Make your way to an Emporia High football practice this year and chances are you’ll hear junior outside linebacker Sheldon Patton before you see him.
A fireball of energy at all times, the 5-foot-8, 170-pound Patton has been the most outspoken and vocal athlete so far in what figures to be his first year as a full-time starter for the Spartans.
And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I like getting people pumped up before games and just being vocal during practices and keeping everything going. It really is my nature,” Patton said. “Just because I’m not a senior doesn’t mean I can’t be a leader and be vocal out there.”
Patton’s energy is exactly what EHS co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Jay Adkins wants out of his entire defense this year, but particularly with his linebackers, who will be asked to change the way they play this year as Adkins and co-defensive coordinator P.J. Marstall install a different brand of defense.
In the simplest of terms, Emporia High’s defense will change from a read-and-react system to a more attacking style.
To hear Adkins describe it, that means the Spartans’ linebackers will be “in the backfield causing havoc.”
“They’re playing downhill faster and they’re not reading as much. They’re trying to get through gaps and make plays,” Adkins said. “They’ll be coming downhill. They’re not going to sit at all.
“On the snap of the ball, our linebackers should be two steps towards the line of scrimmage and coming on fast.”
That approach makes players like Patton, with all his energy and fire, just the thing the Spartans need this year.
“He’s real quick and has a lot of enthusiasm,” Adkins said of Patton. “He’s just a good kid to have out there because you know he’s going to go to the right spot and he’s going to make the right play and he’s going to do it aggressively.”
As a unit, the EHS linebackers are looking to replace several standout players lost to graduation, namely Dillon Cox, Clint Drake and Dack Barnett.
The top returner is senior Ryan Bass at the middle linebacker spot. Bass (5-11, 205) was the team’s second-leading tackler a season ago with 67 stops. He also caused three fumbles, recovering two.
This year, he will be expected to lead not only the linebacking corps, but also the entire Spartan defense.
“Ryan has made a lot of improvement since last year. He got better as the year went on last year — he’s gotten to be a better tackler, a better leader,” Adkins said. “He’s kind of taken over the defense. He knows what we’re supposed to be doing on D. He’s a strong kid, and he’s our leader on D.”
Bass said the defensive changes have come easily to him, making it possible for him to simply go out and make plays.
“What they have us doing, it makes a lot of sense. I understand everything they’re wanting me to do and I know how to do it,” he said. “I love to run and tackle. That’s all I need to do, really.”
Expected to start on the outside, opposite Patton, is sophomore Mark Kolmer (6-0, 175). Kolmer, who started at running back as a freshman last season and will continue to play in the offensive backfield this season, has been impressive so far in his transition to defense.
He has shown the speed he possesses as a running back and coupled that with a linebacker’s aggressive mentality. As such, he has spent a lot of time in the offensive backfield blowing up plays through the first few weeks of practice.
“He can run and he has a nose for the football,” Adkins said. “He has good acceleration and he can get to the ball real quick.”
Adkins named juniors Ryan Black and Dominic Rodriguez as two others who will see a lot of playing time this year.
Beyond that, Adkins said there were another five or six players who could conceivably see the field this year for what is one of the deepest units for EHS.
Despite what the Spartans might have lost, they appear to have the players in place at linebacker to continue last year’s production within the unit. Adkins even went as far as to say this year’s group, with the starting three of Kolmer, Bass and Patton, could be better than last year’s unit.
The players want to go out and prove their coach right.
“I’ve heard a lot of stuff about our defense, people saying, ‘What about the defense? You guys lost so many players,’” Bass said. “I think we’re looking to prove something.”