Bombers are young, raw, but talented in 2025
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Windham is mostly starting fresh this year.
Graduating 13 seniors from last year's group, the Bombers are going to look quite different this time around.
There's consistency along the sidelines however as Windham coach Jake Eye returns to the program for his eighth season.
Eye knows this team is a work in progress. He's expecting the growing pains, and he thinks this team is a ways away from competing, but the 29 guys Eye has on his roster has him excited. The potential is there.
"You have to be patient," Eye said. "There's not very many veterans, so you're trying to go back to the basics, especially offensively. There's a lot of new guys, a lot of guys that are playing positions that they've never played before. I'm transitioning guys from different spots, especially in our backfield. We lost pretty much our entire backfield from last year."
That's not to say the cupboards are bare off Route 303. Quite the opposite.
It's just going to take patience.
With a young team, week-to-week improvement is the name of the game. Especially when the lack of experience is going to make you an underdog. Why not embrace it and use it to get better?
"You want to get better every day. That's everybody's goal is to be better than you were yesterday," Eye said. "I think everybody's on board and feels like everybody has kind of bought in. It's been a great group of young men. Not very many issues if any at all.
"We are traditionally a team that is an underdog or overlooked, and I think we utilize that to our advantage most of the time, so again, we're not looking for anything to change this year. We're looking to be the underdog every week, so we'll see how that goes."
That being said, having expectations for a group this inexperienced is a tough bet. You just never know. Eye just wants them to focus on improvement above all else, but has a cautious optimism.
"The goal is always to compete. You want to compete every week and we feel like with our schedule we can compete every week," Eye said. "Are we going to have the same type of season we did last year? I would tend to say, no, but, I didn't expect this to do as well as we did last year. The guys are working hard. They're excited, they're excited for new opportunities, especially the guys that are getting a chance to play a different spot. But again, with youth comes growing pains, so we'll see."
The Bombers open the season at home with Strasburg from Tuscarawas County. Historically a team with ebbs and flows from a success standpoint, similar to Windham, Eye thinks this will be a great starting point to see where his team is.
"Week one is going to be an important week for us to find out where we're at," Eye said. "It's going to give us a good starting point. I don't know much about Strasburg, but I know they're similar in size for us. Typically they're a lot like us. They have rollercoaster years where they ride that wave, but I think that's a game that we can compete in, and I think it's a good starting point for us to find out where we're at."
OFFENSE
Sophomore Bryan Smithberger is expected to make his debut as the starting quarterback this season come week one.
"I like him at QB, and I think he's a tough kid," Eye said. "A hard-nosed kid, smart, he's a very savvy kid for his age and mature beyond his years. He's got a pretty good arm, so we're excited about his growth and development."
There's no replacing Windham's backfield from last year of Jack Eye and Carlos Bruton. Eye will be the first to admit that. With that said, the players that will be in the backfield this year are going to be able to carry the torch.
"You don't replace guys like Jack and Carlos, but we're transitioning guys that we feel like can help us this year, and you know, we're looking forward to it.
Watch for players like Dejuan Ramsey, Xavier Bruton, Matt Kolaczek and Louden Collins to be impact guys for the Bombers this year.
Ramsey will be the top dog in the backfield though. His shiftiness will help Windham navigate the field this season.
"I think any one of those guys are capable of having a big night," Eye said. "Dejuan is a pretty special type of back. He's quick and shifty. He's not very big, but he's very tough."
While the Bombers are definitely a run-first team, averaging roughly three passes a game last season, they'll still have weapons for Smithberger to connect with through the air.
Ethan Thornton and Ian Carmen are the top names to watch for in the passing game.
On the line, Windham is a very sophomore-heavy group. Sophomores Malikye Petrich, Jacob Dallner, and Devin Sherman are expected to anchor spots on the offensive line as well as second-year player Cam Peet.
DEFENSE
At a school the size of Windham's, expect to see those same names make up the Bombers' defensive front.
Jordan Ridenbaugh will be a name to watch on the defensive side of the ball, slotting in at one of the team's linebacker positions. Kolaczek, Collins, and Smithberger will take the remaining three spots.
Bruton, Ramsey, Thornton, and freshman Cam Witherspoon will occupy the secondary this season.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker and punter are still a mystery for the Bombers, but any of the skill position guys could be in the mix to return kicks and punts this season.