Dedication, hard work and optimism will be evident in the Westerville North High School varsity football team’s maroon and gold uniforms this fall.
The Warriors and their fans alike hope it will mean the end of the football team’s unfortunate record. The team hasn’t had a winning season since 2004 and hasn’t had a single victory in the last four years, posting 48 consecutive losses.
Rodger Elander – who spent 17 years as an assistant football coach at North, a post he lost in a head coaching change that left him on the sidelines – is going into his second season as head coach, the first he has been in charge a full school year. He’s optimistic, even subtly enthusiastic, as he discusses what has changed and how there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
“I think we have some kids who can win some games this year,” says Elander.
When the head coaching job came open after the 2011 season, Elander was approached, and he told Athletic Director Vicki Saunders “I’d think about it.”
He didn’t think about it for long. The longtime Westerville resident and teacher – he’s taught math at North since 1992 – took over coaching duties in April 2012, tasked with turning around a foundering program.
It was the achievement of a long-running goal for Elander. Since his days at Denison University, where he played defensive tackle, serving as a head football coach was one of Elander’s ambitions, and he’s worked in various assistant coaching positions for his entire teaching career.
Elander’s first teaching gig was at Brookhaven High School in Columbus; he met Casie, now his wife, shortly after he came to North. She was an assistant athletic trainer when he started teaching. She’s now a health teacher in Grove City, and she works with OhioHealth on programs related to student athletes.
He is gradually changing things at North, which was frequently a powerhouse in the Ohio Capital Conference – the team is in the Cardinal Division – before things took a turn for the worse. Attitude may be at the top of the list.
“Last year, we made sure the kids worked hard and had fun,” Elander says. “My goal is to reinvigorate the program. I remember when the program was successful. … These kids have never seen it.”
He found the team’s off-season training wasn’t organized, and he took charge too late to do much last year. Now there’s continual team building, with scheduled conditioning in the off-season. The team reviews game films, which he calls “Football 101.” The intent is to keep the team thinking football during the off-season, so the players would be better prepared when practices started up again.
This May, many team members took part in the first-ever “lift-a-thon,” a fundraiser in which donations were tied to the amount of weight each player lifted on a Saturday in the gym. When the players collect all their sponsors pledged – “I suggested a penny a pound,” Elander says – he thinks the effort will have raised a few thousand dollars.
Team building includes players getting acquainted. Elander will have about 55 players this fall. His mantra: “Get to be teammates. Get to know each other.” During summer camp, he occasionally designates an older player to step forward and describe the work of a newer, younger player.
Elander’s attitude isn’t lost on the players. Three polished, dedicated 17-year-olds who will be seniors talk candidly about playing on a no-win team for their entire high school careers – so far.
Andy Struttman, a running back and safety and team co-captain last year, has been discouraged by the team’s losses, but he sees victories on the horizon this year.
“It sucks to see a lot of guys get out (of football) after their freshman year,” Struttman says, but he hopes to see fortunes change in 2013.
Erik Hagedorn – starting safety and a running back, playing his third year – is similarly optimistic and willing to continue to work hard for a thus-far winless team.
“I love our team. I have a special bond with every one of my teammates,” Hagedorn says. The team has “a lot of harder workers than we had last year,” he adds. “People want to get better. People want to win.”
Dominic Marzullo, a fullback and nose guard, smaller but well-sculpted like Struttman and Hagedorn, feels the same about the upcoming season.
“The dedication (to conditioning) is a lot better, but I hope a lot more people will become
The Warriors’ season begins Aug. 23, when the team takes on the Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets. The first home game, on Aug. 30, will pit the Warriors against the Franklin Heights Falcons, currently coached by former Warriors coach Mike Owens.
Duane St. Clair is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
