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Pigskin Preview Capsule
Glenwood Titans
COACH: Dan Rourke (154-83, 23rd season at Glenwood)
2014 RECORD: 7-4 (6-3 in CS8)
POSTSEASON: Lost to Peoria Notre Dame 41-0 in second round of Class 5A playoffs
TOP RETURNEES: WR Andrew Morrow (14 catches, 195 yards, 2 TDs), Line Blake Smith, DB Kameron Corner (33 tackles, 2 interceptions), RB-DB Drake VonNordheim-Moore (21 carries, 190 yards, 3 TDs; 17 tackles), Line Andrew Banaitis (35 tackles), DB Justin Montrey (14 tackles, 2 interceptions), LB Charlie Heminghous (45 tackles), Line Jordan Byrd, Line Brandon Hobson, Line Tyler Lipcaman (21 tackles), TE-LB Clark Gaden (20 tackles), RB Jabores Smith, RB Hunter Voss, WR Brandon Hay, Line Drake Drennan, RB-DB Connor Dickenson
BIGGEST LOSSES: Josh Talley, Austin Dierkes, J.D. Roesch, Austin Fay, Jason Woodworth, Zach Leighton, C.J. Converse, Charlie Green, Airen Merrifield, Nick Montrey, Dominick Giovannelli, Nick Hammond, Alex Hall, Matt Kink, Nathan Olejniczak, Alex Nail, Hunter Heneberry,
WHAT THE TITANS DO WELL: Balance between the run and the pass. Last season was an exception as the Titans gained 2,443 yards on the ground — 1,435 of them by the graduated Josh Talley — and just 685 through the air. Glenwood has lots of speed among its backfield candidates, and look for the Titans to go with the committee approach at running back with guys like Drake VonNordheim-Moore, Jabores Smith, Hunter Voss, Justin Montrey and Connor Dickenson splitting the carries. New quarterback Cole Hembrough also will be a running threat, and he'll have targets like Andrew Morris, Clark Gaden and Kameron Corner to throw to. The offensive line won't be big, but Glenwood offensive linemen are known for being technically sound. The defensive secondary will be a veteran unit, and the return of a healthy Gaden will help the linebacker corps. A player to watch is 6-4, 235-pound freshman William Putnam, a two-way lineman who already has been offered a scholarship by the University of Illinois.
GLENWOOD QUESTION MARKS: During his 23-year coaching career at Glenwood, Rourke has had three sophomore starting quarterbacks. Griff Jurgens started in 1996 and led Glenwood to the 1998 state title. Miles McAdams was the sophomore starter in 2010 when the Titans lost to Lombard Montini in the Class 5A state title game. Cole Hembrough is the third sophomore to start at quarterback for Glenwood. He will need to throw the ball so the defense can't tee off on the running backs. The Titans lost 21 seniors from last year’s team, including all five of their all-conference players. There also were 21 juniors on last year's roster. Young players will have to step up.
WORTH NOTING: Dan Rourke is retiring as Glenwood’s athletic director at the end of the school year. He is uncertain whether he will remain as the football coach if given the opportunity. . . . Glenwood has made 17 playoff appearances in the last 18 seasons, including the last 12 years in a row. The Titans have won at least one playoff game six years in a row. . . . TE-LB Clark Gaden is the nephew of former San Francisco 49ers running back Tom Rathman. . . . Cole Hembrough is the son of the late Doug Hembrough, who was an all-state lineman at Griffin High School and was a starter and team captain at Missouri.
COACH DAN ROURKE SAYS: “I have a lot of confidence in our sophomore quarterback. The thing I feel that gives me that confidence is that this is something he really wants to do. He wants to be a successful quarterback. He has that inner drive that’s really pushing him. We will throw more. You have to. People look at football teams and people get excited about offense. We want to win ball games. Our idea is we do everything we can do to win ball games. I think you always want to have a good mix. You don’t want the defense to dictate your style. I hate to have them being aggressive and reading keys. We have to get ball in the air a little bit more."
| Date | Time | H/A | Opponent | Opp. Record |
Opp. Enroll. |
| Aug 28 | 7:00 | H | Decatur (MacArthur) | 0-0 | 1073.00 |
| Sep 4 | 7:00 | A | Lincoln | 0-0 | 860.00 |
| Sep 11 | 7:00 | H | Springfield (Southeast) | 0-0 | 1333.00 |
| Sep 18 | 7:00 | H | Rochester | 0-0 | 731.00 |
| Sep 26 | 7:00 | A | Springfield (Lanphier) | 0-0 | 1273.00 |
| Oct 2 | 7:00 | H | Springfield (Sacred Heart-Griffin) | 0-0 | 1196.25 |
| Oct 9 | 7:00 | H | Springfield (H.S.) | 0-0 | 1347.00 |
| Oct 16 | 7:00 | A | Decatur (Eisenhower) | 0-0 | 1041.00 |
| Oct 23 | 7:00 | A | Jacksonville (H.S.) | 0-0 | 953.00 |
