By AARON PETCHAL

For The Times Leader

TORONTO — The Toronto football team is looking to get back to the playoffs. In order to do so, it going to need another strong season out of its defense.

The Red Knights made the playoffs in three straight seasons from 2014-16 but have come up one win short of qualifying the last two seasons. Last year, in its first under the guidance of head coach Josh Franke, Toronto was unable to overcome a bad start, en route to its second straight 4-6 season.

“When I look back at last year, we just got off to a bad start,” Franke said. “Nathan Karaffa got hurt in our first scrimmage, and he was out for the first six weeks of the season. Then, Nick Sninchak also got hurt. He dealt with a knee injury. We dealt with a lot of injury issues last season. You hate to see that, especially in your first year.

“One good thing that came out of was we had to play some younger guys. Those younger guys got some reps, and that will help this season.”

Things have gone smoother for Franke so far in his second season at the helm of his alma mater.

“I have gotten to know the kids, and I have gotten to know their families,” said Franke, who is a 2005 graduate of Toronto. “Things are definitely going smoother this season. The kids know the coaches. The kids know the plays. They know their responsibilities. They know the system. They know the formations. They know the motions.

“Those are all good things because we don’t have to spend time at practice covering it. Our kids know that stuff, so practices are running smoother. Now, we can just work on fine-tuning the details.”

The Red Knights lost seven seniors to graduation, including one of the best all-around athletes to ever go to Toronto in Karaffa, along with other key multi-sport contributors.

Though Toronto lost a good bit of talent off of last year’s team, the cupboard is not bare for the Red Knights.

“We have 38 kids this year,” Franke said. “That is a good number for us, absolutely.

“I have been at Division V schools who have had less kids. For a Division VII school to have 38 kids, that is a good thing. As a coach, one thing I would like is I would like us to average about 10 kids per class. We are about right at that amount. There are schools in worse shape than we are. To have 38 kids, I am happy with that.”

Toronto has a strong junior class.

“We have a really large junior class, but we are pretty diverse across the board,” Franke said. “Our freshmen are trying to find their way.

“Ashton Ellis is a freshman, and he is going to start for us on the line. He has put in a ton of extra work outside of what is required. You love to see that. As a freshman, he is a leader.”

Toronto faced some offensively-potent teams last season. At times, the Red Knights struggled to slow down some teams, but the defense also delivered some stellar outings, including shutting out Bridgeport, Lisbon and Wellsville.

Franke will be counting on the defense to step up and get the job done defensively again.

“I would say our strength is definitely our defense,” Franke said. “Our defense posted three shutouts last season. We have got a lot of good players on defense. We have an all-state cornerback, and we also have two kids who were honorable mention all-state. Our defense gave up 21 points per game last season, and our kids definitely want to improve on that number. I would say our defense is the strength of our team.”

QUARTERBACK

Offensively, the Red Knights have some big holes to fill. The biggest hole being at quarterback due to the loss of Karaffa, who was a standout on the basketball court, as well as leading the baseball team to the Division IV state championship last season.

“There is no replacing a kid like Nathan Karaffa, especially with all of his athletic ability,” Franke said. “It was tough as a coach and a play caller because you want to get him the ball so much. The problem with that is you don’t spread the ball around as much, and as a result the other teams are able to zone in on him. By doing that, it forces you to distribute the ball evenly. In the games he played last year, all of the team’s we played gameplans were to contain Nathan Karaffa.

“Teams are not going to be able to do that this year. We are going to be able to be more diverse with our play calling. We are going to spread the ball around a lot.”

Though Karaffa will not be on the field this season, Toronto’s offense will not change.

“We are going to do the same things,” Franke said. “We did not take any plays out of our playbook. We are going to run what we ran last year.”

Caleb Leasure has the task of replacing Karaffa at quarterback. Leasure started four games last season while Karaffa was injured.

“Caleb is not as good of an athlete as Nathan Karaffa, but I’m not saying he is not a good athlete,” Franke said. “He is more of a drop-back passer. Caleb is more known for his arm. Caleb can really throw the football. He makes good decisions. We are not going to have as many quarterback runs this season, but at the same time we did not take any plays out this season. We also didn’t add any plays.”

All of the hard work has paid off for Leasure. He threw for 422 yards on 46 of 93 passing, three touchdown and six interceptions.

“He is a different kid under center this season,” Franke said. “Last year, he grew every week. He started his first game in Week 2, and he started through Week 6. His yardage went up every week last year. Last year, we were able to see gradual progress. Going into this year, he has made a tremendous amount of progress.”

BACKFIELD

Garrett Dozier will be the team’s starting running back, while Tristan Thomas will start at fullback. Dozier and Thomas will look to take some of the pressure off of Leasure this season by chewing up chunks of yards on the ground.

