better with a year of maturation. How the Tigers’ flexbone of- fense moves the ball and con- trols the clock will depend on a number of moving parts, and the line — the big skills, as Lundt refers to them — will play a major role. Mason Griffin (guard), Danny Buss (tackle), Easton VanCleave (guard), and Gabe Fierce (tight end) all either started or saw minutes a season ago. Trent Wessel- mann, Evan Goetz, and John Hales are all in line for playing time as well. “The offensive line is the cor- nerstone of any program and we are counting on (that group) to lead our team,” Lundt said. “The mentality of that big skills group was the strength of our team last year. That same group will have that same men- tality, and now they’ve got ex- perience and a few more tools in the toolbox to work with.” The big boys opened up run- ning lanes for 1,803 yards a season ago, and 1,622 of them return this fall. Iowa State commit Will Haw- thorne churned out 774 yards and scored seven touchdowns a season ago, and this fall he’s bigger and significantly faster than he was as a junior. Fellow halfback Tayshawn Gillen added 189 yards and a score, and he is poised to have a breakout junior season.
It would be simple for a coach to jump aboard the Hawthorne train and go for a ride, and many would do exactly that, but Lundt says his all-state candi- date will be just one piece of the offensive puzzle. “I’d like to see how we can get Will, at maximum, 75 percent of the offensive snaps because he’s not stepping off the field on defense,” Lundt said. “Will is in- credible, but we think the stable is full behind him. Tayshawn is really good. Blake Bell is really good. Wyatt Pink, Gabe Fierce, Ethan Wilcox ... and we can only play two running backs.” The glaring omission is senior quarterback Connor Rash, who will be sidelined throughout the season following a knee injury in late February. Rash had hoped to return at some point during the season, but Lundt says his boisterous leader will only be able to watch this fall. The 327 yards rushing, 756 yards passing, and 15 com- bined touchdowns he accrued last season will be missed. “My heart breaks that he’s got to go through this,” Lundt said of Rash. “On the positive, he gets to go through this with a great family, a team that cares about him, and a school that cares about him.” Gilbert will rely on another Rash to take the snaps and di- rect the offense in junior quar- terback Ethan Rash. A natural
at running the flexbone, Ethan Rash also has a pretty good player-coach to learn from in his very own cousin. “With his cousin being the guy, that has given Connor a role to connect on to,” Lundt said. “It’s not just a teammate, it’s a family member that is going to be taking the snaps. Ethan is the exact opposite of Connor — he’s steady Eddy — and for what is asked of the po-
sition, Ethan has a skill set to be successful in there.” He’ll have plenty of targets to throw to as well. Hawthorne and Ean Eldred combined for nearly 600 receiving yards and seven TDs a season ago. Fierce, Pink, and Alden Short combined for 11 more catches. Gilbert averaged 22.8 points per game a season ago and this team has the weapons to
FALL 2024 | GAME ON 17
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