Correspondent file photo / Michael G. Taylor Girard’s Allen Hess-Cardona carries the ball past a Poland defender during last season’s road contest against the Bulldogs.

GIRARD — The book has long been out on Girard: they play fast and score lots of points. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to stop the Indians.

Even during a five-loss season, Girard showed its trademark offensive firepower with 27 and 30-point outbursts in its two meetings with state semifinalist South Range and an average of 37 points scored in victories. The defense provided more than enough help, too, as the Indians held opponents to just 10 points per game in their seven wins.

After being led by several seniors a year ago, Girard’s 2025 roster is what head coach Pat Pearson characterized as a “mixed bag” — some high-impact returning starters and some newcomers.

“We certainly have some returning guys, with some returning all-state guys and multi-year letterman guys,” Pearson said. “But we also have some young guys. We’ve got probably four freshmen that are going to be playing with our varsity group. Four sophomores, too. And a couple of the seniors and juniors that are going to get a look here have been program guys, and this is their first chance. So this is definitely a mixed group of kids. Last year was a pretty veteran group. This group, we’re going to be kind of all over the place a little bit.”

The different composition of the roster has led to some changes for the coaches, most of whom have been with Pearson for the decade-plus he has led the program.

Pearson acknowledged that, while the expectations remain sky-high in Girard, there is a learning curve, and the inexperienced cannot always be coached the way the experienced can.

“I think you got to make sure that you’re very detail-oriented [with] everything you do, starting way back in the spring and all through June and July … And sometimes you get a group you had for a few years, and you take for granted some stuff,” Pearson said.

“You got to make sure that you put everything in right, and make sure they understand everything, and make sure that you realize for some of these guys, it’s their first time doing this and their first time doing that. Don’t let them get discouraged. As long as we have great attitudes and great effort and kids flying around, all that other stuff — you can’t replace game experience — but all that other stuff, the more and more that they get game experience, the more they’ll be able to handle that kind of stuff.”

OFFENSE

When people think of Girard football, it’s no wonder why they may envision points, and a lot of them.

The Indians have remained one of the most potent offenses annually, but Pearson admitted that Girard’s scoring machine could look pretty different from the 2024 version.

“We do pride ourselves on offense, and we always are kind of a spread and we go fast, but the way we play does change year-to-year,” Pearson said. “I mean, last year, we still could push it down the field, but we ran the ball a lot. We had an all-state tailback, and that was kind of what we morphed into a little bit. This year, I think we do a little bit of both, but I think we could throw it around. We got probably nine or 10 skill guys that are running around, some seniors, juniors, sophomores and some freshmen we feel really good about. So I think we can be explosive offensively.”

Starting at quarterback, a position with great power in Girard’s offense, will be sophomore AJ Pearson. Beginning his freshman year as Dom Tolone’s backup, AJ Pearson missed time a season ago due to a broken collarbone, from which he eventually recovered and returned to become a contributor on defense.

While there is naturally a risk in an underclassman taking on the responsibilities of quarterback, the elder Pearson says AJ is up for the job.

“AJ has grown up in this program since he was two years old. He’s been a part of this thing. He knows as much of this offense as anybody does,” Pat Pearson said. “He played a ton last year, ended up with about 60 tackles defensively. He ended up rushing, I think, for like, 300-400 yards last year, threw for a couple hundred — he’s got a lot of time. And we’ve got coach Nick Cochran, who I think is the best in Ohio, probably, with offenses and the quarterback. So he’ll be ready to go. He’s been waiting for this for a long time, and we’re confident in his abilities and what he can do.”

Replacing Josiah Hunter, whose abilities shift some of the offensive philosophy in 2024, will be a gang of backs.

Pat Pearson said that three seniors — Rodney Robinson, Sam Scott and Josiah’s brother, Jeramiah Hunter — as well as sophomore Pierson Ginocchi and freshman Mario Lipinski could see time in the Indians’ backfield, depending on the situation.

Allen Hess-Cardona, who has mostly made his name at Girard on the other side of the ball, will be playing a greater role offensively for the Indians this season, with Pearson remarking that the 6-foot-2, 225-pound senior looks like “Travis Kelce running around offensively.” He and Bryan Wilson will be playing at tight end or fullback.

On the outside, Pearson said he feels confident in a group he called “pretty deep.”

Some of Girard’s top wide receivers are expected to be seniors Jadon Wade and Carmen Biamonte, junior Joey Alejars, sophomore Braxton Sloan and freshmen Tremaine Kennedy and Lipinski.

The offensive line, which Pearson indicated would need some work considering its inexperience, will be led by junior Dylan Latell, who the coach said is 6-foot-7 and 310 pounds. He will be joined by some combination of fellow upperclassmen Tommy Schmitt, Matt Doran, Noah Youngblood, Vinny Ragozine, John MacGregor and Brendan O’Brien.

DEFENSE

Unlike its offensive counterpart, Girard’s defense, Pearson admits, is not particularly deep.

Last year, Pearson, a defensive-minded coach, relied on an experienced core that picked up the offense when it lagged behind. This year, while it may not be deep, the defense is “hungry to make their mark.”

“I don’t think we have a lot of depth defensively, but I think our top guys, our top 15, I think can play pretty good,” Pearson said. “We want to do a great job, especially with our schedule and our conference of being really, really sound on the run and stop the run, getting teams to third downs and then go and win money downs.”

As he did last summer, following a rare losing season, Pearson reiterated that while offense may be the calling card of Girard’s program, the defense can often dictate the true potential of the team.

“At the end of the day, the years that we play defense here are the years that we win championships,” Pearson said. “Our guys believe that and bought into that, and they want to run around and go play hard and do whatever they can to get the job done.”

On the defensive line, Pearson expects Latell, Schmitt and Ragozine, as well as senior Drake MacGregor, to be “big upfront” for the Indians in 2025.

Behind them will be a different-looking group of linebackers, of which Hess-Cardona will be a part. The senior has almost exclusively played on the edge previously, but ahead of this season, he has transitioned to inside linebacker.

“Allen’s one of the better, more explosive defensive players in the area. So we’re going to kind of showcase them in a bunch of ways,” Pearson said.

Joining him at linebacker will be the likes of Wilson, Robinson, Ginocchi and Grayson Meszaros on the inside, while Scott and Kennedy are expected to be the outside backers.

Girard brings back two starters at its safety positions, with Alejars and AJ Pearson returning to lead a defensive backfield also composed of Sloan, Lipinski, Wade and senior Dionte Mathews. Pat Pearson praised the depth of the group and indicated a level of satisfaction with it.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The biggest mystery for Girard heading into the 2025 season is the special teams.

While the Indians, Pat Pearson said, have some fine options to return kicks and punts, they knew it would be tough to find someone to do their own punting and kicking after the graduation of all-conference player Andrew Whitfield.

“We’ve had a good run of some of our soccer guys coming over and doing that job for us,” Pat Pearson said. “We’ve got like two or three of them that have kind of been messing around the summer with us. Hopefully, we can lock in on a couple, but that is a big hole right now for us that we’ve got to fill.”