Countdown to kickoff: Panthers welcome bevy of options in offensive backfield

CAMP POINT, Ill. — The luxury of having an all-state running back to hand the ball to in tough situations is gone.

For now.

Central football coach Brad Dixon believes his stable of capable backs — the Panthers may employ six or seven guys to run the ball in a given game — will create an efficient ground game. He’s still waiting for someone to emerge as the give-me-the-ball kind of guy.

He’s confident it will happen, and he believes whoever emerges can continue the tradition forged by past all-starters Cole Williams and Brandon Rossmiller.

“No one has had to be the guy where when we needed hard yards we gave it to them,” Dixon said. “That’s always been a Cole (Williams) or a Brandon (Rossmiller). So we have to figure out who’s going to be the guy. When it’s third and 2, who is the guy who needs the ball.

“We have to find out who that guy is.”

Dominic Williams could be that guy. Same with Garret Williams. Isaac Genenbacher falls into the mix as well.

Whoever it is, they have the luxury of Sterling Stotts lining up at fullback. Stotts rushed for 436 yards and four touchdowns in six games in the spring.

“We do have a bunch of explosive guys,” Dixon said. “I think it will shake out where guys will separate themselves.”

That’s already happened at quarterback where sophomore Nick Moore has taken the job and run with it.

“He is way older in terms of majority and work ethic and things like that,” Dixon said. “Obviously, there is going to be a learning curve. He’s gotten better every practice, and he’s a ‘Yes, sir. No, sir’ kind of kid.”

An experienced offensive line makes it easier to put an inexperienced quarterback under center. The Panthers return four starters up front, none of which went into the spring with any varsity starts under their belt. Now they’re seasoned and in sync.

“That’s a big difference between where we were and where we are now,” Dixon said.

Defensively, the Panthers have two anchors — Cole Pracht at defensive tackle and Stotts at middle linebacker. Pracht, a junior, had 37 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble in the spring.

“He can move and hopefully he’ll command a double team,” Dixon said.

Pair him with 6-foot-8, 270-pound Kaleb Post and it becomes an imposing front that should plug holes and allow the linebackers to make plays.

“We have to tackle well,” Dixon said. “It’s one of those things you have to put the time in and you have to teach it to get better at it. So we’re continuing to get better there.”