OXFORD — Cale Leitch threw it out there without holding back.
“This year, we’re looking to win a couple more games,” the Talawanda High School senior said. “That’s our main goal.”
Leitch, who returns as the starting quarterback, said that for the Brave to enjoy a successful season, it will start with him and the offense.
“We are really hoping to get more out of that side of the ball,” Leitch said. “That was a little bit of our down issue last year. If I can step up, help the team and have goals for myself, and if I can achieve some of those goals, then I will ultimately help the team.
“I do like having the team on my back because I’ve always been told that the quarterback at times can be the best position in the world and at times it can be the worst. That’s what I signed up for. I take full responsibility for this team.”
Talawanda hasn’t had a winning season since going 7-3 in 2019. The Brave went 2-8 a year ago under head coach Andy Stuckert, who is entering his second season at the helm.
Stuckert said 2024 has a different vibe, rightfully so, after getting that pivotal first season under his belt.
“Obviously, the biggest thing is that I’m so much more familiar with the area, the school, the kids and all that stuff,” Stuckert said. “At this point last year, we were still trying to learn kid’s names. We were trying to figure out how things work up here.
“Somebody said that I have it all under control, but we certainly have a good feel for it now. It feels good going into year two — because last year, we threw a lot of stuff together real quick. We did things the right way, but we’re a little more poised for impact this year.”
Leitch brings back close to 1,800 total yards of total offense. He threw for 1,152 yards and eight touchdowns, while rushing for a team-best 638 yards and eight scores.
Leitch’s favorite target was Demetrius Morris-Williams, who caught 35 passes for 488 yards and six touchdowns. Morris-Williams is entering his junior year.
“The biggest thing now is we won’t shy away from saying our ultimate goal is to win football games,” Stuckert said. “You can win the offseason. You can be the best person on Twitter, Facebook, whatever. But at the end of the day, we’re trying to win football games starting in August. We want to make the playoffs, and we want to win playoff games.”
Lance Cantrell, a junior running back, rushed for 531 yards and six touchdowns last season. He’s also returning.
On the defensive side, junior linebacker Tad Polly is back after wrapping up 46 total tackles as a sophomore. Talawanda graduated three of its four leading tacklers from 2023.
“We’re going to be dogs,” Polly said. “Our mentality is just to go out there and be dogs and let them see what Talawanda football is about.”
Talawanda had a youthful roster during Stuckert’s first season in Oxford. But he looks at that as a positive — now.
“We had a lot of young kids playing football on Friday nights,” Stuckert said. “I think a lot of times people look at that like we sacrificed the seniors last year because we had so many freshmen and sophomores playing. Our seniors were all out there. We just didn’t have anybody else. A lot of kids got experience last year, and that’s exciting because for all the lumps we took last year, we’re hoping that year under their belt helps them be better prepared for this season.”
The 11 seniors who graduated last year, Stuckert said, went above and beyond helping to set up the 2024 version of Talawanda.
“When they came, I asked them to give a little blind faith, and I told them our coaching staff would take it from there,” Stuckert said. “It made it that much easier to recruit kids out of our hallways — knowing that those kids really dropped that anchor to stop our ship. Now, we can focus on rebuilding and get it a little bit better every year. I always try and give them a little bit of credit for that. The biggest step they took was physicality, and that’s something that I hope we can hang our hat on again.
“We talk about all the things that we can actually control on Friday nights, and being physical and relentless and hustling is big,” Stuckert added. “I’m hoping that’s something the people that sit over my shoulder here right now on Friday nights see this year.”
Other Talawanda players to keep an eye on include sophomore Oliver Bennett (QB/DB), senior Ryan Wright (WR/DB), senior Landon Coffey (OL/DL), junior Jericho Fletcher (OL/DL), sophomore Hollis Hofmann (OL/DL), sophomore Jordan Ellis (OL/DL), senior Alex Farrell (OL/DL), sophomore Kemper McAfee (WR/DB) and sophomore Eli Jones (WR/DB).
“I tell all the kids all the time, ‘If you’re not shooting for a state championship, you shouldn’t be doing it,’” Stuckert said. “We don’t shy away from that. Obviously, we’re going to have more attainable goals that we’re focusing on right now. With each goal, it’s a step to get to where we want to be. We’re really focused on that right now, and it’s showing. We have kids showing up that haven’t shown up before. We’ve got our part-timers from last year who are full time. Our group just grows every day. So, it’s been fun to see.”
