Pigskin Preview 2009 Issue

Athens Hornets
The Athens Hornets finished the 2008 season at
5-5 and for the third straight year, they fought for a
playoff spot into the final week of the regular season.
A week ten loss to Brownsboro knocked the Hornets
out, costing them their first back-to-back playoff
appearances in two decades.
In the offseason, head coach Jim Wommack left to
become linebackers coach for San Angelo Lakeview
after four years as the leader of the Hornets. Paul
Essary will take over as head coach.
The Hornets will return four offensive and three
defensive starters, and also bring several players up
from a 10-0 district champion junior varsity program.
“We’ve focused on leadership and finishing the season,
we’ve tried to get some excitement built up,” Hornets
offensive coordinator Randy Smith said. “We did have
an undefeated JV, which will help us this year.”
The quarterback position is open, with senior Travis
Barkley holding the inside spot over junior Nick
Monmouth. Barkley threw for 559 yards and five
touchdowns last season. The primary tailback will be
senior Randall Gamble, who rushed for 314 yards
before suffering a season-ending injury last year.
Senior Matt Jordan is a returning all-district tight end,
but Smith said you’ll see him all over the field.
Brownsboro Bears
For the second straight year, the Brownsboro Bears
finished the regular season at 5-5. The difference in
2008, however, was a big last week win over Athens
that put the Bears back in the playoffs after a one-year
absence.
“It gave us some big momentum going into the
offseason,” Brownsboro head coach John Settle said.
“We stumbled early, but we played fairly well the last
three games of the season.”
The Bears have a solid foundation to rely on with
seven starters returning on each side of the ball,
District 20-3A
Reid Kerr - KLTV 7 News
From Top to Bottom, No Clear Favorite In This District
In 2008, District 20-3A was just about as tight as it gets.
With the three playoff spots not settled until the final week of the season, Westwood claimed the district title with a 4-1 mark, while Crockett and
Brownsboro took the other two playoff spots.
For this season, expect more of the same.
“This district is so talented,” Brownsboro coach John Settle said, “ there’s no weak links. We have to be at our very best five weeks in a row.”
“Any three of the six district teams could be in the top three,” Palestine coach Booker T. Bowie said.
Crockett coach Paul Parsons said the size of the district leads to some big games.
“This district has got some really big schools, enrollment-wise. We’re kind of at a disadvantage, we’re the fourth smallest 3A school in the state, but it’s
very competitive.”
“We’re going to use him as a tight end, fullback, and
h-back. He’s a big target with good hands, we’re going
to get him the ball.”
Another tight end, Carson Hutson, will be moving
to receiver for his senior season, where he’ll join
Courtney Whitehead. “We expect big things from him
as a junior,” Smith said, “he’s a great athlete, he’s been
playing varsity basketball since he was a freshman.”
Tacameo Barker and Jonathan Dora were both also
second-team All-District receivers last year.
On the line, ten-game starters Corey Rogers and Dillon
Wenberg will return. At left tackle, James Marshall will
start on the line after playing fullback last season.
Defensively, the Hornets have no returning starters
from their secondary, so they’ll have to rely on their
front seven to generate pressure. Jordan will also start
at defensive end for the Hornets, lined up opposite
junior C.J. Tatum. At linebacker, Justin Hofstetter was
All-Henderson County as a sophomore last season,
and the newcomer of the year had 127 tackles. He’ll
be joined by some new faces.
“We’ve got Sean Curley, Austin Fincher and Hunter
Choate coming up from the JV,” Smith said, “I think
they’ll be good.”
Junior Nick Richardson is 5’11” and 285 pounds,
Smith says he’ll “be on the field somewhere on the
line, starting on one side or the other.”
Players to Watch
Matt Jordan Senior TE/DE
Dillon Wenberg Senior OL/DL
Corey Rogers Senior OL/DL\
Mascot:
Hornets
Enrollment: 904
Superintendent: Dr. Fred Hayes
Head Coach: Paul Essary
Returning Offensive Starters 4
Returning Defensive Starters 3
Schedule
8/28 Wills Point Away 7:30
9/4 Mabank Away 7:30
9/11 Bullard Home 7:30
9/18 Mexia Home 7:30
9/25 Chapel Hill Away 7:30
10/2 Open
10/9 Crockett* Home 7:30
10/16 Westwood* Away 7:30
10/23 Fairfield* Home 7:30
10/30 Palestine* Home 7:30
11/6 Brownsboro* Away 7:30
*district games
including quarterback Zack Bailey. Bailey threw for
1620 yards and 14 touchdowns and scored nine more
on the ground.
“We’ve got Zack back and Ryan Owens, who also got
a lot of playing time last year,” Settle said.
Senior running back Cameron Warren will be the
primary ball carrier, after rushing for 1100 yards as a
junior. Warren scored 16 touchdowns last season on
the ground and through the air.
Up front, the Bears are thick with experience. Seniors
Glen Devlin and Colton Croley are three-year starters,
and juniors Corbin Duke and Matt Bouchillon are twoyear
starters.
“Having that experience means a lot,” Settle said.
“They’ve got to shoulder a lot of the load. Having all
the experience in front really helps us until our skill
kids really grow up and develop.”
Defensively, Brownsboro projects seniors at eight of the
eleven spots on the field, including Justin Vause and
Justin Richmon at defensive end. Shirshea Bowman
and Brad McDonald return at outside linebacker, and
the secondary is completely senior-driven with Jon
Thompson, Tyler Rogers and Zack Bailey.
cont.
