By Yaneek Smith

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

TONTOGANY — Craig Rutherford knows a thing or two about tradition. The former Eastwood coach, who coached or played for Eastwood for 17 years, brings with him credibility and an impressive resume.

After leaving the Eagles and spending a year as an assistant coach at Anthony Wayne, Rutherford got the itch to be a head coach again — provided he could get the right people on his staff — and he’s happy to be at the helm at Otsego.

“I loved the kids, but it just came down to being a part of the Otsego community, I live in Haskins, I haven’t lived here a long time, but I kind of fell in love with the community,” Rutherford said.

“It’s got hard-working kids, and families that care about the school. As I was reaching out to some coaches, I thought we could put together a good staff, and have some fun to make sure the program continued in the way we wanted it to go. When all those pieces fell into place, I thought it made the most sense for my family.

“I think it’s a program that was built on hard work and toughness, and when they’ve been successful over the last 40 years — you think about the state runner-up team in 1983 — a bunch of guys that were hard working, and they were going to hit you.

“Football is a physical game, and we want to make the community proud. We’ll play as hard as we can, but not play dirty.”

The offense is being changed to Rutherford’s patented wing-T after Otsego ran spread formations in the past.

“Last year, they were primarily spread out, but they would use one, two, or three tight ends. They were really talented at wide receiver, had two good running backs and guys that could play tight end. They were able to do a lot of things offensively,” Rutherford said.

“It was unfortunate because they had some injuries to some offensive linemen. They had to play a lot of different guys, and it took a long time to put together a consistent group. We have five to six guys that had experience on the offensive line, and that’s added to our confidence.

“We’ve got good, hard-working kids. They like to hit, and as they learn the importance of (executing a fake) when they don’t have the ball, that will create explosive plays for the other guys. It’s been fun to build that reliance on each other. Some of those tight ends that played last year are back; there are bigger, athletic guys that can play for us.”

Kaidyn Hutton is the quarterback after playing there the second half of the season following a position switch.

“It’s an advantage to us that he got those varsity minutes,” said Rutherford.

It’s running back by committee with four halfbacks and two fullbacks. The halfbacks are Kris Kazmaier, Mason Kramer, Jake Limes and Mason Roe with Keeghan Hutton and Monty Martin battling it out at fullback.

The tight ends are Jaxson Vollmar, Carter Lampe and Brayden Sadler. It’s up in the air as to who is going to be the wide receivers.

On the line, Bryce Springstead is the center, Bodde Simon and Cole Hennan are the guards with Jack Rowland at left tackle, and there’s a competition to see who will be the right tackle.

The 4-3 defense is coordinated by Kurt Hartman, the former defensive coordinator at Toledo Whitmer, and Matt Dzierwa, the former Otsego head coach.

“Both of those guys, I reached out to, and said, ‘If we’re going to do this, could we get you on board?’ Going into a new place and to be able to have them run the defense,” Rutherford said, “I realize how fortunate I am.”

Rutherford said Limes, Lampe, the outside linebackers, and cornerback Kaidyn Hutton have stood out on defense.

“Jake Limes and Carter Lampe set the pace for the defense. I’ve been impressed with Kaidyn Hutton — he’s a tall, athletic basketball player and he’s played cornerback,” said Rutherford.

“The other guys, like the running backs, they work in. We want to rotate a lot of different players on the defensive so we’re always playing fast. We’re a small school, so a lot of the same guys that play offense will have to turn around and play defense.”

OTSEGO SCHEDULE

Aug. 23 BOWLING GREEN

Aug. 30 @ Tinora

Sept. 6 LIBERTY CENTER

Sept. 13 @ Rossford

Sept. 20 FOSTORIA

Sept. 27 @ Genoa

Oct. 4 OAK HARBOR

Oct. 11 @ Eastwood

Oct. 18 LAKE

Oct. 25 @ Maumee