August 3, 2023 • 12 mins
Sports Director Eric Mosley went out to River Valley to speak with Head Football Coach Matt Waddle to preview the Vikings season.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Join me right now is River Valleyhead coach Matt Waddle. And Matt,
it's a new season, but anew you know, really a new regime
here at River Valley, Doug Greenretiring you taking over. So first off,
let's just talk about, you know, kind of what what you did
before you were a head coach hereat River Valley. I know that you
(00:20):
were on the staff, but youknow kind of the process that led you
to River Valley. So when Ijoined River Valley, they were looking to
become a spread team, and Ihave a spread background playing at Kent High
School, and so I thought Icould bring in more of the passing aspect
of the game, and so wetried that for a year, weren't real
(00:41):
successful with it, so they wentwe went back to the old run option,
and I left for a year.I went to Harding because they were
trying to incorporate spread with coach later. So I was there for a year
and then uh, Coach Green gaveme a callback and I wanted to get
back to the spread, so andhere for can second of years now.
So just been kind of the cooffensive coordinator with Matt Green at the time,
(01:04):
and we kind of developed our ownpassing situation or system for the kids,
and it's kind of really taken offand we're going to try to keep
that involved this year, and we'regoing to try to incorporate a little bit
more of a run game, butwe're still going to throw it around a
lot. So that's it's pretty exciting. From a defensive aspect, we're going
(01:26):
to be more of a typical fourto three, but it more looks like
a six one, more focused onstopping the run. We've struggled the last
few years just being able to stopthe run. So our our defensive focus
this year is, you know,stop the run first and then we'll just
to passing situations. So you talkabout going up through the Kenton program and
(01:51):
obviously the Mock family and Mike Mock, all of them just a huge part
of that. And one of ourcolleagues, coach JJ Pratt, that was
his first coaching job, was therewith coach Mack. How much has that
style changed since when you learned itback playing for them and has it evolved
(02:12):
much since then to now? Oh? So it's evolved a lot. When
I played there, we were moreof a traditional run and shoot, so
we were under center we had aback, we still had four wide receivers,
but you know, we ran itquite a bit were I would say
we were probably sixty forty maybe seventythirty back then, and then shortly after
they kind of turned it into thefive wide that it is today. But
(02:37):
the concepts and all that are stillinvolved. It's just that we don't have
a running back anymore, and andit's shotgun and we're throwing it every down
or unless the quarterbacks running it.And that's how we were last year.
But this year, we feel likewe got the guys up front. We
feel like we got a couple ofdecent running backs that we can run the
ball a little bit more and andmaybe protect our quarterback from taking hits the
(03:00):
run game. Obviously, anybody that'sfollowed River Valley is probably thinking, first
off, you're losing Cayden Schedone fromlast season, But maybe maybe anybody outside
the district doesn't realize Ebert is aheck of a player and probably would have
started at quarterback if you didn't havea Kayten Schedone. So just talk a
(03:20):
little bit about how good Ebert hashas progressed. He had an injury last
year, but what he can kindof bring to that offense. So,
yeah, Chase Hiebert, I've beenkind of with him since about fourth grade
and we would even run spread infifth grade with him, So he's been
in a spread system since, youknow, fifth grade through middle school.
He played JV. He was ourJV quarterback as a freshman, and then
(03:46):
obviously the last year he suffered theshoulder injury that didn't allow him to see
any football time. But he hasdefinitely taken the role as the quarterback,
leadership roles as the quarterback and forthe offense. And I've seen him throughout
the summer start to get more ofa feel for it, get back on
(04:06):
the set in the saddle a littlebit, and just now through camp and
two days, I think it's reallystarting to click for him and he's he's
really catching onto the offense pretty quicklyof what we're trying to do. The
running game really did focus around thequarterback last season. You say, got
a couple of running backs you maybebe able to turn to. Could that
(04:28):
maybe include a little bit of anoption game as well, or are you
kind of looking at you know,we're gonna run straight ahead either with a
quarterback or with the running backs.So with our run game, we're gonna
be focused on outside of zone moreof his own type. Team. We
feel like we got some speed runningbacks, so we're gonna try to get
the edge. We'll also run someinside zone, we'll run trap counter,
(04:51):
But as far as taking the rungame off the quarterback, that's our main
focus. Not to say that thequarterback won't run the ball a little bit,
but you know, for him torun it twenty times a game,
we don't want that. We wantto try to protect him as much as
possible and keep him in the pocketand let him throw it. And then
obviously I handed off to our backs. And with the spread team, you've
(05:12):
got to have dependable receivers. Youobviously losing Grant Butler, that's that's a
big loss, but you you reallygot You guys really circulated a lot of
receivers in last year. What doyou feel about that receiver group coming into
this season? So I feel realgood about our receiving corps. We bring
keyan shadone back who was All Ohioand and he only played in six games,
led led the league in in yards. Then we bring back some younger
(05:38):
guys that saw some action when likeJackson, Cardell, Carter Park, and
then we got some guys that aregoing to be some newcomers that are sophomores,
Eli Snyder, Colton Lange. Andthen we bring a basketball kid in
that's a senior, Aiden Kenny,and he hasn't played since freshman year,
but he's got a big frame andI think he can help us out a
lot on the edge. So Ifeel like our receiving corps is really deep.
