SPRINGFIELD — Sporting a glorious blonde mullet and a ripped Stone Cold Steve Austin T-shirt, Gus Bryant is one of the true characters on the Delaware County football scene.
The Springfield senior lineman has an image of intensity, charisma and confidence. And like his wrestling idol, Bryan loves to hit people, whether it’s during practice or on Friday nights.
“He’s my favorite wrestler,” Bryan said when asked about the iconic black-and-white “Austin 3:16” rag.
Bryan is a bad dude, and as one of four captains, he expects his Cougars teammates to show up and work hard every day.
“We’ve got a mature group of guys that are excited to get going,” he said. “All of us have played multiple years of varsity and are ready to go and get what we didn’t accomplish last year. We have a lot to accomplish.”
Senior tight end Ryan “RJ” Johnston, senior linebacker Ethan Marshall and junior running back/linebacker Nate Romano are co-captains with Bryan. The Cougars have a strong foundation of returning players, losing only four starters from the 2022 team that posted an 8-4 record and lost to Strath Haven in the second round of the District 1 Class 5A playoffs.
“Even the guys who maybe don’t see much playing time, I think we are doing a great job getting them reps just in case we need them to go in. Everyone’s going to be ready,” said Johnston, who had five touchdown catches last fall. He also plays defensive end and punts.
Romano, Marshall, junior Chris Dolan and a host of others are in line to receive touches out of the backfield. Romano ran for 495 yards and seven TDs and sophomore Brad Barber accumulated 465 yards and seven scores last fall. Springfield’s leading rusher from 2022, senior Ty Gougler, will miss the season after suffering a knee injury after scoring the big goal that lifted the Cougars lacrosse team to a District 1 Class 3A championship in the spring.
“So many teams have only one good runner, but I think you need a good rotation of runners that can go in there and complement each other,” Marshall said. “We have a lot of different guys.”
Senior Ryan Whitaker and Barber were vying for the starting quarterback spot in summer camp. One or the other will replace the team’s all-time leading passer, Jake Rama, who threw for 3,890 yards and 38 touchdowns.
“Obviously it stinks with Rama leaving, but there are guys stepping up and fighting to be the guy and I think that makes everyone on the team better,” Romano said.
“I trust that the guys we have this year are mature and will stick together to get the job done,” Bryan added.
Springfield’s biggest strength is in the trenches. In addition to Bryan, a tackle, senior guard Dean Brown and junior center Ryan Benjamin are back. On the D-line, Bryan and Johnston are joined by returning starters Mike Miller (senior end), Jaylin Price-Tate (senior tackle) and Landon Feldman (junior tackle). Marshall and Romano head the linebacker corps and Mike Turner and Dolan are among the starters in the defensive secondary.
Seniors Vinnie Valerio, Mike Friel and Zach King should see increased touches at wide receiver after the graduation of Aidan Kreydt and Mike O’Donnell.
“This is the second year in the offense and the second year in the defense. Things get a little easier and we have a lot of guys returning, so they actually know most of it already,” said coach Chris Britton, who begins his 10th season at the helm of the Cougars. “That definitely helps with the transition and then you can focus on younger kids learning and we have good seniors who are helping them out. And so now you have role models and everything starts to work out. If you always change things, then you have seniors who don’t know what they’re doing. When you have the returners who are doing the right things, it’s easier.”
