Greenfield has a proud football history with a state championship in 1977. So when the Wildcats were forced to drop 11-man football because of low numbers in the middle of the 2014 season, it was devestating to the town and the players.
“I was just happy that we still had football,” explained defensive end/running back Jerrett Esposito. “We just had 12 kids come out and we had a lot of kids say they just didn’t want to play anymore.”
After going 1-4 to finish off the 2014 season, the Wildcats improved to 4 and 5 in 2015. But this year the transition is complete as they’re 8-0 and ranked 8th in the state. Embracing the game that once confused them.
“Our first year we weren’t very good,” Esposito admitted. “They were doing all the scoring. We couldn’t score that much.”
“It’s brought a spark back to the people of Greenfield,” added head coach Brian Lowry. “And it’s brought a spark back to the players in Greenfield.”
With less players, 8-man football tends to be a more wide-open game and it takes a while to learn the nuiances.
I like to look for the deep routes first,” quarterback Draven Stapp explained. “They like to cover the underneath routes first so the deep routes are open a lot of the time because of the differences in the secondary in 8-man.”
“It helps not to have as many kids to defend you,” adds receiver Jalen Roby. “You catch it, there’s one guy in front of you instead of two, three, or four. So it opens up the field a little bit.”
And while the offense is averaging 54 points per game, it’s the defense that’s really made the difference this year. Giving up 16 points per game, 32 points less than last season.
“We like to hit a little more this year, Lowry said with a smile. “We enjoy the big hits, we enjoy the turnovers. These kids like playing defense as much as they like playing offense which is kinda strange in the 8-man game with the high-scoring games.”
That defense is led by defensive end Jerrett Esposito, the team’s leading tackler and second leading rusher as a running back.
“He’s our heart-and-soul,” Lowry said of Esposito. “He brings an intensity to practice, he brings an intensity to games. He just refuses to lose.”
And no one represents the “little engine that could” image of the team better than Jacob Jones. Barely 5-feet and 100-pounds, who may look out of place this land of the giants, but like David and Goliath, he brings down the big guys as he does to Esposito here. And he shows that great things do come in small packages, just like the team.
“He’s not afraid to hit people,” Esposito said. “I’m not going up trying to hit him. He’s going up trying to hit me.”
“He doesn’t ever get down, Roby added. “He’s always doing something to make us laugh and keep smiles on our faces.”
“His physical attributes aren’t the same as everybody else’s obviously,” Lowry said. “But he’s not scared of anything.”
] And neither are the Wildcats.
