By Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Much of the star power at West High is gone.

Top-100 national recruit and the state’s all-time reception leader Oliver Martin is off to Michigan.

All-state running back Devontae Lane has moved on to play college hoops and the Trojan offensive line is without all-state pick Josh Van Roekel and current Iowa State freshman Alex Kleinow.

Even with all the standouts missing from last year’s West High team that finished 10-3 and advanced to the Class 4A title game the expectations for the Trojans couldn’t be higher.

“I’m not worried that we are going to lose a guy like Oliver or Devontae or (leading tackler) Max Brown or one of those type of guys and completely fall apart,” West High senior defensive end Dillon Shephard said. “We are a team, we stick together and we win as a team it’s not just one person. We will come together and work as a team this year.”

There is a reason West High is optimistic despite the loss of a talented group of seniors.

Actually, there are 17 reasons, as in 17 returning starters from last seasons’ squad that returned to the state title game for the first time since 1999.

Despite the departure of some of the most decorated players on last year’s team the cupboard is far from bare at West High.

“We have 17 starters coming back that made large contributions to the team last year,” West High senior quarterback Evan Flitz said. “We are really confident that we are working even harder than we did last year to make that final step and end where we want to.”

West High returns plenty of talent to make a run at another state title.

Flitz (6-1, 175) returns at quarterback with Jonathan Gannon (6-4, 240) back to anchor the offensive line and senior Traevis Buchanon (5-11, 170) poised for a breakthrough season as a receiver.

A veteran defense led by Iowa recruit Dillon Doyle, returning all-stater Shephard and a pair of last year’s top tacklers in senior Caden Fedeler (5-11, 185) and junior Cole Mabry (6-1, 170) should be even better than a season ago.

The Trojans are also strong in special teams with the return of senior place kicker Lucas Karwal.

“It’s no secret when kids are going to graduate it’s not like all of a sudden we get a list that says these kids aren’t coming back next year,” West High coach Garrett Hartwig said. “When we started our offseason in December the script was flipped and we were on to the 2017 Trojans.”

Flitz leads the way for a West High offense that averaged better than 32 points per game last season.

The senior quarterback threw for 2,237 yards and 22 touchdowns despite missing more than two games with a knee injury.

Yes, Martin is gone and the Gatorade Player of the Year certainly leaves a void after setting school-records with 85 catches for 1,272 yards and 14 touchdowns last season.

Lane and his team-leading 793 yards and 11 touchdowns are gone too but the departures haven’t bothered Flitz who believes this year’s West High offense could be even more dangerous.

“Honestly, I think we have even more guys that can catch the football and be weapons for us offensively,” Flitz said. “Wide receiver, tight end, running back I think we are deeper and our talent is as good if not better than we had last year so I feel really confident with the guys we have.”

Buchanan got better as the season went on and finished with 30 catches for 549 yards and a score while senior Austin West is back after catching 16 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown.

Doyle caught 12 passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns last season but Hartwig expects those numbers to grow this season for the 6-foot-3, 215-pound tight end.

“He’s a heck of a defensive player but I think he’s going to turn heads this fall at tight end,” Hartwig said of Doyle. “He has a little bit of that ‘it factor’ at the receiver spot.”

Senior Andre White is ready to assume the lead role in the backfield after rushing for 288 yards and three touchdowns in an injury-shortened junior season.

Gannon is expected to anchor the West High offensive line along with fellow senior Guy Snow (6-1, 235).

“I like where we are at,” Hartwig said. “We have great leadership we have a lot of experience coming back and we have a senior class that is very competitive with each other and they have had a lot success in other sports which I think is huge and for them it’s just one day at a time.”

An experienced defense should be a strength for West High.

Shephard (6-1, 190) earned third-team all-state honors last season when he ranked third on the team with 48 tackles and led West High with eight sacks.

Fedeler, Mabry, Doyle all joined Shephard in the top five on the team in tackles and make up a strong returning nucleus.

“For as much senior talent as we had last year a lot of our defense was underclassmen and these guys are fast and I think that plays to our advantage,” Hartwig said. “They are fast, they are strong and they have been in the system now.”

The Trojans have proven playmakers at all levels of the defense.

Shephard and senior tackle Tom Adolph (5-11, 210) up front, Doyle and Fedeler at linebacker and Mabry at free safety.

 “We played pretty well last year but are just focused on getting better for this season,” Doyle said. “We aren’t thinking too much about last year we are focused on trying to make another run and I think this is a team that I think can get us to where we need to go.”