Let’s face it. Carmel football is not what it was a year ago.

You can attribute most of the team’s recent success to Morgan Newton ’09. Easily one of the most athletic quarterbacks that Carmel has ever had, Newton not only brought an explosive asset to the Greyhound’s offense, but he also brought wins.

(Quick note that you might find interesting; Newton’s dominance extends beyond real football, where he nows plays for the University of Kentucky. NCAA Football 2010, a football video game, has the CHS graduate stacked with an 88 speed rating out of a possible 99.)

But Newton wasn’t the only part of Carmel’s team that was so successful. Last year, Newton, Kurt Freytag ‘09 and Eric Ardaiolo ‘09 combined for 57 percent of Carmel’s total offense.

If these names look out of place with an alumni number next to them, it’s because they are out of place. The Greyhounds have been 38-6 during the last three-year span, excluding playoffs.

For the past four years, those three were Carmel’s offense (excluding Aaron King ‘08 and Jordan Brewer ‘08). Which leaves a 50-touchdown gap that the team’s top quarterback, running back and wide receiver used to fill.

Carmel football fans are accustomed to winning, plain and simple. The Greyhounds have provided three State Championship visits in a row.

We are faced with a conflict, then, if we are waiting for Newton, Freytag, and Ardaiolo to show up and lead the team again. This is a new season with a revamped roster.

Carmel now has a senior quarterback, Adam Shaffer, under the center of the Greyhound offense. We will be forced to realize this season that Shaffer is not the same quarterback as Newton was. Shaffer is also carrying the weight of the student population’s high expectations on his shoulders. Way heavier than a sack from a 300-pound defensive tackle.

Does the season look terrifying? Maybe so. The Greyhounds started off the season with a loss to the Cathedral Irish, something that hasn’t happened since 2006. It’s obvious that this team is not the team it was last season.

But before you write the Greyhounds and their season off as a struggle, take a look at what we’re working with this season. You’ll be pleasently surprised.

Shaffer utilizes a very comparable quarterback style to Newton. Both have cannons for arms, but are more effective in the open field on a bootleg. However, in the disappointing loss to Cathedral, Shaffer only had three incomplete passes the entire game. Yeah, Shaffer had an interception, but in a rain-soaked game with plenty of turnovers, that didn’t worry me. Shaffer is a more effective passer than Newton was.

Against Center Grove, Shaffer was incredible. 18 completions, 170 yards passing and 57 yards rushing show that Shaffer is the key to the Greyhound offense. The most important stat of that night, however, was the “W”. Shaffer got it done.

The most exciting aspect of the offense, however, is Brinson’s speed. If Newton is an 87 on the speed rankings, I don’t even want to guess what Brinson would be ranked. It’s no coincidence that Brinson’s first name is the same as Devin Hester’s, one of the fastest players in NFL history.

The junior ran for 140 yards on 20 carries with an incredible 40-yard run during the third quarter of the Cathedral game. In the following week against a weaker Lebanon team, Brinson rushed 18 times for 142 yards, 7.7 yards a carry.

This is consistency, exactly what the Greyhounds need in a run-heavy offense. 7.0 yards a carry shows tremendous upside. Newton average 7.1 yards a carry last season, and Freytag averaged 6.8.

And on top of this all, Carmel has a very tough defense, limiting Cathedral’s incredible duo of Kofi Hughes and Nick Najem to just seven points. Seniors Brian East and John Wood anchor a defense that will give Carmel’s young offense some room to breath.

The number one team in the State (Center Grove)? 14 points, 138 total yards.

Will there be some growing pains this season? I can guarantee it.

But we’re looking at a team with tremendous upside and offensive potential, not to mention a stellar defensive unit. Defense wins championships, and while the Greyhounds still have to outscore their opponents to win, the Greyhound defense is holding teams to about seven points a game.

When Coach Mo Moriarity was the coach of Bloomington High School, he coached a phenom of a young quarterback named Rex Grossman. The year after Grossman graduated, the team went undefeated.

And despite the fact that Rex Grossman completely destroyed the Chicago Bears’ shot at a Super Bowl three years ago, he did throw for 44 touchdowns his senior year at Bloomington.

Coach Moriarity has been in a situation like this before. He knows what weapons he has, what weapons he lacks, and certainly how to coach a high school football team. The motto he chose for the season is, “Next man up,” meaning that there is always a player ready to step up when others falter.

And while Newton and his incredible athleticism (real and virtual) won’t be here to carry the Greyhounds this year, the team is ready to make that step.