(06:03):
Yes, we lack a little bitof experience, but these kids have
been going to seven on sevens allsummer camp two of days. They've taken
a lot of reps throughout the summer, and I feel like they are pretty
accustomed to, you know, theroutes that they're supposed to be running.
Our tempo game was huge for uslast year, so you know, tempo
will be a key factor, andhaving that deep of a receiving corps should
(06:28):
allow us to stay pretty fresh.Another kid, Logan Creps, also a
sophomore, is probably six six.So I feel real good about our receiving
corps. Just like any any team, you know, it's a matter of
staying healthy. So you talked aboutthat defense and how there's a little bit
of a change to what looks morelike a six two. I always felt
(06:49):
like last season one of the strengthson this team was the linebackers. You
lose a Will Garrison, but again, you seem to have some depth there.
Do you feel like change up thatfront line a little bit with the
linebackers coming back is really going tohelp you stop the run? Yeah?
I feel like our our front fourguys are big, strong, athletic kids.
(07:09):
We'll do a lot of stunts upfront. We'll have a tilted nose,
so we'll have a lot of movementup front that'll hopefully disrupt the offensive
line. And then uh, TysonWaddle's gonna be our mic and he kind
of stepped in about week three asthe other inside backer, so he's going
to control the mic the inside backerfor us. And then we feel like
(07:30):
we got some good outside backers withCarter Creeden, who's a three year starter,
moved outside backer last year. Wegot a kid that transferred in from
Waterson tray Trayton Mercer. Uh he'sgonna be playing the other outside backer.
We got our upfront guys, youngguys h Harrison, Bradley, who's a
(07:51):
sophomore, big kids, probably sixfour, he's probably gonna be playing at
d N or an outside backer.And then we bring back some guys like
Colton Millheiser, who's the sea yours, big kids six probably six three to
fifteen to twenty. Uh Diego Sanchezwho's also a wrestler. Uh Not big
in stature as far as height,but knows how to use his hands.
(08:13):
He's quick off the ball. BryanGreen hopefully he's got a little bit of
coming off a knee injury last year, so hopefully he can he can get
healthy for us and be that otherd N. So. I feel like
we were strong, physical upfront andand able to move pretty well. The
secondary last year seemed to be prettygood as well. Coverage was good.
(08:35):
You guys were able to do somethings with some blitz packages too. What
do you have coming back in thatthat defensive secondary. Yeah, so we're
gonna move Jackson Cardell, who playedcorner for us last year. We're gonna
move him to the free safety.And then we got some new corners that
we're probably gonna try out. Wegot Addison bab who's a junior. Uh
Eli Snyder sophomore Colton Lang sophomore.They're all kind of battling for a corner
(08:58):
spot. Hey In Canegie junior,he's probably gonna be battling for a strong
safety spot. Why at Lahan alsoa strong safety battling for that spot.
Keaton Morechek is a junior. He'sprobably gonna be in that mix of a
strong safety outside backer. So wefeel like we got some depth. Caleb
Rawlison, who was a corner lastyear. Didn't mention him on the offensive
(09:22):
side of the ball, but he'sprobably going to see more reps on offense
than he is defensively. But anotherkid that has secondary experience that we could
plug in at corner or free safety. So we feel like we got some
depth at the in the secondary andwe got some fast kids in the secondary.
Again, we're trying to work outcoverages and with a new defense,
(09:43):
you know, we're more of azone zone team on the back end.
