While the Highland football team has a lot of experience returning, they aren’t as fortunate depth-wise.

The team returns seven starters on offense and eight on the defensive side of the ball, but only has 11 letter-winners returning. While head coach Chad Carpenter has plenty of players with some experience that he can call upon, he notes that he’ll also have to get contributions from many new faces.

“We have good team speed and many players received playing time last year and should be able to contribute towards our team success this year. The lack of depth at many positions is always a concern. We will have new faces this year seeing some playing time for the first time.”

Offensively, the coach looks at Javier Vasquez, Zach Baker and Colton Liszkai as key players on the line. Jared Limings, Dakota Buntin, Brock Veley and Josh Cantrell will run the ball, while Dylan Tuggle, William Parsley, Kaden Bunting and Isaiah Stoneburner will be looked upon to catch passes from quarterback Max Schreiber.

Many of those players will also see time defensively, with Baker, Vasquez and Matthew Davidson playing on the line; Austyn Albanese and Matt Reid working as linebackers and Tuggle, Dakota Bunting, Logan Veley, Parsley and Caleb Matos being expected to contribute as defensive backs.

The Scots finished 6-1 in league play last year to tie Fredericktown for the Blue title. Overall, they were 6-4 due to a tough non-league schedule — something that remains the same this season.

“Like in past years, we play a very tough non-conference schedule,” said Carpenter. “We open up on the road with Bloom-Carroll and Heath and then home with River Valley. Conference play should be very competitive this year, as many of them have a lot of returning players. Fredericktown and Cardington should be towards the top of the league.”

Highland’s 2016 football team is pictured above.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2016/08/web1_highfb.jpgHighland’s 2016 football team is pictured above. Rob Hamilton | Morrow County Sentinel

By ROB HAMILTON

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Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS