashard as they do in our way; we dont wantto let them down, just as they dont wantto let us or themselves down, he said. Ithink we can all sleep well at night knowingweve done everything in our power to getthese kids ready for the game. Sometimes, itdoesnt always work out. As long as I and mycoaches have given our best and the playershave given theirs, I can live with that.

I think I am also more patient as I growand mature as a coach. If things arent goingso well, I think I am willing to stay with thegame plan and let the game come to us. Aswell, sometimes a pat on the back does morethan a stern lecture.

Each season can build off the one before.Take, for example, the loss to Norwalk St.Paul in last falls Division VI finale. That lossin the last five seconds was plenty of motiva-tion for 2010.

We had a great off-season and summer inthe weight room and in conditioning. Losinglast year in the finals was all the motiva-tion these guys needed to work hard andimprove in all the tangibles: speed, strength,quickness, he continued. It wasnt just thekids that were on the field in that game. Ttwasnt just the Chris Pohlmans and JordanLeiningers, the stars; it was everybody. Thosethat didnt play wanted to work as hard asthose that did. We had constant reminders which you cant help because people weretalking about it for a long time; the kids didntrun away from it, either. The kids carried thatwork ethic over into preseason conditioning,two-a-days and into the season.

Still, it wasnt all smooth sailing in thisrun to the state title.

In our first scrimmage, we had it handedto us by Elida. That was a wake-up call andI saw an entirely different team in our scrim-mage with Celina, he observed. Still, thefirst game against Lima Central Catholic, Iwas as nervous as I have ever been. Despiteeverybody we had back and all the work thatthe kids out in during the offseason, I wasntsure what to expect and what Id get. I waspleased with how we did against LCC andthat kind of set my mind at ease some. Thatset the tone for the whole season. We learnedsomething after that scrimmage and then it

just carried forward. We set a goal to improve

every week and get better in each phase andwe did that. The players responded well and

maintained their focus all season. That wasnot an issue.

We had a tough schedule, both leagueand non-league (six teams made the playoffs).

LCC and (Jeromesville) Hillsdale both madethe playoffs and the first goal of every seasonis to win the Midwest Athletic Conference.You find it very easy not to look ahead; asI and the coaching staff remind the players,look ahead in the MAC and you get beat.Once we got through that, won the title andstayed finished the regular season perfect, wecould then focus on the playoffs. The kidswere very focused. It wasnt hard to figureout that in order to win in week 15, you hadto win in the four weeks before. These kidsshowed a great level of maturity to handle theexpectations and the pressures.

When it came down to the keys to this sea-son, it was his very experienced and talentedsenior class that led the way.

I was most impressed with how this group

handled the off-season and season, especiallythe seniors. When you think that severalof these guys were thrown into the fire ofvarsity as freshmen and a few more werethrown in as sophomores; they were going upagainst juniors and seniors and juniors andseniors in the MAC are men and they heldtheir own very well, Schulte noted. As Ivealways stressed, you only go as far as yourseniors take you. These guys did a great jobof providing the necessary leadership and theunderclassmen followed their lead.

For example, Jordan (Leininger) cameto me about moving to quarterback and hisremark was Id rather win a state title than bea first-team All-Ohio tailback. Or when Joey(Grubenhoff) got hurt in our last regular-season game with a torn ACL but was deter-mined toi make it back for the finals. Thatswhat you need to know about this group.

They got stronger, quicker and faster

every season. The seniors arent the end-alland be-all of a team but they provide theexperience and the intangibles teams need.They were great teammates, not only to their

own classmates but all the other classes aswell. That really made this team special.

He hopes that it is not the end of the grid-iron trail for most of those 21, either.

I believe there are a number of seniorsthat are capable of playing at the next level,whether it be Division I, II or III. They aregoing to help some team, he said.

As for the future, Schulte is optimistic butknows what the program faces.

We have to wait 28 days before we canreally talk the kids about next season but theexcitement is already there; I was up here(Tuesday) to do some work and there wereat least 30 kids in the weight room. That isa great sign; winning a title gets them juicedup, Schulte added. Well get together thenand start preparing for next season. You want

to challenge each and every kid to becomethe strongest in the room, to be better than theguy next to him. After all, they will be com-peting with one another for open spots andif you have that type of mindset throughoutyour program, youre going to have a lot ofcompetition once its time to suit up again. Atthe same time, youre competing against allthe other teams on your schedule to try andbecome the strongest, fastest, quickest and allthe other things.

