DEAN JACKSON
WZBD.com
WOODBURN — Dan Wasylk doesn’t think his defense has allowed eight points this season. He thinks it’s given up nothing at all.
“I selfishly still think we gave up zero, but I blame the offense jokingly,” the Heritage defensive coordinator says.
His own head coach keeps the real count. Jeremy Hullinger says eight: two against New Haven, six against Delta. It’s absurd if you think about it.
Hullinger admits it’s not that exciting to most people.
“I know that’s boring, but the boring things are what makes you good,” Hullinger says. “You can score 100 points and still lose 101 to 100. We choose to focus on the other end of things. We know by the nature of the game, if we don’t let people score, we can’t lose.”
Heritage (2-0) will tackle Woodlan (2-0) in the Allen County Athletic Conference opener. Two East Allen County schools join Bluffton (2-0) as the only unbeaten teams in the league.
To anchor that philosophy, Wasylk shifted away from the traditional three-four scheme used under previous coordinators and installed a 3-3 stack. The switch was specifically designed to better match the program’s personnel, maximizing the physical, hard-nosed linebacker types Heritage traditionally produces by keeping them closer to the football.
Rather than utilizing standard symmetrical alignments, the front features three down linemen, three inside linebackers, and a versatile hybrid player called a rover. This rover role bridges the gap by balancing traditional outside linebacker edge-setting responsibilities with safety-level pass coverage in space.
“We want to try and put him through what we feel is the strength of their pass game,” Wasylk explains of utilizing the rover. “If it’s a three receiver set, we like to get him to that side, and if they have a stud receiver they’d like to put on the backside of trips and isolate him, then we can put that kid over there to either help over the top or help underneath”.
That scheme has yielded a heavy bend-but-don’t-break reality on the field. Here’s how Wasylk gets the official tally from eight down to six: “Well, if we’re getting technical, I’m going to say six because the safety, I’m not counting it”.
Hullinger and Wasylik even give two different counts on goal line stands so far this year. Hullinger puts the number right at seven, while Wasylik settles firmly on six.
“I think we’re sitting in like seven goal line stands right now between the two combined games,” Hullinger says.
“I mean, six sounds right,” Wasylk says. “I would say it’s six, not seven”.
The defense will face a fresh test against a Warriors offense unveiling a new passing attack, where junior safety Garrett Oliver figures to see plenty of work after logging two early interceptions.
The Warriors scored two long touchdowns last year in the fourth quarter in a 42-21 loss to the Patriots. The other touchdown came from a pick six.
He credits much of the unit’s fierce discipline to senior captains Bryson Berg and Brady Boyle.
“We preach six seconds at a time all the time,” Hullinger says. “If it plays good, great, shake it off, and if it plays bad, great, shake it off. These guys have really taken that to heart, and I think deep down they don’t believe anybody should ever score on them”.
Hullinger points to a deep supporting staff, including assistant coaches Mack Innis and Isaac Litchfield, to help sustain that high standard.
“I can’t say enough good things about Dan Wasylk and Corbin Vance and Jason Habisch and Mack Innis and Zach White and Derek Lehrman, who are the bulk of our defensive staff,” Hullinger says. “They do a great job. They’re great teachers of the game and great communicators, and then Dan’s mastermind, his game planning is just second to none”.
Wasylk quickly points back to those same names.
“I would be remiss if I said that part of being good on either side of the ball is having a good staff,” he notes. “Nobody does it all by themselves”.
Ultimately, Hullinger says the unit finally looks like the man calling it.
“We’re getting to the point in time where we finally have a defense that does reflect Coach Wasylk’s personality,” Hullinger says. “Coach was a very hard-nosed football player in his day. He’s a tough guy, but he’s a fair guy. He holds our kids to a very high standard, and he expects them to live up to that standard. But these kids know that he loves them, and he is the most enthusiastic guy on the sidelines.”
Eight points, officially. Wasylk says zero, and that’s the hill he’s defending.
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