DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
“I could feel a difference after about two minutes.”
That’s the takeaway from Friday’s media day from veteran football broadcaster Rex Brewer, the lead voice of WZBD’s football coverage for the 2024 season from his interviews with the Bellmont team.
Plenty will be said in preseason prognostications around northeast Indiana about the Braves’ recent struggles, winning just one of their last 49 varsity contests, but the idea that something is different with this year’s Bellmont team might just be true.
“We’ve got leaders,” says coach Nick Hall. “We’ve got kids who are taking this year seriously and there are a lot of differences in this year’s guys compared to last year’s.”
One example of a guy who has taken on a leadership role is Gavin Krull. Ranked first in his class academically, Krull had never put on pads before he joined the program last year. By the end of the season, Hall had made him a captain.
“He’s got so much experience in basketball and in baseball, but he just picked things up so quickly in football despite starting from scratch,” noted Hall.
The Braves have collectively poured their time into this summer and their trip to the media day in Fort Wayne capped off a week-long camp where they overnighted in the BHS Aux gym.
The program is also buoyed this season by a large incoming class of ninth graders, something that Hall is very proud of. The school will carry a varsity and a freshman team with no “JV” schedule.
On the field, one of the biggest storylines is the summer battle that has been building for the starting quarterback job. Last season, Will Franze beat out Aiden Faurote for the starting job in the first week of official practice, but the Braves simply weren’t good enough to give Franze any real chance at producing numbers.
This season, Easton Curtis has challenged Franze by learning the playbook and working hard in the offseason. Hall says the decision on who will start has not yet been made.
Hall did declare a couple of positional changes and make some predictions for his upcoming season. Grady Baker is going to take some carries at fullback this year for a team that certainly is planning to have more options at the skill positions than the roster showed in 2023.
More than anything, though, it’s the mantra that was repeated by players and coach that made the biggest impression as dozens of teams made their cases to local media about the prospect of improving in 2024.
“Do your job.”
Hall’s leaders on the field all spoke with WZBD and offered their thoughts on the upcoming season:
On paper, the season will be the same as it was last year, with South Adams and Heritage making up the two non-conference games and the tough NE8 rounding out the other nine weeks.
WZBD is thrilled to announce that thanks to an increase in sponsorship from the local community, the station will be bringing you six of the team’s nine games this broadcast season.
Follow WZBD and WZBD.com all season long for news and stories about Bellmont Football.
About the Author
