FREMONT, Ohio — Fremont Ross overview:
2023 Record: 4-7 (Made playoffs)
Head Coach: Chad Long (9th year)
Top Returning Players:
Kaden Mayle, Senior OL (1st Team All-Ohio)
Zavier Lopez, Senior OL (1st Team All-NLL)
Jayce Frymire, Senior DB (1st Team All-NLL)
Zalen Harris, Senior LB (2nd Team All-NLL)
2024 Schedule:
WEEK 1 8/23 @ Columbian
WEEK 2 8/30 vs. Sandusky
WEEK 3 9/6 @ Perrysburg
WEEK 4 9/13 vs. Whitmer
WEEK 5 9/20 @ Findlay
WEEK 6 9/27 vs. Napoleon*
WEEK 7 10/4 vs. Clay*
WEEK 8 10/11 @ Southview*
WEEK 9 10/18 vs. Waite
WEEK 10 10/25 @ Bowling Green*
*Denotes Northern Lakes League Cardinal Division game
Fremont Ross is entering its second season in the Cardinal Division of the Northern Lakes League and feel like last fall gave the team a reality check.
“We didn’t do what we wanted to do last year, I mean, that’s obvious," said senior quarterback Karson Kayden. "We want to be better and I think it just starts with just being more violent, more tough. Offensive line, defensive line, and just making plays.”
The Little Giants finished with a 4-7 overall record in 2023 and lost in the first round of playoffs. But since facing that result, head coach Chad Long has brought back an old program theme from the early 2000s to accomplish a better outcome.
“This year we’re going with 'T.P.W.' which means 'Tough People Win,'" he said. “That’s our belief and you got to be tough in order to win games. We got to be tough and in the trenches, you got to be just tough. Things are going to happen in a game, how are we going to bounce back from that and win the game and put ourselves in good positions?”
The seniors on the team liked the motto and defined what "being tough" means to them and how their product on the field is going to look different this year.
“'Being tough' to me is like mentally, physically, even when we’re down a touchdown at halftime and things aren’t looking great and the team’s going back and forth, just to keep your head up and keep moving forward and just fight it 'til the end," said senior right tackle Kaden Mayle. “No matter what, it’s better to fight it than just back down and let your opponent beat you. So, I think everybody is starting to buy into it."
Simple, but effective in order to put up a fight and stay accountable against their big opponents.
“We're going to give them a great shot. Especially teams like Findlay, Perrysburg. And I think it’s going to make us a lot tougher as a team to beat because a lot of the times we lose ourselves. Honestly, we beat ourselves most of the time," Mayle said. "And, I think now that we have gotten ourselves mentally stronger and I think now we’re kind of unbeatable. We got the team, we got the coaches, we got everybody together and it’s starting to look great.”
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