Two weeks of practice wasn’t enough to decide who would be Windsor’s starting quarterback.
So head coach Alex DeMatteis waited until after senior Nate Browning and sophomore Derek Williams both ran the offense during Friday’s jamboree in Imperial to announce who would be the Owls’ signal caller this fall.
After watching game film of the jamboree Saturday morning, DeMatteis gave the nod to Browning, who started most of the Owls’ games last year. But Williams could be under center at any time, DeMatteis pointed out.
“Nate’s a great kid and a great athlete and all he wants to do is help his team,” DeMatteis said. “We appreciate his hard work and attitude for what he needs to do for Windsor football.”
Williams was the starting point guard during basketball season and he played junior varsity baseball in the spring. DeMatteis said when Williams, also the punter, decided to play football it created a competition for quarterback that hopefully will help the Owls improve upon last year’s 0-10 campaign.
“Derek’s ready for varsity football, but Nate has 10 games of experience in our system and Nate’s a good, hard-nosed kid,” DeMatteis said. “You want to let the process play out. Nate’s helped Derek. This hasn’t been taken personally. They’re both mature beyond their years and I’m so proud of them.”
The Owls return just eight starters on both sides of the ball after losing 18 seniors last year who started or played significant time.
“We’ve got a lot of newbies and it’s OK because our JV team had a good year (7-2) last year,” DeMatteis said. “We’ve got a good-sized junior class and a lot of those guys will be getting a lot of starts.”
The Owls got another assist from the basketball team in sophomore Norman Alford, who is new to football. Alford is in line to be in a rotation at running back and also will start in the defensive backfield.
“If we had more time, we’d move him up on the depth chart,” DeMatteis said.
Junior Johnny Fasanello played limited time on the varsity last year at running back, but will likely be a starter. Sophomore running back Chris Butts played on the JV last fall before reaching the Class 3 state wrestling tournament in February at 160 pounds. Juniors Kaelen Gmerek and Justin Stenger round out the backfield.
“Their body types are in between tailbacks and fullbacks but they all run like fullbacks,” DeMatteis said. “We may not have to have clear-cut starters and that would be good for us.”
Senior captain Luke Stallings will line up at wide receiver and cornerback for the Owls, who are still in search for the other starter on the outside.
The offensive line is anchored by junior Noah Schaefer, who started all 10 games last season at center. DeMatteis had to replace the rest of the pieces around Schaefer. Senior J.D. Elders was the sixth man on the line in 2017 and he’s versatile enough to play center, guard and tackle, but will start at guard. Junior Ethan West and sophomore Owen Exler will handle the tackle spots, and the second guard position is still up in the air.
Senior Aaron Harrison will back up Browning and also play tight end, as will senior captain Alex McCallister and junior Austin Henry, who doubles as an outside linebacker but has been slowed with injuries in the preseason.
An athletic linebacking corps made up of the team’s running backs, will be the key to success on the 3-3 stack defense the Owls run. The defense deploys three down linemen with three linebackers stacked right behind them. It uses twists and stunts to try to confuse offenses.
“You can blitz a lot out of that defense,” DeMatteis said. “We’ll be back in that. It’s not a secret. It’s something I’ve run for a long time.”
Williams, Gmerek and Alford will all see time at safety. Browning and Stallings are the starting cornerbacks. Most of the offensive linemen will turn around in the trenches on defense.
Senior Keri Voegtle, an accomplished five-sport athlete, will handle all of the kicking chores. All of the players involved in placement kicks also are seniors, as Harrison is the long snapper and Browning is the holder.
“We’ve got to bring the rush on Keri in practice and see how she responds,” DeMatteis said. “But she’s been working really hard.”
DeMatteis made the decision to bring Voegtle off the field after kickoffs.
“She runs to the sideline and gives me a high five,” he said.
The Owls compete in the Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division with De Soto, Festus, Hillsboro and North County. Windsor hasn’t won a conference game since 2014.
“There was a really good senior class in our conference last year so it’s going to be interesting to see how the season unfolds,” DeMatteis said. “I like to focus inwardly as much as possible. I’ve gotten to know the coaches (in the county) and they do a tremendous job. Historically, we haven’t performed very well in the conference and we’re looking to improve on that.
DeMatteis didn’t have much time to get to familiarize himself with his team last fall.
“It’s important to be able to spend a whole year with your players,” he said. “When I got here, I had six weeks to get things together last summer. Just being around them has been an awesome opportunity to set up our structures; what things look like in the offseason. We hit the ground running this season.”