Butch Harmon
Sports Scene
T
he Ithaca football team has a long
tradition of winning and this season is
shaping up to produce more victories as the
Yellowjackets have a solid mix of returning
veterans and talented younger players.
Last fall saw Ithaca roll through the
regular season with a perfect 9-0 record. The
Yellowjackets opened the playoffs with a win
against Saranac before the season came to
an end with a hard-fought 17-14 decision
against Pewamo-Westphalia.
A solid core of players returns from that
squad and a determined to keep things
rolling this season.
On the offensive side of the ball, Ithaca
will lean on some veteran linemen to pave
the way for the ground game and provide
strong pass protection. Kenny Daniels
returns along the front line along with
juniors Broghan Bupp and Aiden Smith.
“I’m feeling pretty good up front,” Daniels
said. “We have a lot more kids this year
on the varsity. Last year’s we only had two
backups really. I feel like we have a lot more
depth this year. The entire offensive line is
really pushing each other to get better this
y ear.”
Stepping in at quarterback is junior
Gibson Rondy (6-2, 185). A talented athlete
with good speed, Rondy was one of the top
pass catchers on the squad last year. A point
guard on the basketball team, Rondy is a
heady player with good size and strength
who will give the team a different look at
quarterback. Rondy also gained plenty of
knowledge from backing up Jackson Conn at
the quarterback position the past two years.
“I’m pretty confident going into the
season,” Rondy said. “I’ve gotten two years
to learn from a really good quarterback in
Jackson Conn and take everything he knows.
I’m excited and I have a great group of guys
around me that will support me so we should
be all right.”
At running back, junior Harper Merchant
came up to the varsity as a sophomore and
made an impact. Look for Merchant to make
an even bigger impact this season.
A number of talented targets are
available at the receiver positions. Senior
Riley Guild (6-3, 205) and juniors Elijah
Smith and Connor McMurphy provide the
Yellowjackets with some solid targets in the
passing game.
“I’m pretty confident about the season,”
said Guild. “After our season ended last year,
we all got in the weight room and put in a
lot of work in the offseason. I’m just excited
to kickoff the new season. I feel like this year
we will be pretty balanced. We have a lot of
weapons we can use on offense.”
Look for many of the same names to lead
the way on the defensive side of the football.
Daniels and Smith anchor the defensive line.
Linebacker is a position of strength with
senior Jacob Crawford back along with Bupp,
Guild and Merchant.
“We’ve been working pretty hard,” said
When protecting your Auto, Home,
Life, Business, Farm and more, the
Crawford. “It’s exciting to see what we can
do on the field once we get the pads on. We
are going to focus on each game individually
and each play and then go from there.”
In the secondary, Rondy is a returning
starter along with Smith and McMurphy.
“It’s been a good summer,” said Ithaca
coach Jordan Hessbrook. “I’ve been pleased
with the kids so far. They’ve had good
attitudes. It’s a nice group of kids, a fun
group of kids to be around. We’ve got a small
senior class but we have a large junior class.
T
hat’s going to be an interesting mix of kids
going into the season. They’ve been working
hard and have good attitudes and we’re
looking forward to continue to improve as
we head into camp.”
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