Ohatchee, AL – With depth and experience to overcome injuries, and talent to open up the offense, Ohatchee eyes ‘the year we’ve been looking forward to for a long time.’
Chris Findley pulls no punches about his latest Ohatchee football team.
“We’re excited about this year,” said Findley, the Indians’ head coach since midway through the 2021 season. “This has got to be one of the most experienced and oldest teams that we’ve put on the field since I’ve been at Ohatchee.
“We’re going to have about 20 seniors. I’ve been at Ohatchee 11 years, and I’ve never seen more than 13 of 14, so this is the year we’ve been looking forward to for a long time.”
He has good reason.
The Indians’ return 10 players that made the Class 1A-3A All-Calhoun County team in 2023. That includes 10 seniors … quarterback Jake Roberson, running back Nate Jones, wide receiver Colby Hester, defensive lineman Tristan Kiker, linebacker Deacon Engle, lineman Owen Abernathy, lineman Sam Jones, defensive back Briley Carter and lineman Kanyon Cox.
Sophomore FB/TE/DL Gus Hunter also made all-county as a freshman.
Ohatchee added skill with three transfers: wide receiver/tight end Drake Kaye (Ragland), wide receiver Bayden Collins (Ragland) and wide receiver/running back Jayden Heard (Anniston).
Yes, Ohatchee lost Jesse Baswell, who played enough positions to count as five players. He was a running back, tight end, wildcat quarterback, linebacker, kick returner and punter.
The Indians’ also lost wide receiver/defensive back Will Folsom, but an intriguing team returns.
Roberson showed he can bring a passing dimension to Ohatchee’s offense last season. With Hester returning and obvious skill having transferred to Ohatchee, Findley should field the prettiest version of Ohatchee’s “Ugly Eagle” offense since the Indians adopted it, in 2015.
“We still want to have our same mentality,” Findley said. “We still want to be physical. We want to run the ball, and that’s going to be from day one. We want to control the line of scrimmage and to run the ball like we have the past 10 or 11 years.
“You also want to use your talent. Looking at the talent we have this year, it would behoove us to maybe open it up a little bit.”
The only thing that must change is Ohatchee’s injury luck. A slew of preseason and early-season injuries doomed Ohatchee to an 0-7 start in 2022, but those players returned in time to help the Indians win their final three games and make the playoffs.
Baswell’s injury last season turned a 4-1 start into a 5-5 finish without a playoff berth.
“Last year, it took maybe four or five different guys for all of the things that he did,” Findley said. “Once you start doing that, it really hits your depth. …
“To me, this year, the big thing is, we’ve got a lot of experience now. We’ve got a lot of depth now. We’ve got a lot of older kids. It’s going to be less of a hit this year, because a lot of guys are going to grow into that, and the depth is there to handle an injury better than the past couple of years.”
Tribal facts
Things to know about Ohatchee football heading into the 2024 season:
—Chris Findley enters his third full season as Ohatchee’s head coach. Including his time as interim coach in 2021, he’s 8-13 with two playoff appearances.
—Strapped with key injuries in 2023, most notably to TE/RB/QB/LB/KR/P Jesse Baswell, the Indians started 4-1, including a victory at Piedmont, but finished 5-5. Baswell was on pace for a county-player-of-the-year kind of season when the injury occurred.
—Key graduation losses from 2023 include Baswell and WR/DB Will Folsom.
—The following All-Calhoun County picks return: senior RB Nate Jones, senior WR Colby Hester, senior DL Tristan Kiker, senior QB Jake Roberson, senior LB Deacon Engle, sophomore FB/TE/DL Gus Hunter, senior OL Owen Abernathy, senior DL Sam Jones, senior DB Briley Carter, senior OL/DL Kanyon Cox.
— Players to watch: WR/TE Drake Kaye and WR Bayden Collins transferred from Ragland, and WR/RB Jayden Heard transferred from Anniston.
— The first year of a new reclassification cycle has the Indians in a realigned Class 3A, Region 6 with Glencoe, J.B. Pennington, Locust Fork, Piedmont, Saks, Wellborn, Weaver.