Dozier carried the rock 57 times for 361 yards and two scores in 2018, while catching 12 passes for 82 yards. Thomas had 30 carries for 146 yards and one touchdown. He added eight receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown to his stat line.

RECEIVER/

TIGHT END

The Red Knights have a solid group of receivers. Zach Stackhouse and Frank Fulton will start at receiver, while Shane Keenan gets the nod at tight end.

Stackhouse caught 28 passes for 424 yards and four TDs last season, while 43 times for 302 yards and three more scores. Fulton had six catches for 150 yards and a score.

OFFENSIVE LINE

The big boys up front will be counted on to open up holes for the running game, as well as giving Leasure time to throw the ball.

Josh Fancher, Ayden Dennis, Chris Parker, Shane VanSteenberg and Ellis will all be starting on the line. Fancher is starting at left tackle, Dennis at left guard, Parker at center, Ellis at right guard and VanSteenberg will start at right tackle.

DEFENSIVE LINE

The Red Knights will play a 3-5-3 defense.

Up front, Isaac Miller and Zac Berger will start at the defensive end spots, while B.J. Pearson will start at defensive tackle. Miller recorded 53 tackles, eight for a loss, four sacks and one fumble recovery last year.

LINEBACKER

Thomas and Parker will start at inside linebacker. Jack Rawson and Jesse Fulton will start at outside linebacker, while Dennis will be the middle linebacker.

“Our defensive leader is Tristan Thomas,” Franke said. “He is one of our starting linebackers. He was our second leading tackler last season. He was honorable mention all-state last year. He has started since he was a freshman. He does a great job. He is a great kid. He’s smart. He is in the Top 10 in his class. He is the guy the other kids look to on defense to get them into the proper alignments.”

SECONDARY

The secondary will feature Frank Fulton, Brendan Matyas and Stackhouse. Frank Fulton will start at free safety, while Matyas and Stackhouse will start at cornerback.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Jesse Fulton will handle the kicking duties, Miller will be the punter and Berger will be the long snapper. Stackhouse will play a key role on special teams this season. He will serve as the team’s holder, kick returner and punt returner.

One thing that has really changed this season for the Red Knights is their schedule. After a two-year stint, Toronto has dropped out of the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conferende. Though the Red Knights are no longer in the conference, they kept Wellsville and Leetonia.

“We have a lot of local games. I think that is better for us,” Franke said. “I think that is going to help us. A lot of the schools we play have the same type of kids as we do. We have blue-collar kids. The kids all work really hard. That is what you see in the valley.”

This season, a pair of Toronto’s rivalry games flipped places on the schedule, reverting back to how the schedule looked for many years in the past.

“Yeah, we play Wellsville in Week 1, and we play Catholic Central in Week 10,” Franke said. “It is just like the old days.”

The Red Knights lost three out of their first four games last season. Toronto is hoping to get off to a much better start to the year this season.

“If you lose your first game, then you are going to be facing uphill right from the start,” Franke said. “If you win your first game, you are going to have some confidence, and you want to build that up. When it comes to high school sports, I am a big believer that confidence is really important for kids and for a team.”

Toronto will play Harrison Central in an intriguing game in Week 2. Anthony Hayes is in his second season as head coach of the Huskies. He was hired by Toronto in 2017 to replace Eric Meek as head coach, but Hayes returned to be the head coach at Harrison Central later that year when long-time head coach Justin Kropka stepped down. Franke then replaced Hayes at Toronto.

“When my dad played at Toronto, the big game was always against Cadiz,” Franke said. “Cadiz is no longer around, but the school has turned into Harrison Central. A lot of people in Toronto are excited about us playing Harrison Central. People are looking forward to that game.”

Though Toronto played in the EOAC the last two seasons and did not play a lot of teams from the OVAC, Franke said he will be familiar with his team’s 10 opponents this season.

“We are going to watch Beallsville, Barnesville and Oak Glen,” Franke said. “In this age of technology, it is not hard to find out information about teams. What would that say about myself and our coaches if we did not know or try our best to find out information about the team’s we are playing?”

Multiple members of the football team played on Toronto’s state championship winning baseball team in the spring. The Red Knights hope that experience will carry over.

“I sure hope so,” Franke said. “That was great for them. I was at the game cheering them on. The majority of those players who won a state championship in baseball also played football. That was a great experience for them. They were able to experience the journey. They were able to learn lessons that hopefully they are able to carry over to football.

“We would love to go on our own journey. We might now win a state title, but we would love to make a run in the playoffs. The kids on this team look to those kids as leaders. We are going to try and emulate what they did this season.”

Franke, who also will serve as the team’s offensive coordinator, will be assisted by Steven Rebich (defensive coordinator), Rick Daugherty (offensive line), Josh Wilson (wide receivers), Dave Dozier (running backs), Tyler Butler (defensive line), Matt Ludewig (secondary) and John Parker (special teams coordinator).