Avery Castetter recalled switching from offense to defense halfway through his freshman season as a member of the Seymour football team.
At first, he wasn’t sure how well he would like the change, but now he is pleased he transitioned.
“I love defense,” Castetter said.
This fall he has played corner back and on the kickoff unit on special teams.
At corner, Castetter says he has to be prepared for both passes and run plays.
“It’s more of a combination of both, whatever the play comes out to be, if it’s a run then we’ve got outside contain, and if it’s a pass we’ve got our 13-yard responsibility,” Castetter said.
He said it takes teamwork and communication to shut opposing offenses down.
“On a pass play, the outside linebacker will have the flats, and the corner, we play a cover two,” he said. “The safety will play over the top and the corner will go 13 yards and hang up. I play more zone. We have a different check when trips come out. I’ll check into a deep corner and the safety comes down.”
Castetter said he plays on the ‘strong’ side.
“We force the receivers into the middle, and on a run we’ve got to make sure they stay inside because that is where all the help is at,” he said.
He enjoyed playing on the kickoff team.
“I was a safety on the kickoff team, so I’m on the outside,” Castetter said. “I enjoy being on the kickoff team. I go about 10 yards and then kind of slow down and sit back behind everybody. I’m the last line.”
Castetter said he felt like it was a good experience attending the football camp at Greencastle last summer.
“I think that helped us out a lot,” he said. “We got to know each-other better, and we learned a lot from the coaches up there. We faced some of the best competition we’ll have.”
The senior enjoys the home games, and said his favorite away field is New Albany.
However, he won’t be able to play there Friday night as he suffered a concussion in a JV game last Saturday and hasn’t been cleared to practice this week.
He said his highlight victory was the win at New Albany two years ago.
“It was a huge scoring game,” Castetter said. “That was one of my favorites. The energy on the sideline was phenomenal.”
Castetter played football first grade through fifth grade. He played football with in Columbus his sixth- and seventh-grade years, then played at Seymour Middle School his eighth grade season.
“I’ve enjoyed being around the energy of it all Friday nights and being around the players and coaches,” he said.
Castetter has enjoyed his time at SHS.
“I am very glad I came to SHS. I’m in Owl Manufacturing and we run a business,” he said. “Most of all, it’s all great. We have great coaches, great teachers, the classes aren’t pushy.”
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Name: Avery Castetter
School: Seymour High School
Parents: Bill and Rhi Castetter
Siblings: Sam, Abby
Sports: football 4 years
Organizations: car club, Owls Manufacturing
Plans after high school: law enforcement
Favorite food: Mozzarella sticks
Favorite musician: Brooks & Dunn
Favorite movie: 13 hours
Favorite teams: Dallas Cowboys, Atletico de Madrid
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