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North Judson: A special crop
Updated: August 18, 2011 5:29PM
Evan Howard couldn’t wait for two-a-days to start this month.
Considering the type of job he endured this summer, it’s no wonder the Bluejays junior linebacker was looking forward to football season.
Howard worked for Pioneer de-tasselling corn — often with temperatures pushing 100 degrees.
“It gets hot and the corn gets you all itchy,” Howard said. “It gets rough. They send a wheel-pull through and it pulls the tassels out of the corn. Then they send us through to clean up what the wheel-pull misses.”
Howard said a group of 40 workers spent eight hours working a 160-acre field near Rochester and covered only half of it.
“I drink over a gallon of water a day,” he said. “You have to wear those long-sleeve shirts, jeans and steel-toed boots to keep the corn from cutting you. It’s definitely character-building. It’s almost like a big football team out there in the field. You’ve got a bunch of people working together to accomplish a job — just like getting through a rough practice.”
Eight people quit after the first day of work. The rest stuck it out.
“It’s rough, but it’s a fun job, and you make friends,” said Howard, who made $8 per hour.
Working seven days a week and getting up at 4:30 each morning takes discipline and dedication.
Howard is not only dedicated to his job, but in preparation for football as well.
“He devotes a lot of time in the weight room,” Bluejays’ coach Kevin Cox said. “He’s always on a continuous upswing and has good numbers. We do a lot of Olympic-style explosive lifts that we spend a lot of time with, but don’t test. They’re more power and speed-developing kinds of lifts.
A third-year starter, Howard led the team in tackles last season with 54 solo stops and 32 assists, while breaking up two passes in 10 games.
“Evan brings a lot of energy — a tremendous amount of energy and emotion to us. He’s everything you look for in a linebacker. He’s an athlete we feel has a chance to be an outstanding football player the next two years. His best football is certainly ahead of him. He’s made a lot of big plays already for us in his first two years and we think he can make a whole lot more for us the next two.”
That’s not surprising when you consider Howard comes from a family of successful athletes.
His sisters, Miranda, and Chelsea, played for Cox and helped lead the Bluejays to the Class 2A state finals in 2005.
“They definitely had a big influence on my athletic career,” Evan said. “They taught me how to compete. When it comes to athletics, those two probably had the biggest influence on me. They really helped me a lot. They beat me to death. It taught me to be a hard-nosed athlete.”
Coach
Kevin Cox
record
At school: 66-38 (10th year)
Overall: 66-38 (10th year)
Last season
Lost 48-16 to Rensselaer in first round of the sectional
Key returnees
RB/LB Kendall Hochstedler
LB/OT Evan Howard
WR/CB Brenner Cruce
LB/C Dustin Knapp
QB Caston Sanchez
LB Brandon Camp
WR/S Micheal Minix
DL Caleb Robbins
Key losses
RB Andrew Frasure
WR Dalton Tunis
OL/DL Quentin Barnhart
OL Nick Grezenko
OL Caleb King
College prospects
RB/LB Kendall Hochstedler
WR/CB Brenner Cruce
LB/C Dustin Knapp
LB/OT Evan Howard
Season outlook
The expectations are always high for the Bluejays, who are coming off last year’s tough 3-7 finish with a lot of optimism even though they have only three seniors. Kevin Cox returns a number of key performers and sophomore QB Caston Sanchez, who threw for 650 yards and five scores in the last four games a year ago.
Kendall Hochstedler rushed for nearly 1,000 yards (938) and nine TDs, with four receiving TDs. Brenner Cruse also returns after snagging 25 passes for 352 yards and four TDs. The key to improving rests in the development of North Judson’s offensive and defensive lines.
“We were very competitive last year, but 3-7 just isn’t good enough,” Cox said.
Postseason
Class 2A Sectional 26 (Bremen, Cass, Fairfield, Manchester, North Judson, Prairie Heights, Rochester, Wabash)
Schedule
Aug. 19 John Glenn
Aug. 26 at Knox
Sept. 2 Rensselaer
Sept. 9 Boone Grove
Sept. 16 at Pioneer
Sept. 23 at Kankakee Valley
Sept. 30 Winamac
Oct. 7 at West Central
Oct. 15 at Twin Lakes
HISTORY LESSON
Season Record
2001 9-2
2002 13-1
2003 7-5
2004 11-2
2005 6-5
2006 6-5
2007 4-6
2008 8-4
2009 5-6
2010 3-7
Sectional titles: 1979-81, 1984-86, 1989, 1996, 1999-00, 2002, 2004
Regional titles: 1980-81, 1984, 1986, 2002
Semistate titles: 1984, 1986
Roster
No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Pos.
5 Brendon Hajek 5-8 125 11 WR/CB
7 Brenner Cruce 5-10 160 12 WR/CB
8 Wes Derflinger 5-8 152 11 RB/CB
9 Tyler Tunis 5-9 140 9 QB/CB
11 Andrew Hughes 5-8 139 9 RB/S
12 Kendall Hochstedler 5-11 191 12 RB/OLB
14 Zach Schultz 5-10 180 10 WR/S
20 Caston Sanchez 6-1 195 10 QB/S
21 D.J. Wilson 6-0 170 11 RB/OLB
22 Keaton Leszek 5-7 152 9 RB/ILB
24 Zack Schumacher 5-9 136 9 QB/S
30 Maverick Pitts 5-10 162 9 RB/OLB
33 Brandon Camp 6-0 208 11 RB/OLB
35 Levi Bobo 5-8 153 11 RB/ILB
37 Michael Minix 6-2 173 11 WR/S
40 Nick McCallum 6-0 172 10 WR/CB
50 Evan Howard 6-2 215 111 OT/ILB
51 Caleb Robbins 5-10 235 10 OG/DE
54 Justin Paulsen 5-7 242 10 OG/NT
58 Coltin Lynch 6-4 265 10 OG/DE
61 Jonas White 6-0 230 11 OG/DE
62 Gordon Burger III 5-7 212 9 OT/DE
64 Bradley Koch 5-10 223 9 OT/DE
65 Dustin Knapp 6-0 238 12 C/ILB
66 Bayland Brown 6-0 192 10 OT/NT
68 Josh Kirk 5-9 192 11 OT/DE
71 Garry Abner 5-10 194 11 C/OLB
72 Chance Heims 5-10 214 11 OT/ILB
73 Matt Randash 6-0 233 11 OG/DE
77 Cody Fisher 5-10 251 11 OG/DE
78 Clifton Howard 5-8 182 9 C/ILB
79 Brian Eckert 6-5 306 9 OG/NT
80 Erik Beckman 6-2 171 10 WR/LB
84 Austin Aucoin 5-2 106 9 WR/CB
88 Anthony Powell 6-1 150 9 WR/CB
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