GREENFIELD — Since his hiring in 2018, head coach Travis Nolting has helped rebuild the Greenfield-Central football program season by season.
Last year’s goal of the rebuild was to continue that growth and take another step forward.
This year, it’s all about proving that the Cougars can reload after losing a talented senior class and are here to stay at the top half of the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
“We did graduate some dudes, but we got dudes to replace those guys,” Nolting said.
A team that finished the year 7-3 and 4-3 in the HHC, G-C graduated its top five leading rushers from last season in Andrew Zellers, Brayden Herrell, Owen Anderson, Gael Bravo, and Brad Allen.
Zellers ran for 1,065 yards and 15 touchdowns in just eight games and earned all-state honors, Herrell added 643 yards and four touchdowns, and Bravo, Anderson, and Allen all had over 300 yards and multiple scores.
For a team that has built its offensive identity on running a wishbone offense, finding guys to step right in and fill those voids immediately was important.
According to Nolting, the Cougars have done that.
“We’ve done a pretty good job as a program over the past few years of developing our younger guys and getting them experience, so when we do lose guys like Andrew Zellers, Brayden Herrell, Owen Anderson, or Gail Bravo, we’ve got guys that are going to come in to replace them and be game-ready right away,” Nolting said. “That’s something we’ve really strived to do, and we’ve also had a great offseason in the weight room.”
Brothers Cooper Hinton and Jacob Hinton will man the running back positions, and sophomore Braylen Benavente will take over at fullback.
“I really think our fullback Braylen is going to have a really great year. He’s a dynamic runner,” Nolting said. “He’s got a lot of speed and quickness, and he’s also a very strong compact runner, so he has the ability to make those hard gains in the middle of the field when we need those short yardage plays.”
They’ll be running behind an offensive line that returns three multi-year starters. Senior Reese Hill is back at guard, all-state center Brayden Flener is back, and Connor Dotson has returned at left tackle. Senior Alex Anderson and junior Jayden Sparks are the new additions to the line this season.
“We’re a little different of a team this year. We’ve got a lot of guys we can get the ball to both running and passing,” Nolting said. “We have a pretty dynamic offense this year and feel pretty good about the guys we have playing.”
In the passing game, the Cougars bring back junior quarterback Dallas Freeman, along with senior wide receiver Kirk Knecht and senior tight end and Georgia Tech University commit Lane Wadle. Junior Boston Willard and sophomore Landen Ford are other guys Nolting expects to play key roles in the Cougars’ passing attack.
“With our ability to stretch the field and pass it, it makes it hard for teams to prepare for us,” Nolting said. “You’ve really got to prepare for a multidimensional offense from Greenfield-Central this season.”
Wadle, a force on defense as well for the Cougars last season, will still play the other side of the ball at times but will be a mainstay on offense, helping with both the G-C running and passing attack.
“He won’t come off the field for us at all on offense. He will play defense as much as he’s able to,” Nolting said. “He’s a dynamic kid because he can play an attached tight end position. He does well in the blocking and run game, but he’s also dangerous as a 6-5, 245-pound receiver. He’s got enough speed and athleticism to stretch the field and make some plays downfield, too.”
At quarterback, Freeman threw for 898 yards and eight touchdowns last season. He ran for just 157 yards and two scores, but Nolting expects that to be a bigger part of his game this season as the Greenfield-Central offense evolves.
“Our passing game is much improved. He’s [Freeman] making good decisions with the ball, and he can burn you with his feet,” Nolting said. “He’s a true dual-threat kid. With our option game, he does a fantastic job of reading it, and we have a lot of guys that he can spread the ball around to.”
Defensively, Greenfield-Central returns a strong group, but as is the case with Wadle, some guys may be limited in the amount of action they see on that side of the ball.
An All-State defensive back, Knecht will be someone who sees more time defensively, along with linebacker Jake Hinton. His brother, Cooper, will focus more on staying at running back.
“It’s kind of a guy-by-guy thing, and it all depends on the situation,” Nolting said. “Those guys are going to play both ways as much as they can, but we want to start as many one-way guys as we can to help with our ability to stay fresh and have a lot of gas in the tank.”
Jake Hinton led the Cougars last season with 115 tackles and added eight tackles for loss and two sacks. Cooper was second on the team with 77 tackles.
Wadle had 45 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks, and three interceptions. Knecht had 40 tackles and four interceptions.
Along with them, junior defensive lineman Payton Foley returns to take charge up front. He led the Cougars with 14 tackles for loss and four sacks.
Seniors Cash Looper and Aaron Lee are back as well and will help Knecht control the secondary.
With that group back and under new defensive coordinator Josh Holden, the Cougars are excited about their defense entering the season.
“It’s been great. We’re looking pretty good on that side of the ball. We’ve got a lot of speed, and we’re running a new defense with our new coordinator,” Nolting said. “Expect us to really have a lot of pressure, a lot of blitzing, and a lot of movement out of our guys. We’ve got guys that we feel are big, strong, athletic kids, and we’re excited about what they can do.”
Greenfield-Central opens up the season at home Friday against Madison, with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m.
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2023 Greenfield-Central Football Schedule
Date;Opponent;Time
Aug. 18;vs. Madison;8 p.m.
Aug. 25;at Greensburg;7 p.m.
Sept. 1;vs. Mt. Vernon;7 p.m.
Sept. 8;at Pendleton Heights;7 p.m.
Sept. 15;vs. Shelbyville;7 p.m.
Sept. 22;vs. New Palestine;7 p.m.
Sept. 29;at Yorktown;7 p.m.
Oct. 6;vs. Delta;7 p.m.
Oct. 13;at New Castle;7 p.m.