What I think will be a great motivator forthe underclassmen is the question that will beasked a lot: what are you going to do withoutthese 21 seniors? Its a legitimate questionand they are going to hear it constantly. Ithink they have already started to provide ananswer; the weight room. That is where itsgoing to start; getting stronger, more physi-cal, quicker, more athletic, all those thingsthat we will need to get to have a chance.

Schulte knows his place in Blue Jay football lore


6/8


CONGRATULATIONS!

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year, ever since the loss lastyear in the finals. That left abitter taste in our mouths andwe knew what we had to do toget rid of it, Vogt continued.Wed been business-likemost of the year but the day ofthat game, it was emotional. Ithink all of us seniors realizedthat this was the final timewed put on the St. Johnsfootball uniform. In previousyears, we always had next

year but this was it. Tell youthe truth, Im not sure whatwould have happened or howwed have reacted had we lostthat game.

It was shocking that webeat Shadyside so badly.

hen we looked at them onfilm, they were athletic atquarterback and their defen-sive line was big and athletic.They even came out and didsome different things butonce we handled that, theywent back to their normalstuff. All we had to do wasfollow our rules and tech-niques and we were fine.

Motivation came fromwithin and from without,according to Bergfeld.

We didnt need to haveany meetings in the off-sea-son. It was understood whatwe wanted to do and what wehad to do it, he explained.We wanted to get back tothe state finals and finishthe job we didnt get donelast year. Everybody did theextras. During basketball sea-son, its hard to make time tolift as much as youd like butI did what I could. The samething with baseball becauseyou have so many games.In the summer, it was busy,

between agilities, lifting,basketball camps and ACMEgames. Basketball helps youragility and conditioning.

There was a constantreminder, though. It was ChrisPohlmans idea to put thepicture of Norwalk St. Paulin our locker room celebrat-ing their title and and threeplaces in the weight room.It was a constant reminderfor us during the winter andsummer of what we had leftundone. I dont think any ofus wanted to experience thatagain.

However, for Vogt, it was

a scrimmage that seemed tobring them back to the jobat hand.

When Elida handed itto us in a scrimmage, that

was an eye-opener. If we hadcontinued down the path wewere on, Im thinking wemight have been a 5-5 team,he observed. We had gottena little complacent, thinkingit was going to be easy thisyear with all the veteranswe had back. When we gotback from that scrimmage,we had a meeting as seniorsand talked about what wewanted to accomplish and

what we had to do to getthere. We got back after itthe next two-a-days practicesand never let up.

If that wasnt enough, theMidwest Athletic Conferencewas another reminder to notlook ahead.

The MAC prepares youso well for success in theplayoffs. As long as you canget through the MAC, yourein good position, Burgeinoted. Its the best small-school conference in the stateand you have to get betterand play well week in andweek out. It beats you up,too.

For Bergfeld, it was alsonecessary to not let any dis-tractions take the focus onthe ultimate prize, such asignoring Internet forums andsuch.

I dont pay attention tothe Internet. I know some dobut I dont look at that stuff,he said. It doesnt botherme what someone might say.I just wanted to go out andplay football. We did our

jobs and we got rewardedfor it.

As for the future, all fourhave short-term and potentiallong-term goals.

I had to report for basket-ball (Wednesday), so I took iteasy the last couple of days;I sat on the couch, slept andwatched TV. Still, I dontneed much time to recover;Im ready to go, Bergfeldexplained. Ive gotten usedto it the last three years. Oncebasketball is over, then itsbaseball. I like all three prettywell. Im not sure now ofwhether I will play a sport incollege. I think it depends onhow basketball and baseballgo and how my body holdsup. It would be nice but if Idecide not to, Im happy with

just being a student.Im thinking of playing

basketball for the first timesince my freshman year. Imnot sure but coaches are tell-

ing me they like to see play-ers perform in other sportsand show different skills; Imstill thinking about it, Vogtcommented. I know I haveto stay in shape and workon my footwork and quick-ness, as well as getting faster,stronger and more athletic. Iplay baseball in the spring andthat wont change. Id liketo play college football andBowling Green, Kent State

and Ball State are really inter-ested. Butler has offered butsince they are Division I-AA,they really cant offer money.They are trying to work outsome kind of package.