We will play man when we getinside the red zone a little bit,
but we feel like we can doboth. But we're probably going to be
more of a zone team. Tryto keep things in front of us,
rally around the ball, attack,you know, gang tackle. So I
feel like our back ends pretty strong. Special teams, especially kicking game last
(10:07):
year seemed to be a pretty goodstrength for this team. What do you
feel about that? And also justthe return game and that's such a key
for most teams any season. Howare you feeling about all that. I
feel like our kicking game is goingto be a lot stronger this year.
I had some poll held our kickingduties last year. I know he went
to a lot of kicking camps thissummer. Just for me watching him kick,
(10:31):
he seems a lot more accurate andhas a lot more power behind his
kick this year. So I thinkfrom a pat field goal perspective, we
got we got a lot of optionswith him to be able to go out
there and get three if we needthree, you know, get the one
if we need one pretty consistently.And then he'll also continue to do the
(10:52):
kickoff duties, which was again newto him, but I think having that
year of experience, he is goingto have a lot better understanding of where
we want to place the ball.Again, his leg strength has gotten so
much better. I think we havean opportunity to kick it in the hen
zone a lot. He's probably gonnahold the punt duties as well. Being
(11:15):
a soccer player, he's you know, pretty pretty good with his foot,
whether it's on a tea or inhis hands. So I feel like that
aspect of our game should be prettystrong for us, either trying to flip
field position or get points. Solet's just kind of focus on the MAC.
Now, you're you're very familiar withthe league, You've been in it
(11:39):
for a few years, and alot of teams have some some strong teams
returning. But how do you feelthat kind of shapes up this year?
Who do you think maybe could beone of the favorites or who are you
looking at? Like this is wherewe need to really focus when we get
to that week. I mean,I think anytime you talk about the Mac,
you always talk about Shelby, youalways talk about clear Fork. I
mean, Island had a great yearlast year and they bring back, you
(12:03):
know, Dane Nauman two thousand yardrusher sophomore in junior year. So I
mean, anytime you got a runningback that can produce those numbers, you're
going to have a chance that bepretty successful. The rest of the league
I think will be competitive. Galleonbrings back a lot running back. They
got a big, strong offensive line. But I feel good about our team.
(12:24):
I feel like we can compete foran MAC championship. I think we
got the pieces to do that.We just got to take it one,
one game at a time, weekto week and not look ahead. All
right, well, coach, wecan't wait to cover you guys this season,
and good luck on everything that you'refacing. I appreciate it, thanks
for having me
Join me right now is River Valleyhead coach Matt Waddle. And Matt,
it's a new season, but anew you know, really a new regime
here at River Valley, Doug Greenretiring you taking over. So first off,
let's just talk about, you know, kind of what what you did
before you were a head coach hereat River Valley. I know that you
(00:20):
were on the staff, but youknow kind of the process that led you
to River Valley. So when Ijoined River Valley, they were looking to
become a spread team, and Ihave a spread background playing at Kent High
School, and so I thought Icould bring in more of the passing aspect
of the game, and so wetried that for a year, weren't real
(00:41):
successful with it, so they wentwe went back to the old run option,
and I left for a year.I went to Harding because they were
trying to incorporate spread with coach later. So I was there for a year
and then uh, Coach Green gaveme a callback and I wanted to get
back to the spread, so andhere for can second of years now.
So just been kind of the cooffensive coordinator with Matt Green at the time,
(01:04):
and we kind of developed our ownpassing situation or system for the kids,
and it's kind of really taken offand we're going to try to keep
that involved this year, and we'regoing to try to incorporate a little bit
more of a run game, butwe're still going to throw it around a
lot. So that's it's pretty exciting. From a defensive aspect, we're going
(01:26):
to be more of a typical fourto three, but it more looks like
a six one, more focused onstopping the run. We've struggled the last
few years just being able to stopthe run. So our our defensive focus
this year is, you know,stop the run first and then we'll just
to passing situations. So you talkabout going up through the Kenton program and
(01:51):
obviously the Mock family and Mike Mock, all of them just a huge part
of that. And one of ourcolleagues, coach JJ Pratt, that was
his first coaching job, was therewith coach Mack. How much has that
style changed since when you learned itback playing for them and has it evolved
(02:12):
much since then to now? Oh? So it's evolved a lot. When
I played there, we were moreof a traditional run and shoot, so
we were under center we had aback, we still had four wide receivers,
but you know, we ran itquite a bit were I would say
we were probably sixty forty maybe seventythirty back then, and then shortly after
they kind of turned it into thefive wide that it is today. But
(02:37):
the concepts and all that are stillinvolved. It's just that we don't have
a running back anymore, and andit's shotgun and we're throwing it every down
or unless the quarterbacks running it.And that's how we were last year.
