High school football previews – Rosecrans Bishops
ZANESVILLE, Ohio — A new football season is approaching for the Rosecrans Bishops, and with a new season comes a new stadium, as well as a new league.
The Bishops have been playing their “home” games at Zanesville’s Sulsberger Memorial Stadium, but when they kick off their season one week from Friday, they will finally have a stadium to call their own.
Along with their departure from the ECOL to join the Mid-State League, coach Mark Johnston believes both changes will be positive for his football program.
“I mean obviously being here up on the hill playing at Rosecrans with the new stadium is going to be great for these guys. I think the change to the MSL has been a positive, or will be a positive for us, where we can line up against people that are the same size or similar size. So obviously from that perspective we think that’s a positive and we’re looking forward to it,” Johnston explained.
While the Bishops have seven seniors returning in 2017, they will be looking for some new players to step up as well after the departure of their top rusher from a year ago, Travis Johnston.
But despite the loss of their biggest play-maker, senior Andrew Church says that he believes the Bishops are further along as a team than they were last season.
“We’ve progressed a lot from where we were this time last year. I just think we may have lost Travis, who was probably, definitely our best player, but as a team we’ve gotten a lot better and progressed,” Church said.
Coach Johnston says with a large group of seniors, the team’s continuity will help them overcome any departures, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
“From an offensive perspective, and overall, we have seven seniors here– which we haven’t had in a long time– and for a team of 19 or 20 kids, seven seniors is a lot, so we’re looking for leadership out of them. And the offensive line is back completely, we’ve got seniors at skill positions that have been here for two years or three years on the field. So offensively we think we should have a pretty good opportunity,” Johnston praised.
With so many guys returning on offense, third-year quarterback Jack Nash says it helps simplify preparations during the off-season.
“Our whole line is back, so that’s a nice point for us. Hudson (Moore) was a tight end last year, and as much as he loved the line, he’s our wide receiver this year so he’s our main target. And then we’ve got Carter (Dosch) and Austin (Church) behind the backfield, so that will be good for us this year.” Nash added, “for most of the guys, it’s our third or second year knowing the offense, so instead of installing stuff in two-a-days it’s more of like a review for us.”
As for expectations for 2017, the Bishops have the bar set high. Coming off a 7-3 season in which they lost in the first round of the playoffs, they want to get back and do something that no Rosecrans team has ever done before.
“I think we have a chip on our shoulder. Everyone that played last year definitely wants to get back to that spot. I think that’s our goal this year,” Nash explained.
While Church added, “we have expectations to go back into the playoffs, and not only go back in, but win and maybe win two games, which no team here as ever done before.”
The Bishops open their season, and their new stadium, on Friday, August 25th against the Beallsville Blue Devils.
2017 Schedule
08/25 Beallsville
09/01 @ Malvern
09/08 @ Caldwell
09/15 @ Fairfield Christian Academy
09/22 Harvest Prep
09/29 Worthington Christian
10/06 @ Millersport
10/13 @ Berne union
10/20 Grove City Christian
10/27 Fisher Catholic
