[tps_title]Hatboro-Horsham Hatters [/tps_title]
Mad Hatters begin new era under Schmidt
Patrick Chapman is sure ready to get things going.
Asked what he wants to bring to the Hatboro-Horsham defense this fall, the senior linebacker said, “just that nasty mentality, like everyone is gonna be looking to me. I call the defense so they’re gonna be looking to me as a leader.
“I gotta be that mean guy in the middle.”
It’s an exciting time for the Hatters, who are now under the direction of Mark Schmidt, the all-time leader in coaching wins at Neshaminy.
“We have a lot of talent every which way. There’s young linemen, old linemen, young guys everywhere, old guys everywhere,” said Chapman. “And we’re all together. We’re all as one. There’s no separation or anything.”
The Hatters have a lot of youth on their roster but a ton of promise.
“I like these guys,” Schmidt said. “They’re good kids, and along with the coaching staff, we’re all on the same page. We’re all trying to get everybody moving in the right direction.”
Under center will be freshman quarterback Colin O’Sullivan.
“The cool part about it is you have a guy who understands that offense,” Schmidt said. “He’s a young turk but he understands what we’re doing. His dad’s on the coaching staff and Colin’s been a quarterback his whole life, point guard for his whole life, so he’s had the ball.
“So he’s used to having the ball. And that’s important. You look at something like that and you say ‘that’s a good start.’ He makes very good decisions as to where the football needs to go.”
The defense has also developed quite nicely during the summer practices.
“I think they’re pretty good,” Schmidt said. “Since the beginning and the end, I think we’ve improved. I really do. We’re playing three guys who didn’t even play football last year. But they’re real athletic and they work their tails off.
“We have a couple guys who I’m looking forward to seeing once the fire hits.”
Echoed Chapman: “I’m beyond excited. Everyone’s beyond excited. I know coach (Schmidt) is too.”