(Editor’s note: This story marks the third of 11 high school football team previews, which will run leading up to and alongside Friday’s “2022 Football Preview” tab.)
SHEFFIELD — Numbers won’t be a problem for Sheffield this season.
Two years after they abandoned the 2020 season after a single game, the Wolverines find themselves with roster size that many of their District 9 counterparts would envy. Nearly two-dozen players from Sheffield High — plus another 14 from its co-op with Abraxas — have the Wolverines running at full speed.
Still, they seek their first victory since 2019, and will count on plenty of new faces in pursuit.
“There is something different about this group, and I’m not saying that because I think we’re going to go out and win everything,” said Mike Barr, who enters his second season as head coach of the Wolverines. “It’s an atmosphere of kids who are excited and want to accomplish something, and we didn’t see that last year.”
Last year’s 0-8 finish, Barr said, was partially a product of inexperience and, as a result, a lack of complexity in Sheffield’s system. The previous year, the Wolverines ended their season after a Week 1 thumping at Union/A-C Valley, leaving remaining players with a football-less fall.
“We had kids that hadn’t seen a field in two or three years last year after we lost the program, so we tried to make it as easy as possible,” Barr said. “This year, it’s time to turn that page and start building a little complexity into both sides of the ball, and so far, they’ve done well with it.”
Colby Barr will quarterback the Wolverines as a sophomore. One of nine returning letter winners, Barr’s arm strength and ability on the ground could lead Sheffield to use run-pass option (RPO) attacks.
“We picked up where we left off last year with a lot of these kids, and the Abraxas kids flowed right into it,” Mike Barr said. “Last year, we ran very basic schemes. An ‘I’ formation offense and very basic defense. This year, it’s about ramping up and adding a higher level of difficulty to the offense and defense. More stunts and stuff like that to become more comparable to everyone else in the league.”
Colby Barr will be joined in the backfield by Chase Kyler and Matt Lobell, the latter of which converted to fullback after playing center last season. Andrew Kyler, Gage Mott-Macalush and Dylan Hardwick will be the team’s top receiving threats.
“Last year’s goal was to build a foundation and it’s looking like we did that,” Mike Barr said. “You really don’t know until you strap them up against a team and the score counts, but if practice is any indication, it’s like they’ve evolved for that next step.”
Sheffield considered its offensive and defensive lineman group to be a strength last season, but much of that unit was lost to graduation. The Wolverines gained six linemen from Abraxas, however, whom they’ll lean on at the line of scrimmage.
Barr’s staff was encouraged by the results of camp, but knows his team has yet to prove itself in regular season competition.
“All of the poor stuff we’ve done on the practice field has translated to games, so let’s hope the good stuff does, as well,” Barr said. “They’re going to need to believe in themselves. Confidence is lacking here, and it’s lacking just because the losses have out-weighed the wins.”
Sheffield will compete in the District 9 Region 3 league this year. Its schedule features home-and-home series with Buckail, Elk County Catholic and Otto-Eldred, three schools who match up at least in terms of enrollment.
“We use the analogy that you’re not going to turn around a battleship in a creek in one day,” Barr said. “It’s the same with this program — we’re not going to get to where the ‘W’s’ are coming unless we play with confidence.”
