WORTHINGTON, Ohio — Jeff Hartings surveys the defense as he stands behind the center and barks out cadence under a cloudless blue sky. Fifteen years after hiking his last football to Ben Roethlisberger, Hartings is now the one taking snaps and throwing passes.
The Worthington Christian varsity football practice is nearing a conclusion and its 49-year-old head coach is serving as the scout-team quarterback, the one tasked with giving the first-unit defense a glimpse of what to expect from the next opponent.
The playoff-bound Warriors are down to 25 players due to injury and attrition, forcing many of their starters to play both ways.