No long the little brother, Zach Loveless has a linebacker’s mindset on both sides of ball

Zach Loveless plays running back on offense.

In the winter he plays basketball. In the spring he’s a baseball catcher.

But, in a way, the Black Hills High School senior is always playing linebacker.

“When I’m at linebacker, I’m hitting people,” Loveless said. When I’m at running back, they tell me to run around guys, juke them out. I can do that, but I don’t think that way.”

Head coach Kirk Stevens, who has led the Wolves into the post-season all five of his seasons at the helm, including a 2A Evergreen Conference championship last fall, likes the way Loveless does think.

“He’s a downhill runner,” Stevens said. “He can put a little move on defenders, but when you’ve got his speed and power combination, why avoid a guy when you can run through him? The shortest distance is a straight line.”

When basketball season arrives, Loveless admits “My basketball style is very different from other people’s basketball style.

“I’m not the guy that’s going to dribble around you, I’m more the guy who’s going to slap the ball out of your hands, dive on the floor for a loose ball, make a good pass, hustle down the floor.”

In baseball, as a catcher he uses his toughness to “put my body on the line and block every ball.”

Loveless will be central to two of Black Hills’ biggest strengths in 2019. Joined by another power runner in rugby player Joe Bown and a more elusive back in sophomore Payton Hoyt, he’ll carry the ball behind what he calls the best offensive line Black Hills has had in a long while.

Center Tate Elliott, a 250-pounder who earned first team All-EvCo honors a year ago, is joined by fellow seniors Ben Herrin and Easton Casto at the tackle spots. Herrin and Casto both check in at 245 pounds and earned honorable mention all-league. They’re joined by a group of talented underclassmen.

“Everyone on our line started at least three games last year,” Stevens said. “Our juniors started some games as sophomores, they’ve got varsity reps, they’ve played in meaningful games. They know what’s expected at this level of football, they won’t need an adjustment period.”

On defense, Elliott will play nose guard, alongside fast and hard hitting Julian Kennedy, the 2A EvCo defensive MVP last season. Angel Rivera, Ronnie Vader and Capital transfer Trevon Moore will shore up the secondary while Bown joins Loveless at linebacker.

“We’re replacing quite a few people on defense, but two of the top defensive playmakers we had last year were Julian and Zach. We know we’ve got two big-time senior playmakers teams have to account for,” Stevens said.

“Zach brings great leadership, great intensity. Nobody’s going to outwork Zach. He’s coachable and he has the desire to succeed. He’s got goals and visions and he works hard to achieve those.”

As a senior, Loveless has stepped into a leadership role, something his brother Ethan, a quarterback-turned-wide receiver and now a University of Portland baseball player, filled last season.

“I miss playing with my brother,” he said. “But you’ve got to move on. I’m definitely happy that it’s my senior year. I get to show people what I’ve got. I’m no longer called Ethan’s little brother.”

This fall, Alexandra Loveless, a freshman volleyball player for the Wolves, will likely be called Zach’s little sister.

Meanwhile, the Wolves understand their hold on the 2A EvCo title, held most years for decades by crosstown rival Tumwater, is tenuous.

“In high school it’s never the same as the year before. You’re always starting fresh,” said Stevens, whose team graduated 15 seniors from the championship squad. “It’s one of the great things about high school football, but it’s also one of the challenges: your team is never the same year to year.

“There’s always a danger of complacency after you win a championship, but our kids know no one’s going to give it to them. They also know that across the freeway, Tumwater’s looking to take that title back.”

The Wolves were dealt a major blow when starting quarterback Jaden Cote, a junior who went 4-1 stepping in for Ethan Loveless when an elbow injury sidelined him last season, coincidentally had his junior year ended before it could begin by his own elbow issues.

Occasionally troubled by pain in his elbow since middle school, brought on by throwing both baseballs and footballs, Cote was misdiagnosed and underwent unsuccessful therapies before finally having Tommy John surgery on a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

Senior Ryan Moloney, who will also play in the defensive backfield, begins the season as Black Hills starting quarterback.

This story was originally published August 25, 2019 at 7:00 AM.