But this year, we feel likewe got the guys up front. We
feel like we got a couple ofdecent running backs that we can run the
ball a little bit more and andmaybe protect our quarterback from taking hits the
(03:00):
run game. Obviously, anybody that'sfollowed River Valley is probably thinking, first
off, you're losing Cayden Schedone fromlast season, But maybe maybe anybody outside
the district doesn't realize Ebert is aheck of a player and probably would have
started at quarterback if you didn't havea Kayten Schedone. So just talk a
(03:20):
little bit about how good Ebert hashas progressed. He had an injury last
year, but what he can kindof bring to that offense. So,
yeah, Chase Hiebert, I've beenkind of with him since about fourth grade
and we would even run spread infifth grade with him, So he's been
in a spread system since, youknow, fifth grade through middle school.
He played JV. He was ourJV quarterback as a freshman, and then
(03:46):
obviously the last year he suffered theshoulder injury that didn't allow him to see
any football time. But he hasdefinitely taken the role as the quarterback,
leadership roles as the quarterback and forthe offense. And I've seen him throughout
the summer start to get more ofa feel for it, get back on
(04:06):
the set in the saddle a littlebit, and just now through camp and
two days, I think it's reallystarting to click for him and he's he's
really catching onto the offense pretty quicklyof what we're trying to do. The
running game really did focus around thequarterback last season. You say, got
a couple of running backs you maybebe able to turn to. Could that
(04:28):
maybe include a little bit of anoption game as well, or are you
kind of looking at you know,we're gonna run straight ahead either with a
quarterback or with the running backs.So with our run game, we're gonna
be focused on outside of zone moreof his own type. Team. We
feel like we got some speed runningbacks, so we're gonna try to get
the edge. We'll also run someinside zone, we'll run trap counter,
(04:51):
But as far as taking the rungame off the quarterback, that's our main
focus. Not to say that thequarterback won't run the ball a little bit,
but you know, for him torun it twenty times a game,
we don't want that. We wantto try to protect him as much as
possible and keep him in the pocketand let him throw it. And then
obviously I handed off to our backs. And with the spread team, you've
(05:12):
got to have dependable receivers. Youobviously losing Grant Butler, that's that's a
big loss, but you you reallygot You guys really circulated a lot of
receivers in last year. What doyou feel about that receiver group coming into
this season? So I feel realgood about our receiving corps. We bring
keyan shadone back who was All Ohioand and he only played in six games,
led led the league in in yards. Then we bring back some younger
(05:38):
guys that saw some action when likeJackson, Cardell, Carter Park, and
then we got some guys that aregoing to be some newcomers that are sophomores,
Eli Snyder, Colton Lange. Andthen we bring a basketball kid in
that's a senior, Aiden Kenny,and he hasn't played since freshman year,
but he's got a big frame andI think he can help us out a
lot on the edge. So Ifeel like our receiving corps is really deep.
(06:03):
Yes, we lack a little bitof experience, but these kids have
been going to seven on sevens allsummer camp two of days. They've taken
a lot of reps throughout the summer, and I feel like they are pretty
accustomed to, you know, theroutes that they're supposed to be running.
Our tempo game was huge for uslast year, so you know, tempo
will be a key factor, andhaving that deep of a receiving corps should
(06:28):
allow us to stay pretty fresh.Another kid, Logan Creps, also a
sophomore, is probably six six.So I feel real good about our receiving
corps. Just like any any team, you know, it's a matter of
staying healthy. So you talked aboutthat defense and how there's a little bit
of a change to what looks morelike a six two. I always felt
(06:49):
like last season one of the strengthson this team was the linebackers. You
lose a Will Garrison, but again, you seem to have some depth there.
Do you feel like change up thatfront line a little bit with the
linebackers coming back is really going tohelp you stop the run? Yeah?
I feel like our our front fourguys are big, strong, athletic kids.
(07:09):
We'll do a lot of stunts upfront. We'll have a tilted nose,
so we'll have a lot of movementup front that'll hopefully disrupt the offensive
line. And then uh, TysonWaddle's gonna be our mic and he kind
of stepped in about week three asthe other inside backer, so he's going
to control the mic the inside backerfor us. And then we feel like
(07:30):
we got some good outside backers withCarter Creeden, who's a three year starter,
moved outside backer last year. Wegot a kid that transferred in from
Waterson tray Trayton Mercer. Uh he'sgonna be playing the other outside backer.
