Early this year, when Damascus coach Dan Makosy needed to find a new linebacker, he didn’t hesitate. He picked an aggressive, intelligent, big hitter with closing speed.
The only qualification Brian Wittenberger lacked was size. In fact, the 6-foot senior was slight enough last winter to wrestle at 152 pounds. But that hasn’t kept him from becoming an impact player at inside linebacker.
Since Wittenberger’s shift from safety, Damascus (7-1) has won five straight and surrendered only two first-half touchdowns. Last week in a 21-7 win at Seneca Valley, Wittenberger had 10 tackles, made several resounding hits, and broke up two passes.
“I thought it was a joke,” said Wittenberger, recalling the day Makosy proposed the position change. “Usually linebackers are a lot bigger guys. But it’s working so far.”
After a 35-0 loss to Quince Orchard, Makosy decided to lighten the load for his talented offensive linemen, relieving them of two-way duty. Wittenberger replaced LB/OG Josh Fredrick (6-1, 220), who has since returned to the starting defense with an injury to LB Josh Francis.
“Brian’s taken to linebacker faster than anyone I’ve ever seen,” said Makosy. “He’s athletic. He’s fast. He’ll smack you any time. At linebacker in high school, it’s more important to be fast than big.”
With interceptions in each of the first three games, Wittenberger was doing fine at safety. Saturday at Seneca, however, Wittenberger showed he’s more important to the Hornets closer to the line of scrimmage.
“Witt’s an athlete. He sets the tone for the rest of the defense,” said senior running back Evan Zedler. “He doesn’t ever get butterflies. From the first play of the game, he’s out there hitting. It seems to carry over to the rest of the guys.”
TO WIT
» Wittenberger was champion in the 152-pound class at the Mad Mats wrestling tournament last year.
» Wittenberger’s shift to linebacker has made room at safety for freshman Brandon Phelps, injecting more speed in the lineup.
» Damascus (7-1) plays Blair (0-8) tonight, but might need to beat PaintBranch (6-2) in week 10 to secure a berth in the Maryland 3A West Region where Frederick (7-1), Kennedy (6-2) and Seneca Valley (6-2) also reside.