College football isnt outof the question but I want togo to an engineering school,Burgei stated. It would benice to play at the next levelbut if it doesnt happen, ImOK with that, too. So far,Dayton is the main one thathas expressed interest butIm hoping more will becomeinterested. I am taking a fewdays off to let an injury healup before I start getting readyfor track and field.

Bowling Green StateUniversity and Toledo haveexpressed interest. As well,I-AA and Division II schoolsare looking, Leiningerobserved. Im being tolddifferent things: some aresaying they want me as a full-back, others as a slot receiv-er, a safety or even an outsidelinebacker. It just dependswhat they are looking for andwhat they need. I had to dosome different assignmentsthis year as the quarterback,like leading on the O andblocking. I have included

some of those plays in myhighlight tapes Im sendingout to those schools.

Two of the players:Bergfeld and Leininger; hadolder brothers that played forthe Jays.

Bart was on a state semi-final team in 2004, so hedidnt win a title. Still, heexperienced some success,Bergfeld noted. We didntgive me a lot of advice buthe gave me some. With hiswork, he didnt have a lotof time. He played collegefootball at Dayton and had apretty nice career.

Leininger had his olderbrother, Jay, currently anassistant coach, who waspart of the 2008 title teamas well.

He claims we are tiedwith titles. As a freshman,they won in 2005, so heclaims that, Leininger said.The biggest thing he doesis be there when I have abad play or something elsegoes wrong. He comes upto me on the sidelines andcalms me down, helping mekeep my head on straightand move on to when I goback in.

Another, Burgei, has afather, Jerry, who played col-lege ball at Michigan.

He doesnt talk a lotabout that except to stressconstantly to work hard andhave a good work ethic. Hetalks about what hard workdid for him and can do forme, Burgei explained.He doesnt say a lot to mebecause we have such goodcoaches but at the start of theplayoffs, he told me to playyour B-plus game until thefinals; thats when you wantto play your A-plus game.You dont want to have anyregrets and you want to leaveit all on the field.

This season wont be for-gotten soon if ever bythe captains.

A great feeling. Its some-thing Ive wanted to do sinceI was young win state as asenior and it was a goal allseason for us, Burgei added.I was a starting cornerbackfor the 2008 team but I wasa sophomore. Its not quitethe same as doing it yoursenior year. Thats the wayto go out; winning state inyour last game in your finalseason. This feels likes itsmore my and our title; its

a more personal title.What a nice time to be

playing your best and playyour best game. Thats whatwe did against Shadyside.Thats a perfect way to goout.

Vogt focused more on theunity.

We did it as one. Ourmotto Together As Onewas perfect for us, he con-cluded. We had never goneunbeaten as a class thoughwed won a lot of games and we finally all got backtogether in our senior seasonand went unbeaten. This is a

goal weve had since juniorhigh. Weve had a lot ofsuccess as a class and this isa best way to top it off. Wedeserved this; no one gave it

to us. We worked hard for it.We learned a lot about

life as well; the coachesconstantly emphasized thatsuccess was a mindset; ifyou believed in yourself andworked hard to get there,then youd achieve yourgoals. Everyone got along sowell and we really did workas one. That is the biggestmemory I will take from thisseason.

You couldnt have a bet-ter feeling as a high schoolathlete than winning a statetitle in your final season,Bergfeld ended. Personally,I enjoyed the blowout, thoughnone of us ever imaginedit would be by 71 points. Idont like close games. Itsnice to have a 35-0 lead. Itsnice that we kept getting bet-ter each week and then hit ourstride during the playoffs; wetook our play and intensityup another notch. It was funto be able to do that.

Perhaps Leiningersummed it up best.

Its definitely a differentfeeling winning a title versusbeing runner-up. Winning itwill help erase the memo-

ries from last year but thosewill always be on our minds,of how we let it get away,Leininger added. That lossput a load on our shouldersthat we thought about all yearand winning the title will helptake some of that off ourshoulders; its lightened theload. We were on a missionfor 12 months and got it done.Once we got through the reg-ular season, we could focus

on the playoffs. We felt wehad a good chance if we tookevery opponent seriously; weprepared well from practiceand film study and put that togood use on the field.