We got our upfront guys, youngguys h Harrison, Bradley, who's a
(07:51):
sophomore, big kids, probably sixfour, he's probably gonna be playing at
d N or an outside backer.And then we bring back some guys like
Colton Millheiser, who's the sea yours, big kids six probably six three to
fifteen to twenty. Uh Diego Sanchezwho's also a wrestler. Uh Not big
in stature as far as height,but knows how to use his hands.
(08:13):
He's quick off the ball. BryanGreen hopefully he's got a little bit of
coming off a knee injury last year, so hopefully he can he can get
healthy for us and be that otherd N. So. I feel like
we were strong, physical upfront andand able to move pretty well. The
secondary last year seemed to be prettygood as well. Coverage was good.
(08:35):
You guys were able to do somethings with some blitz packages too. What
do you have coming back in thatthat defensive secondary. Yeah, so we're
gonna move Jackson Cardell, who playedcorner for us last year. We're gonna
move him to the free safety.And then we got some new corners that
we're probably gonna try out. Wegot Addison bab who's a junior. Uh
Eli Snyder sophomore Colton Lang sophomore.They're all kind of battling for a corner
(08:58):
spot. Hey In Canegie junior,he's probably gonna be battling for a strong
safety spot. Why at Lahan alsoa strong safety battling for that spot.
Keaton Morechek is a junior. He'sprobably gonna be in that mix of a
strong safety outside backer. So wefeel like we got some depth. Caleb
Rawlison, who was a corner lastyear. Didn't mention him on the offensive
(09:22):
side of the ball, but he'sprobably going to see more reps on offense
than he is defensively. But anotherkid that has secondary experience that we could
plug in at corner or free safety. So we feel like we got some
depth at the in the secondary andwe got some fast kids in the secondary.
Again, we're trying to work outcoverages and with a new defense,
(09:43):
you know, we're more of azone zone team on the back end.
We will play man when we getinside the red zone a little bit,
but we feel like we can doboth. But we're probably going to be
more of a zone team. Tryto keep things in front of us,
rally around the ball, attack,you know, gang tackle. So I
feel like our back ends pretty strong. Special teams, especially kicking game last
(10:07):
year seemed to be a pretty goodstrength for this team. What do you
feel about that? And also justthe return game and that's such a key
for most teams any season. Howare you feeling about all that. I
feel like our kicking game is goingto be a lot stronger this year.
I had some poll held our kickingduties last year. I know he went
to a lot of kicking camps thissummer. Just for me watching him kick,
(10:31):
he seems a lot more accurate andhas a lot more power behind his
kick this year. So I thinkfrom a pat field goal perspective, we
got we got a lot of optionswith him to be able to go out
there and get three if we needthree, you know, get the one
if we need one pretty consistently.And then he'll also continue to do the
(10:52):
kickoff duties, which was again newto him, but I think having that
year of experience, he is goingto have a lot better understanding of where
we want to place the ball.Again, his leg strength has gotten so
much better. I think we havean opportunity to kick it in the hen
zone a lot. He's probably gonnahold the punt duties as well. Being
(11:15):
a soccer player, he's you know, pretty pretty good with his foot,
whether it's on a tea or inhis hands. So I feel like that
aspect of our game should be prettystrong for us, either trying to flip
field position or get points. Solet's just kind of focus on the MAC.
Now, you're you're very familiar withthe league, You've been in it
(11:39):
for a few years, and alot of teams have some some strong teams
returning. But how do you feelthat kind of shapes up this year?
Who do you think maybe could beone of the favorites or who are you
looking at? Like this is wherewe need to really focus when we get
to that week. I mean,I think anytime you talk about the Mac,
you always talk about Shelby, youalways talk about clear Fork. I
mean, Island had a great yearlast year and they bring back, you
(12:03):
know, Dane Nauman two thousand yardrusher sophomore in junior year. So I
mean, anytime you got a runningback that can produce those numbers, you're
going to have a chance that bepretty successful. The rest of the league
I think will be competitive. Galleonbrings back a lot running back. They
got a big, strong offensive line. But I feel good about our team.
(12:24):
I feel like we can compete foran MAC championship. I think we
got the pieces to do that.We just got to take it one,
one game at a time, weekto week and not look ahead. All
right, well, coach, wecan't wait to cover you guys this season,
and good luck on everything that you'refacing. I appreciate it, thanks
for having me
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