By John Raffel
Jace Demenov made a name for himself on the Ithaca Yellowjacket football team as a sophomore, and he’s ready to make even a bigger name as a junior for the four-time defending state champion.
The 6’2″, 190-pound starting outside linebacker and backup wide receiver will be one of the key pieces behind Ithaca’s drive for five. He had six solo tackles and two assists in the 41-22 state title win at Ford Field over Clinton. In 14 games, he had 71 solo tackles and 55 assists.
It was Demenov’s first varsity season, and it was obviously a rewarding one. “We were led by a very good senior class,” he said. “We would stick together like a family. It was a tight-knit team.”
Demenov proved to be an impressive performer on the defensive side. “I thought I did well,” he said. “I know I need to keep working to win another state championship and move on from what I did last year.”
Demenov will be moving this season to inside linebacker, which, he said, is his natural position. “I’m trying to be the best linebacker I can be,” he said, adding that as an outside linebacker last year, “there were a few minor changes, different coverages I had to learn. I learned them and just ran with it.”
Demenov figures on working more with the defensive line and making more stops.
The Yellowjackets had a busy off-season, but Demenov admits there’s plenty of incentive to work hard with a 56-game win streak on the line. “Off-season is just full of football,” he said. “That’s the only thing that I personally think about, plus our team, which is working all off-season every single day. We’re grinding and working out. “I put a lot of work into this off-season, just my footwork, to be a lot better, and also to be faster and stronger.”
Ithaca graduated some key seniors defensively, but Demenov likes the unit’s potential. “Inside the box, we had quite a few sophomores that started last year on our defensive line,” he said. “We lost some of our secondary, but the guys replacing them are legit.”
Demenov is confident that the 2014 defense, with four returning starters, can immediately jell. “Week one, everybody always has the jitters,” he said. “But I think we’re going to jell pretty well. We’ll start off good and keep going. I think we’re very quick. Our quickness and toughness will be the two biggest [assets].”
As a linebacker, Demenov has a nose for the ball and can fight off opposing blockers.
The season opens Aug. 28 at Clare.
“It doesn’t matter what the team’s record is, how good they are, even in the postseason, too,” Demenov said. “We just focus on that week and that week only.”
The long range goal is still obvious: another state title. “We take it game by game,” Demenov said. “But yes, anything less than a state title would be very disappointing. We lost a few players last year, but what we have in our junior class is good talent, the senior class, too.”
Demenov led the 2013 team in tackles and earned all-conference honors.