On the defensive

After playing with three- and four-man fronts last season, the Klamath Crusaders are putting five players on their defensive line this season.That theoretically leaves fewer offensive players to block the linebackers, which is an opportunity the linebacking corps will relish when the Crusaders’ Oregon Football League season begins at 6 p.m. today against High Desert in Redmond.

“We have a lot more freedom,” middle linebacker Bryan Aiken said after a March 8 practice. “You just flow to the ball. You don’t have to worry about people getting in your way.”

Aiken, one of a legion of newcomers to the Klamath roster, is stepping into a spot vacated by longtime defensive leader Jake Juhl. Outside linebacker Rocky Nelson has taken on more of a leadership role with Juhl’s departure, and he likes what he has seen of the new talent.

 “The best thing is we’ve got these young guys. You can’t beat youth,” Nelson said. “If we can get some more of these young guys, it’ll make a tremendous difference.”
 

Klamath’s “Gang Green” defense allowed 157 points last season, an average of 19.6 per game. However, nearly half of those points came in losses to High Desert (29-0) and Rogue Valley (49-7) that kept the Crusaders out of the postseason after a 5-1 start.

With players shuffling in and out of the lineup on both sides of the ball, the chemistry the Crusaders built early in the season unraveled toward the end.

“Last year, we kind of came apart. There was a little arguing between some of us, the old-timers and the new guys,” Nelson said. “Now, we have to bond and come together as a family, believe in each other. Nobody comes between us.”

Klamath tied for fourth place with High Desert in the nine-team OFL standings, but the Lightning earned the final playoff spot with the head-to-head victory over the Crusaders.

Officially, the OFL has one more team than it did last season. However, the league is welcoming a pair of new teams.

The first addition is the Springfield Buzzards, who will play with Klamath in the league’s South Division. The second new team is the Vancouver (Wash.) Vipers, who are a last-minute addition and will play in the North Division.

Vancouver was added after Southwestern Oregon, one of the league’s founding teams and based in Coos Bay, folded. Springfield was slated to play in the North, but moved to the South to accommodate Vancouver.