News
ENLARGE
Just making it to its first game of the 2010 season has been a feat for the Whittell High School football team.
When preseason practice opened three weeks ago with less than a dozen players present, it looked as if the War riors were facing the distinct possibility of canceling their season for the second time in eight years.
The poor turnout cost the Warriors their season opener against Sierra Ridge in San Andreas, Calif.; they are now set to open their season Friday against ROP.
“We had a couple of scrimmages, so that kind of made up for it,” said senior Kenny Boulet.
Once school resumed, players started to trickle out to the practice field. Ski camps and vacations cut into players' two-a-day workouts, but the roster has slowly risen to roughly 19 players.
That's better news for first-year coach Jeff Jones, who is trying to continue the success that David Atherton enjoyed the past two seasons when the Warriors qualified for the state playoffs. Ather ton resigned after last season to focus more on his career goals.
“Ideally I'd like to have 22 kids or so, so I can have a pretty live scrimmage going during practice,” Jones said. “We'll probably have 18 kids suited up for ROP next week.”
Jones, a former San Jose State and Skyline Junior College player, has expanded the Warriors' offensive playbook, implementing the Nevada's Pistol offense and other formations. The Warriors should be a difficult defensive read for opposing de fenses with their various deceptive and misdirection plays.
“I think our offense will take us as far as we can,” Jones said. “Our passing game, we just haven't been able to work on it as much as I'd like to.”
Complicating matters for Jones in the week leading up to their opener was an injury to sophomore quarterback Austin Buyak. Buyak started at quarterback as a freshman, but his status for the season was uncertain after undergoing a MRI to his throwing shoulder.
Consequently, Jones is quickly bringing along junior Shawn Mand to fill the spot if necessary.
“Shawn's picking things up. Austin sees a little bit more of the field, and we can audibilize with him a little bit more,” Jones said.
“Once he learns all the plays, he'll be fine,” said Boulet, a senior tight end.
Jones has a number of interchangeable skill-position players to run his offensive packages. Senior Austin Norton, sophomore Ty Sprock, sophomore Hughston Norton, senior Oliver Curial, Mand and possibly Buyak give the team a variety of playmaking options.
“We'll see who's running the ball well,” said Jones, who is noncommittal to a primary ball carrier.
Austin Norton is excited what Jones has done with the offense.
“He's smart. We have a lot of decent plays,” Austin Norton said. “We have running backs who are 140 pounds and they went up against (Sierra Ridge) last week and every single one of them was 180-190 pounds, and we got 10-12 yards every running play.”
The Warriors' offensive line has experience led by junior Hunter Morgan, senior tackle Matt Schorr and senior tackle Zach Zander.
“We have a couple guys we can rotate now and give them some rest,” Jones said.
With the Warriors shorthanded in numbers, conditioning has been a primary focus of preseason workouts.
“We condition more than any team around the lake,” Austin Norton said.
“It's going to be hard to get breaks, so that's why we're conditioning a lot. Everyone needs to be ready and in shape,” Boulet said. “We have a very good team bond, and that will help us out.”
Jones was pleased with his team's scrimmages at North Tahoe (also including Incline) and Sierra Ridge.
“We actually played very well defensively,” said Jones of the North Tahoe scrimmage. “They went to the football, they hit and they were aggressive. We did make some mistakes, but they were aggressive mistakes.”
Jones hasn't coached since working at Burlingame High School in 1992. He'll be assisted by Craig Shacklett, who will coach the defense and the offensive linemen, and John Sheeran, a running backs and defensive line coach.
When preseason practice opened three weeks ago with less than a dozen players present, it looked as if the War riors were facing the distinct possibility of canceling their season for the second time in eight years.
The poor turnout cost the Warriors their season opener against Sierra Ridge in San Andreas, Calif.; they are now set to open their season Friday against ROP.
“We had a couple of scrimmages, so that kind of made up for it,” said senior Kenny Boulet.
Once school resumed, players started to trickle out to the practice field. Ski camps and vacations cut into players' two-a-day workouts, but the roster has slowly risen to roughly 19 players.
That's better news for first-year coach Jeff Jones, who is trying to continue the success that David Atherton enjoyed the past two seasons when the Warriors qualified for the state playoffs. Ather ton resigned after last season to focus more on his career goals.
“Ideally I'd like to have 22 kids or so, so I can have a pretty live scrimmage going during practice,” Jones said. “We'll probably have 18 kids suited up for ROP next week.”
Jones, a former San Jose State and Skyline Junior College player, has expanded the Warriors' offensive playbook, implementing the Nevada's Pistol offense and other formations. The Warriors should be a difficult defensive read for opposing de fenses with their various deceptive and misdirection plays.
“I think our offense will take us as far as we can,” Jones said. “Our passing game, we just haven't been able to work on it as much as I'd like to.”
Complicating matters for Jones in the week leading up to their opener was an injury to sophomore quarterback Austin Buyak. Buyak started at quarterback as a freshman, but his status for the season was uncertain after undergoing a MRI to his throwing shoulder.
Consequently, Jones is quickly bringing along junior Shawn Mand to fill the spot if necessary.
“Shawn's picking things up. Austin sees a little bit more of the field, and we can audibilize with him a little bit more,” Jones said.
“Once he learns all the plays, he'll be fine,” said Boulet, a senior tight end.
Jones has a number of interchangeable skill-position players to run his offensive packages. Senior Austin Norton, sophomore Ty Sprock, sophomore Hughston Norton, senior Oliver Curial, Mand and possibly Buyak give the team a variety of playmaking options.
“We'll see who's running the ball well,” said Jones, who is noncommittal to a primary ball carrier.
Austin Norton is excited what Jones has done with the offense.
“He's smart. We have a lot of decent plays,” Austin Norton said. “We have running backs who are 140 pounds and they went up against (Sierra Ridge) last week and every single one of them was 180-190 pounds, and we got 10-12 yards every running play.”
The Warriors' offensive line has experience led by junior Hunter Morgan, senior tackle Matt Schorr and senior tackle Zach Zander.
“We have a couple guys we can rotate now and give them some rest,” Jones said.
With the Warriors shorthanded in numbers, conditioning has been a primary focus of preseason workouts.
“We condition more than any team around the lake,” Austin Norton said.
“It's going to be hard to get breaks, so that's why we're conditioning a lot. Everyone needs to be ready and in shape,” Boulet said. “We have a very good team bond, and that will help us out.”
Jones was pleased with his team's scrimmages at North Tahoe (also including Incline) and Sierra Ridge.
“We actually played very well defensively,” said Jones of the North Tahoe scrimmage. “They went to the football, they hit and they were aggressive. We did make some mistakes, but they were aggressive mistakes.”
Jones hasn't coached since working at Burlingame High School in 1992. He'll be assisted by Craig Shacklett, who will coach the defense and the offensive linemen, and John Sheeran, a running backs and defensive line coach.