I cant really express whatI feel about my teammates,especially the seniors. Wereally never had any issuesthis year; they were great.We had a lot of great leaderson this team; that cant beoverlooked.

This year has taught mehow much football is likelife, of how you have to workfor success and things wontbe handed to you. If you arewilling to put in the timeand the effort, you will berewarded.

Captains (Continued from page 3B)

Title (Continued from page 4B)

St. Johns senior Alex Recker, left, poses with hisfather, defensive coordinator Steve Peanut Recker,with the state championship trophy.

St. Johns senior Evan Burgei shares a moment

with his father, assistant coach Dr. Jerry Burgei, withthe title trophy Friday night.

Tom Morris photos

Family traditions passed from father to son

defensive end Alex Recker(16 pancakes; 28 solos, 23assists, 2 sacks, 16 QB harass-ments; 38 punts, 36.4-yardaverage, 15 inside the 20),left guard Joey Grubenhoff(16 pancakes; returned froma severe knee injury in week

10 to play in the finals), Mikelinebacker/TE-FB ChrisPohlman (77 solos, 54 assists,3 sacks, 3 interceptions, 2 forTDs; 81 yards rushing on 10runs and 24 yards receivingon 2 catches) the repeatDivision VI Defensive Playerof the Year; cornerback-turned-tailback Evan Burgei(218 rushes, 1,673 yards, 27scores; 10 grabs, 119 yards,2 TDs), strong safety/WR

J Klausing (36 solos, 15assists, 1 pick; 7 catches,192 yards, 2 tallies; 11 puntreturns, 9.5-yard average)and outside linebacker Dylan

Dancer (55 solos, 48 assists,1 pick, 5 fumble recoveries,

1 TD). Pohlmans 250 solospassed Keith Reckers 243as the all-time leader in thatdepartment, as well as jump-ing from fourth to second intotal stops (behind Reckers479) with 430.

Five more seniors were

in their second seasons asvarsity players: noseguardCody Brinkman (48 solos, 43assists, 7 sacks, 9 QB harass-ments), defensive tackleKasey Bonifas (13 total tack-les; injured late in the season),guard/end Vinny Wiley (13solos, 8 assists), safety TylerDitto (43 and 19, 4 picks) andwide receiver Joe Haggard (5grabs, 68 yards, 2 tallies). Aswell, first-time starters wereright tackle Seth Knebel andtight end Justin Grothouse (9catches, 145 yards, 1).

The final five seniors wereWR Brad Gerberick (2 grabs,

22 yards), defensive tackleJacob Rode, defensive end

Reed Hesseling (18 tackles)and center Nate Hoffman.

For the fourth time in thelast six seasons, the Jays hada pair of 1,000-yard backs (in15 games).

Junior kicker Josh Rode(70-of-73 extra points, 3-of-4

field goals, 79 points; break-ing his 4th-place mark of66-of-71 last season), full-back Jordan Bergfeld (95rushes, 733 yards, 13 scores;10 receptions, 128 yards,1 tally; 6 kickoff returns,20.8-yard average), wideoutTanner Calvelage (7 catches,150 yards, 1) and guard AlexWehri (6 pancakes) were vitalcogs for an offense averaging42.7 points and 379.3 yards(282.6 rushing; 7.5 yards perplay) in 2010 and will be keyplayers for 2011. Rodes 136-of-144 mark in EPs puts himonly behind Charlie Webbs

146-162 and Michael Bitlers192-of-210.

Defensively, they gave up10.1 points and 214.2 yards(73.9 rushing; 3.9 yards perplay) and forced 23 more turn-overs than the offense gaveup. Besides the seniors thatwill be graduating, juniorsKyle Neumeier (team-leading

78 solos and 57 assists at out-side linebacker), cornerbackRyan Densel (32 and 9; 5picks, 1 for a score), corner-back Calvelage (17 and 6; 3picks) and junior linebackerAustin Sheeter (19 and 14)will need to be prime-timeplayers next fall.

They rushed for 4,239 yards(7.2 per rush) and threw for1,450 (16.7 per completion,with a 52.4 completion per-centage and 4 interceptions).

The defense ceded 1,108yards rushing (2.5 per rush)and 2,105 yards passing (10.1per completion, with a 53.6

completion percentage and25 picks).


7/8


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