Sandwich’s Jeffrey Ashley, powered by strength and smarts, set for move to middle linebacker

SANDWICH – It’s been said around Sandwich football that Jeffrey Ashley and Peter Popp are in competition for the program’s strongest player.

Ashley’s take?

“I think Pete has me in the upper body,” Ashley said. “Lower body, I got Pete.”

That’s all you’re going to get out of Ashley, Sandwich’s 5-foot-9, 180-pound junior middle linebacker.

“He’s not that guy,” Sandwich coach Kris Cassie said of a kid he’s known since he was a young pup. “His competition is usually with himself. He just wants to be the best version of himself that he can be.”

[ Photos: Sandwich first day of fall football practice ]

That is the perfect combination of strength and smarts tailor-made to the position of middle linebacker that Ashley is moving to this season.

He’s one of a large group of underclassmen – Sandwich graduated just eight seniors – that helped the Indians produce one of the area’s biggest success stories in 2023. Sandwich, a year after not fielding a varsity team because of low numbers, two years past an 0-9 season, went 8-4 and reached the program’s first quarterfinals since 2011.

Sandwich brings back its entire backfield led by 1,000-yard rushers Simeion Harris and Nick Michalek, and four of its five offensive linemen, with participation numbers rising at the lower and junior tackle numbers.

It’s easy to see why the community is buzzing about its football team.

“When the majority of the team comes back, expectations are high and energy is high, in the program and the community,” Cassie said. “Their energy has been infectious. Summer retention has been outstanding. It’s a matter of polishing them up, making sure they’re in condition and ready for the first game.”

That being said, Cassie and his coaching staff aren’t doing anything differently now. They didn’t do anything differently leading up to last season, either.

To borrow a phrase used by former Alabama coach Nick Saban, they trusted the process.

“No. 1 thing is family, and No. 2 thing is trust,” Cassie said. “These guys stuck with us. They kept working, and they kept believing.”

Cassie believes he has a player in Ashley.

Ashley played three games at middle linebacker last season when Jimmy Ramey was injured; other than that he lined up as one of Sandwich’s stack linebackers and was one of the team’s top four tacklers.

With Cassie unsure of Ramey’s availability this season, Sandwich has shuffled a few people around at linebacker spots, moving Ashley to middle.

“The kid has put in the work; 180 pounds, rock solid and really fast,” Cassie said. “What’s different for Jeffrey this year is he is going in with the full expectation that he will be the starting middle linebacker. He has to make our calls from our defensive coordinator on the sideline, and he has handled it very well. It’s just a little different in the middle making the calls, but he’s truly sideline to sideline.”

Working out, doing speed drills, Ashley is probably 15 pounds heavier and feeling great.

“I should be able to hit harder,” Ashley said. “It will be fun this year to be more aggressive.”

He’s got the smarts, too, a 3.4 GPA in the classroom and anticipation on the football field that allows Ashley to read plays faster than others.

“He does an excellent job with film study,” Cassie said. “What he does so well is he communicates with our coaches, ‘When teams do this, I’m doing this,’ what they can’t see on film. He picks it up on the field.

When you have someone smart in that position, it makes it that much better.”

Popp, the other half of the Sandwich strongest-man tag team, is part of a big, experienced offensive line. All-conference left guard Tate Frieders, all of 290 pounds, anchors that group, Quinn Rome and Jackson Heilemeier are the bookend tackles in the mid 200s, Tristen King is at center, and Popp – sidelined by a hamstring tear during last season – is at the other guard.

“He’s 6-foot, 200, but he’s so fast, and he’s so physical,” Cassie said. “He’s an absolute bear.”

They’ll block for a deep backfield led by the speedy Harris, or “Flash” as he’s known around the program, who ran for 1,448 yards and 15 touchdowns out of Sandwich’s wing-T last year. Michalek ran for over 1,100 yards as a sophomore. Brady Behringer is back at quarterback, and fullback Diego Gomez has packed on 30 pounds.

“We have a lot more depth than last year; we’re looking ready to work,” Harris said. “That helps a lot, because I get tired. Playing both sides of the ball is hard, but if the team needs it, I’ll be there.”

Cassie knows his kids will be there, both in practice and on game night. The Indians open Aug. 30 at Manteno, then host defending Class 2A champion Wilmington in its home opener, a game Cassie sought out.

“The biggest thing is they know what the expectation is,” Cassie said. “They know nothing will be handed to us. They know work ethic is everything in his program. You talk about that championship mindset – every day in practice we have to work.”