2021 Season Preview: Landrum Cardinals

Jed Blackwell July 23, 2021 @ 10:24 AM

Landrum’s going to trust the guys up front. That’s the message the Cardinals are sending this year, and it’s reinforced by a change in offensive philosophy. The RPO-based attack that Landrum has featured for the past several season is gone, and will be replaced by the Double Wing. That fits right in with the Cardinals’ rugged, run-heavy opponents in Region II-2A, and is something that Landrum coach Jason Farmer said is a testament to a young but talented line on both sides of the ball. “Our strength will be our offensive line and our defensive line,” Farmer said. “Both these groups will still be young, but we’re really confident they will be good players for us. We will start four sophomores up front on offense, but two of those started all six games last year as freshmen and the other two played a significant amount of time.” There’s one upperclassman leading the way up front for the Cardinals, as [player_tooltip player_id="91197" first="Ethan" last="Dugat"] returns at right guard. Dugat is Prep Redzone’s 24th-ranked offensive lineman and 113th-ranked overall player in the 2022 class. He’ll be joined by Jayden Van Wettering and Matthew Hodges as the three returning starters on the Cardinals’ line. They’ll pave the way for returning running backs Ryan Bunleut and Kegan Duncan, who will be crucial to Landrum’s success in their new scheme. Defensively, Ronnie Belue will lead the way for the Cardinals from the outside, as the defensive end registered 42 tackles, three sacks, 10 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in six games last season. Dugat returns at noseguard, with Ben Ross at defensive tackle in the Cardinals’ Reduction 50 defense. The linebacker group is a strong one, led by returners Bunleut, Eli Quinn, and Caleb Emory, while Franklin Davis and Grayson Foster return in the defensive secondary. Farmer thinks a quartet of sophomores will give the Cardinals a boost, with Brandon Mashtare at running back and safety, Colton Link at running back and cornerback, Chase Sheehan at offensive tackle and noseguard, and Jayden Virgil playing inside linebacker. Farmer hopes to see the Cardinals adjust quickly to the change in scheme, and that the team’s younger players will continue to grow. “We’re moving to a more run-oriented scheme, so we must improve in doing just that,” he said. “We’re also really young in the secondary, so I hope that our front end protects them as they grow throughout the season.”