Clay Mastin is unable to hold on to the pass but he draws a pass interference call on the Carroll defense. Ward Moeller | PHOTO

Chris Cory is beginning his first full year as the head coach of the Tecumseh Arrows football team, and he is more than ready for the challenge. The Arrows are coming off of a 4-6 season, and finished in the basement of the Central Buckeye Conference.

But this is 2016, and Cory has his guys ready for the challenge ahead, which begins this Friday, hosting Fairborn at 7 p.m.

“We have been practicing hard and the kids are ready,” Cory said. “We have done things the right way here at Tecumseh for a long time, so there is a lot that hasn’t changed.”

“One thing we have done was cut back practices a little bit, we want to make sure we get to game one healthy, we have a lot of kids going both ways on the field, and we don’t want them to wear them out on the field but we still need to get our work in.”

“I think the kids are a little bit more upbeat this year, and we have a better pace for ourselves,” he added. “This team really gets along with each other. When you have such a tight knit group, they play harder for each other and are there for each other.”

“Football is a grind, and we have tried to break things up a little bit.”

As a former offensive line coach, Cory knows how important a solid group of guys up front.

Four of our five starting lineman are back for the Arrows to lead the way on offense. Isaiah Trimble and Hunter Hensley both return as first-team all-conference players from last year, along with senior Logan Stryker who suffered a torn ACL injury week seven last year, and he returns to action after being cleared in nine months.

Devin Alltop also returns at guard, while Kyle Holt will be a tackle this year for the Arrows.

“When you are good up front, you are usually pretty good,” Cory said. “When you are bad up front, it shows. Those kids are strong, a lot of them are 400 squatters and 300 benchers, so we feel pretty good about those kids.”

Brody Martin returns as an all-league player and will likely handle running back duties for the Arrows, while Clay Mastin returns as the leading receiver from last year. Also for the Arrows, Ryan Rowland will be back at flanker, while the Arrows will have what appears to be two tight ends on the field with Jade McFarland (who moves over from quarterback), and Donovan Davis.

Will Sounder and Martin have taken the majority of snaps at quarterback during the pre-season.

The Arrows have always been known for their defense, and Cory expects that to remain the same again this year.

“We had a good scrimmage against Tipp City,” Cory said. “We have been a 4-4 team in the past and we are switching to a 5-2 this year. Tipp is a perennial playoff team and our defense was able to play with them.”

Up front on defense, the Arrows will use Davis at nose guard, with sophomore Brandon Henn backing him up, while at tackle will be Trimble, Holt and Hensley. At defensive end will be McFarland and Brandon Castillo, who moved over from outside backer last season.

There will be several players vying for spots in the secondary, including Mastin, Martin, Rowland, Kenyon Watson, Justin Berry and Gavin Wasson.

“They will be playing on a rotational basis since most of them are also playing a lot of offense,” Cory said.

On special teams, Caleb Edwards returns from injury and will join Hensley to handle the punting duties. Also kicking this year will be James Grey.

Tecumseh Football Schedule (all games begin at 7 p.m.)-: 8/26 vs Fairborn, 9/2 vs Butler, 9/8 (Thursday night special) @ Bellbrook, 9/16 vs Northwestern, 9/23 @ Greenon, 9/30 vs Bellefontaine, 10/7 @ Ben Logan, 10/14 vs Urbana, 10/21 @ Kenton Ridge, 10/28 @ Shawnee.

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