OXFORD — It didn’t take long for the Talawanda Brave to get back into the swing of things following the hiatus in workouts due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Under the veteran leadership of Larry Cox, who enters his second season at the Brave helm, there’s only one direction. And that’s forward.
“They’re working their tails off,” Cox said during the preseason. “As I’ve always said and what I’ve told the kids, ‘You find out who the pretenders were, and you find out who the contenders were.’ The lying stops now.”
The Brave, who went 7-3 overall and 3-3 in the Southwest Ohio Conference in 2019, barely missed out on making the playoffs.
Talawanda will kick things off at home against Carroll on Friday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m.
“Everybody talks and says, ‘Hey, you’re losing all those seniors.’ And we did. What a great group of kids,” the coach said. “But great programs have great seniors classes every year. That’s not going to change. So it’s up to that next group to take that yoke of leadership and say, ‘We want to make this important. We want to make it our statement about our class as we leave.'”
KEY PERFORMERS TO KEEP AN EYE ON
Deondre Bothast-Revalee — The junior is coming off a stellar season. He 991 yards and scored a team-high 16 touchdowns. That earned Bothast-Revalee all-conference, first-team honors.
Tyler Teeters — The senior received all-conference, second-team honors last year and will expect to play a profound impact again this year.
QUOTABLE
“This feels really great right now. Just being with the team after that long break,” Bothast-Revalee said. “This is really all I want. We’re getting better together.”
IN THE KNOW
Talawanda went 2-8 in 2018 before Cox came in and turned things around. … The Brave only threw the ball in the air for 457 yards in 2019, while rushing for 2,963 yards.
KEY GRADUATES
Dalton Norris, Terrell Wills, Nathan Fox, Luke Richardson and Ryan McGuire.
2020 TENTATIVE SCHEDULE (6-game)
Aug. 28, Carroll
Sept. 4, at Harrison
Sept. 11, Ross
Sept. 18, Edgewood
Sept. 25, at Mount Healthy
Oct. 2, at Northwest
