Lakeview Sailors young, but they have key skill position players back

By Pete Chiodo
Herald Writer

The Lakeview Sailors appear to be as young as they were last year. However, what they lost in experience they've gained in size.

Jim Walter will be taking the helm in his third season as had coach. Last year's Sailors suffered a 2-8 record, but things are looking brighter.

The team is returning their star running back, a seasoned quarterback and boasting one of the weightiest class of freshmen that Lakeview has seen in a long time. For example they picked up a pair of 215-pound freshmen lineman and another freshman by the name of Matt Kress who came in at 6-foot-2, 275 pounds.

We're still a pretty young team." said Walter. "The freshmen that are returning as sophomores have made big contributions at camp and I'm sure they will during the season. A lot of our size is in our freshmen class and they will see a lot of playing time."

The freshmen and sophomores make up more than half of the squad, but their average size has grown 20 to 25 pounds.

"We had to replace the whole offensive line, except for the starting right tackle (Jake Krafcheck) who will be a senior, and a lot of underclassmen are competing for those spots."

"We still have a lot to learn," Walter admitted. "With the offensive line being basically new it will take us a while to gel, but there is a lot of talent here and this is the first time since I've been here that we have some size. We could line up 215 across the front line on offense, which is a big change from last year. We were at 180 to 185. It's a big difference.

"The four seniors that we lost last year made up four-fifths of our offensive line. They were a big reason for (Justin) George's success. They were all rough and tumble, four-year players."

George will again lead the Sailors' backfield. George had a stellar season last year, gaining a total of 1,139 yards on 177 carries, nearly 80 percent of Lakeview's total yardage. He came in fifth in the area in rushing, behind such notables as T.J. Phillips (Sharon), Jason Cecil (KC), Julian Pierce (GC), and Carmen Tanferno (Hubbard). He was seventh in scoring with 13 touchdowns.

"(George) had a pretty good season," said Walter. "Big yardage totals, but a little bit inconsistent."

During Lakeview's only two wins last season, against Union City and Cochranton, George ran for four touchdowns in each contest. The following weeks he was virtually shut down. He rushed for 335 yards against Cochranton and was then held to 34 the next game versus Conneaut Lake.

"I'd like to see him produce game in and game out and I think that he should be improved, basically, with the addition of Deke Ison," Walter said. "Deke is a sophomore coming back and he played fullback last year but was injured part of the year and when he was out there, there was a big difference in the offense. We're looking for him to shoulder some of that load this year."

Running the Sailors' offense will be 6-foot-4 James Charlton, who will be at the quarterback spot for the second year. Charlton will have some options, other than George and Ison, including three-time letterwinners: tight end Mike Bromley, running back Chuck Mowry, and receivers Craig Ison and Jim and Rick Turner.

The team spent a lot of time in the weight room during the summer and Walter hopes that bodes well for the Sailors this season.

"We had about a dozen kids who never missed a day and a bunch who were there regularly, when they weren't busy with other sports." said Walter. "We've had an improved off-season; not as good as I would have liked it as far as the amount of time we spent together and the work that we accomplished. But the kids that were there, which was a better group then we've ever had before, did work very hard and it shows in our conditioning and in our overall strength, which have both improved."

As for other areas of improvement?

"Our seniors are solid. I think it's an overall better team. We're a little bigger, a little better." said Walter. "I think it's going to be an exciting season. The kids have worked pretty hard and if they can keep a positive outlook, they are going to make their own breaks."

Walters is assisted by defensive coordinator Gary Burke, receiver and defensive back coach Steve Johnson, running back and defensive end coach Ron Bromley, linebacker coach Joe Montone, and junior high coaches Tim Nespit and Steve O'Neill.