Countdown to kickoff: Titans believe abundance of offensive weapons will lead to renewed success

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HAMILTON, Ill. — A change in scheme yielded substantial offensive improvements for the West Hancock football team in 2023.

If the Titans take a similar leap forward in 2024, it will be with a new quarterback who set a school record at wide receiver in 2023 and has earned the confidence and trust of his coach and teammates despite his inexperience at the position..

In his first season as head coach, Coy Dorothy implemented the spread offense, and the Titans’ statistics skyrocketed. After averaging just eight points per game in 2022, scoring six points or fewer in all but one game and getting outscored by an average of 36 points per contest while running the Wing-T offense, the Titans averaged 27 points per game, scored fewer than 14 points only once, and lost just three games by more than two scores in 2023.

“We were throwing the ball more than West Hancock has in the past,” Dorothy said. “Just right there, that opens up the field.”

Junior quarterback Gavin Grothaus utilized those open spaces to complete 64 percent of his passes for 2,223 yards and 23 touchdowns. Four different receivers caught 36 or more passes, and three of those receivers racked up more than 500 yards through the air.

But with Grothaus deciding to focus on basketball and forego playing football, the Titans will turn to a signal caller who has never taken a snap at quarterback.

Enter Bryce Varner.

‘I took on the challenge, and I actually really like it’

Varner caught a single-season school record 13 touchdown passes in 2023, breaking Austin Hardy’s record of nine touchdown receptions, which he set in 2012 with Dorothy as the quarterback.

Considering Varner’s receiving prowess, why make him the quarterback? Dorothy said the answer lies in Varner’s cerebral approach to the game and the dynamic he brings to the position unseen at West Hancock for quite some time.

“He’s a 4.0 student, so when I tell him something, it just clicks,” Dorothy said. “I tell him to adjust something and within the next rep he gets, it’s adjusted. From the start of the summer to now, it’s a world of a difference in a good way, and you can tell the kids are confident in him as a quarterback.

“He just fits it well. As athletic as he is, we can run it a lot more with our quarterback.”

Varner has had all summer to hone his mechanics and adapt to his new role.

“On the first day of summer workouts, I was told I need to step up, be a leader and play quarterback,” Varner said. “I took on the challenge, and I actually really like it.” 

He still occasionally yearns for those times catching touchdown passes, though.

“I still do miss playing receiver, but I’m going to do whatever I can for my team,” Varner said.

That unselfishness will serve Varner well.

“Bryce is the most selfless player we have,” Dorothy said. “You realize that from the first time you meet him.”

That selflessness in action boosts his teammates’ confidence, too.

“The thing I love about watching Bryce is he makes sure to give every kid their ‘atta boys.’ He gives them their flowers, tells them how good of a job they’re doing,” Dorothy said. “Some kids just don’t have that natural ability to bring other kids up, but Bryce does that, and as a quarterback, that’s all you can ask for.”

Varner knows he needs those other 10 players around him to help him out.

“By bringing them up, it builds their confidence to just not give up and put in more work and realize we’re not going to be mad at them,” Varner said. “If a receiver drops a pass, we’re still going to throw it to him. If a running back fumbles it, we’re still going to give him the ball, so we need to have their confidence up and have them believe that they can do the best that they can.”

That confidence extends to the offensive line where guard Braxton Scott will start for the third consecutive year.

“It takes a lot of effort to switch from being our touchdown record holder to being our quarterback and it causes a lot of stress, but we’re all here to back him up,” Scott said.

Returning leading receiver Nolan Gooding believes in Varner, too.

“He’s developed a lot over the summer,” Gooding said. “He’s always had the arm talent. He’s just a really good athlete. We know what he can do.”

Weapons and athleticism abound

With the graduation of Evan Carel and Gage Scott, Varner won’t have as many returning wide receivers with experience, but he will still have plenty of weapons with which to work, including Gooding.

“I think we have the best receivers on our schedule,” Gooding said.

Gooding paced the Titans with 731 receiving yards and caught five touchdown passes in 2023. He will likely be Varner’s top target this fall.

“He’s tall (6-foot-1), very athletic and put on a lot of muscle weight,” Dorothy said of Gooding.

Senior Tucker Koltzenburg will see time at both receiver and running back, spelling senior running back Grayson Conkright while taking Varner’s slot receiver spot.

“He’s super athletic and plays really gritty,” Dorothy said of Koltzenburg.

Junior Gunner Grothaus will make the jump from JV to varsity and add another layer of athleticism to the Titans’ offense.

“He really hit the gym,” Dorothy said of Grothaus. “Not saying he couldn’t jump very high to begin with, but now he’s jumping out of the gym, throwing it down on the basketball court. He had a lot of success at JV last year, and he just took that next step of hitting the weight room, and he’s been here all summer putting in that work at wide receiver. I think he’s going to have a breakout year.”

Even though the offensive line is relatively inexperienced — Scott is the only three-year starter on either the offensive or defensive line — sheer numbers could lead to improvement in 2024.

“We’ve got seven or eight guys that could fill in those spots,” Dorothy said. “Any one of those kids could step in there and play and there wouldn’t be a downgrade anywhere. We’ve got some beef up front, and they’re taking the initiative that in order to have a successful football program, you have to have a good offensive line. I told them that at the beginning of the summer, and they’ve taken it to heart.”

Braxton and Jess Scott will provide some of that beef on the defensive line, Koltzenburg will display his athleticism and tenacity at linebacker, and Varner at safety and Gooding at cornerback will anchor the backend of the defense.

Titans’ confidence has not wavered

Losing can be a burden, but Dorothy said the Titans’ three consecutive 1-8 seasons and zero playoff berths since 2018 have not diminished his players’ confidence or belief in each other.

“It’s tough when the wins don’t stack up, but every single one of these kids out here shows that they want to be out here,” Dorothy said. “Each one of these kids knows the kid standing next to him has his back, and that’s tough to see at the high school level.”

The quest to break that six-year playoff drought will begin Aug. 30 on the road against Deer Creek-Mackinaw.

“We’re zeroed in on Aug. 30,” Dorothy said. “You get that first win as quickly as possible, then get rolling and build that confidence.”