Black Hills’ bands of brothers fuels postseason dreams
Zach Loveless knows what it will take for Black Hills High School to return to the Class 2A state football playoffs.
“We’re a brotherhood,” the Wolves sophomore running back and linebacker said. “We all know the only way we can win a championship is if all 67 guys are going in the same direction.”
Actual brotherhood is a big part of Black Hills’ chemistry. Zach’s brother, Ethan Loveless, will start at quarterback. Two other sets of brothers – Easton and Owen Castro and Jordan and Devin Claridge – join several pairs of stepbrothers on this season’s squad.
“It’s fun to see the bonding and the connections,” said Black Hills coach Kirk Stevens, who guided the Wolves to a 6-5 record a year ago, a third place finish in the 2A Evergreen Conference and a bid to the state playoffs. “We’re finally starting to see multiple members of families come through our program.”
The Loveless brothers will be a key component of an offense that returns only one starter, senior receiver Jacob Briggs.
“They’re both intelligent, both very coachable. They’re two of the hardest working players,” Stevens said. “They’re leaders, just all-around good people.”
Zach Loveless is more than comfortable with his brother, who was slated to back up starting quarterback Christian Williams a year ago but broke his hand and wound up spending the year on defense, leading the re-stocked offense.
“The quarterback should be the biggest leader on the field, and he is,” Zach said. “He’s the most positive player on the field, he helps people. He’s very highly respected on the team.”
Ethan returned the compliments, saying of Zach, “He’s got the grit. He really wants to be the best player on the field. Nobody is more motivated than him.”
Leadership and motivation will be needed as the Wolves face a completely opposite challenge than a year ago, when nine defensive starters had to be replaced. Now the defense is solid but the offense needs to grow up in a hurry as Black Hills meets four consecutive 3A opponents to start the season. It begins with Timberline at South Sound Stadium on Thursday night.
“With 10 of 11 new starters, there’s going to be a learning curve offensively,” said Stevens. “We’ve got guys who have gotten reps before, but weren’t starters. If our defense competes and keeps us in games, as we eliminate mistakes on offense, league we’ll be ready to go once league starts.”
Both Loveless brothers believe the offense is ahead of schedule.
“It’s looking way better than expected, so many guys have stepped up,” Zach said.
“We’ve got a new offensive line,” Ethan said. “But I’m really excited about how hard they worked this summer. I’m looking forward to hiding behind them all season. We’re going to be up tempo, try to tire out the other team’s defense and score a lot of touchdowns.”
Ethan also looks forward to the possessions when Zach will join him in the backfield.
“It’s feels awesome to have my brother back there with me,” he said. “We can be more real with each other.”
Said Zach, “It’s really nice to have someone who knows you and cares for you. I push myself because he’s always there to tell me I can keep going, that I can do better.”
Both brothers say they have such similar personalities and so many of the same friends that it often doesn’t matter who’s the older or younger brother. But their visions of the future are different.
“There’s no better feeling than going out on Friday night and playing football,” Ethan said, yet he plans a college career in baseball and has hopes of someday being a pilot. Zach wants to play college football and sees sales as a possible profession.
Meanwhile, Stevens has his own dream for the future, now that multiple sets of talented brothers have landed at Black Hills.
“We’re going to start cloning these guys,” he joked.
This story was originally published August 28, 2017 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Black Hills’ bands of brothers fuels postseason dreams."