Brownsboro Bears
“I’m of the firm belief that you’re only as good as the
senior class can take you,” Settle said, “so we’ve got
the groundwork laid for this season.”
The 2009 schedule is a bit strange for the Bears.
Counting their season-opener at the Van classic, they
don’t actually play a home game until their fifth contest
of the season.
“I think we have to grow up on the road, we’ve got
to overcome adversity early. There’s only one way to
overcome it, and that’s to go through it. We’ll put them
in situations, and they’ve got to respond.”
Crockett Bulldogs
In Crockett’s second season under head coach Paul
Parsons, the Bulldogs continued their playoff streak
for the third straight year.
Crockett went 6-5 in 2008, and returns three starters
on each side of the ball.
In the backfield, tailback Calvin Rodgers returns after
an all-district junior year. At six feet and 215 pounds,
Rodgers is bigger than two of his offensive linemen.
“He’s a big, physical guy,” Parsons said. “He can run
between the tackles, and he’s got explosive speed. He
was an all-district punter for us, too.”
Crockett’s offensive line will be led by junior Antonio
Chimney, and senior Demarcus McKnight.
Senior Napoleon Dennis was a starter on defense a
year ago, but he’ll be the Bulldogs full-time quarterback
this season.
“We still might throw him in on defense in an
emergency,” Parsons said, “but he’ll be concentrating
on offense.”
Fairfield Eagles
In their first year under new coach Darrell Piske,
Fairfield went 3-7, winning more games than in the
previous two years combined.
“Just being here for a second year will help,” Piske
said. “We’ve been building ever since we got here, and
we’re really looking forward to seeing how everything’s
coming together.”
The Eagles return seven starters on offense, including
senior offensive lineman Eli Pratt. The six-foot, 300
pound returning powerhouse is described by Piske as
“one of the best athletes on the team.”
In the backfield, junior Chris Burns is back. “He’s
started since he was a freshman,” Piske said, “he’s
a special athlete. He runs hard, he’s strong and he’s
got great speed.”
District 20-3A
Players to Watch
Cameron Warren Senior RB
Zack Bailey Senior QB
Mascot:
Bears
Enrollment: 820
Superintendent: Elton Caldwell
Head Coach: John Settle
Returning Offensive Starters 7
Returning Defensive Starters 7
On defense, the Bulldogs have three starters back
including senior defensive end NaQuan Lee, but will
have to find a new linebacking corps.
“We’ve got to replace three linebackers who are all
playing college ball,” Parsons explains. “We should be
pretty good on the line and in the secondary, but we’ll
be really young at linebacker.”
Even with few starters returning, Parsons still knows
the expectations for his team.
“I think it’s a tradition in Crockett,” he said. “You look at
the school, they’ve always been a winning program.
The kids are winners, they’re used to it. It’s been
tougher recently because of the enrollment and the
size of the schools we play against, but it’s almost
expected for us to compete for the playoffs.”
Players to Watch
Calvin Rodgers Senior RB
Napoleon Dennis Senior QB
NaQuan Lee Senior DE
The Eagles will be helped by the return of Willie
Tatum, a senior receiver who missed his entire junior
year with an injury that also kept him from playing in
Piske’s first year as coach.
“Unfortunately,” Piske laughs, “I haven’t seen him play
a lick of football, but he’s a great athlete from what I’ve
seen in our seven-on-seven drills. He’s calm, cool and
collected out there. He’s a very elusive runner with
great hands and speed.”
“We’ll list him as a receiver, but we’re going to use him
at whatever position will get him the ball.”
The Eagles return eight starters on the defensive side
of the ball, with middle linebacker Brodrick White back
after winning the Defensive Newcomer of the Year
award last season as a sophomore.
“He’s just a football player,” Piske said, “that’s the best
Schedule
8/28 Kemp @ Van 7:30
9/4 Frankston Away 7:30
9/11 Spring Hill Away 7:30
9/18 Wills Point Away 7:30
9/25 Rains Home 7:30
10/2 Open
10/9 Westwood* Home 7:30
10/16 Fairfield* Away 7:30
10/23 Palestine* Home 7:30
10/30 Crockett* Away 7:30
11/6 Athens* Home 7:30
*district games
Mascot:
Bulldogs
Enrollment: 442
Superintendent: Vacant
Head Coach: Paul Parsons
Schedule
8/28 Coldspring – Oakhurst Home 7:30
9/4 Corrigan-Camden Home 7:30
9/11 Mexia Away 7:30
9/18 Madisonville Away 7:30
9/25 Waco LaVega Home 7:30
10/2 Open
10/9 Athens* Away 7:30
10/16 Palestine* Away 7:30
10/23 Westwood* Home 7:30
10/30 Brownsboro* Home 7:30
11/6 Fairfield* Away 7:30
*district games
way to describe him. He’ll anchor the defense for us.”
White will be joined by outside linebacker Evan
Simpson, another player Piske says is a leader for his
team. “He’s got a nose for the game; he’s a very smart
player.”
“Our defense going to be pretty good,” Piske said.
“We’ve been waiting on next season. Being in our
system for two years will really help.”
Players to Watch
Eli Pratt Senior OL
Chris Burns Junior RB
Willie Tatum Senior WR
Brodrick White Junior LB
cont.
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