Casolari, Landis target century mark

Published 7:40 pm Friday, July 19, 2019

When they won a regional championship two years ago, the Harlan County Black Bears found success with a big-play attack that focused on getting the ball to Tyrese Simmons, Quintin Mickens and Devon Rodrigues and let them make plays.

With a big and experienced offensive front returning this fall, the Bears will be going back to their roots of the early days of HCHS football with a strong power ground game featuring senior running backs Tyler Casolari and Ben Landis.

“Both of them play so hard and are here every day. They are leaders through their actions,” Harlan County coach Eddie Creech said. “They bring toughness to our team. They are your prototypical Harlan County running backs, and I know the fans love watching that type of football.

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“That’s the kind of the team we have. We play to our strengths. In high school, we don’t get to recruit, so each year you have to adapt to the personnel you have. When he had Tyrese and Drod and that crew we could spread it out and do some things. With this team, our strength is we are big and strong and we have a lineup of good running backs who are, for the most part, downhill runners.”

A strong offensive line is crucial to the success of any line, and the Bears have plenty of experience and size returning.

“When our running backs, like Tyler and Ben, have big games it makes us look good. If we don’t have a good game, there is no way they can do anything,” said Jordan Steele, a returning starter at tackle.

Landis, with 642 yards rushing on 118 carries, and Casolari, with 562 yards on 121 carries, both had breakout junior seasons last fall in leading the Black Bears to their fifth district championship.

“I think we both got stronger and faster,” said Casolari. “You also have to have confidence.”

“Experience helped and so did getting more reps,” added Landis. “We had a lot of competition the year and didn’t get to run it a lot.”

Both players have similar running styles to some of the great HCHS runners in the early years of the program,

“We knew when that big senior class left that we had two hard-nosed runners coming in Casolari and Landis. They run exactly the way I want them to run — head down, low to the ground and two arms on the ball. Our mantra is ‘four yards is a heck of a play,’ and they will tell you that,” Creech said. “They play to their abilities.”

Harlan County hasn’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since Dylan Cornett in 2015, and both Landis and Casolari would like to end the drought this season.

“We’ll definitely be better than last year,” Casolari said. “We put the work in. I’d like to get to 1,000 yards.”

“I think we’re very capable of doing it,” said Landis. “Winning is the most important thing, but my goal is to get to 1,400 yards. I think I’m capable doing that with the linemen we have.”

“They run hard. I saw them last year against Letcher Central and was real impressed,” said new assistant coach Scotty Bailey. “They are hard-nosed kids and they are leaders. This team needs running backs like that. They can get those tough yards.”

“I think there is a really good chance they could do that,” added Jake Middleton, a first-year HCHS assistant who topped the 1,000-yard mark twice in his high school career. “They push each other and share the ball and try to help each other. The backs are pretty interchangeable. I think they could get there, but if they don’t I think they could get to 1,500 yards between them, if not more.”

Hard work in the off-season helped both players improve, according to HCHS coaches.

“Both of them have transformed their bodies,” Creech said. “We put Ben on the track team, and he had a good year and lost about 20 pounds. Casolari has also slimmed down. I think that will pay dividends for both of them.”

After a slow start last year, HCHS closed strong and won a district title with a 4-7 mark overall. Led by strong junior and senior classes, the Bears expect to be better this year.

“We’ve really worked hard this year,” Casolari said. “I think this could be our best team.”

“I think we have the potential to be a very successful team this year,” added Landis.

The Bears will play Southwestern on Aug. 9 in a scrimmage at Union College.

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HCHS rushing individual seasons

Jake Middleton 2,141 2012

Marcus McMillian 2,010 2011

Nathaniel Gilliam 1,869 2008

Jake Middleton 1,420 2011

Marcus McMillian 1,325 2010

Carson Whitehead 1,277 2013

Dylan Cornett 1,244 2015

Fred Massey 1,186 2013

T.J. Green 1,107 2009