Football Preview 2009 - Wise County Messenger

Wise CountyMessengerThursday, Aug. 27page 48FootballPreview2009Size, depth has given Chico a positive outlook2009 Chico varsityfootball teamPlayer Position Class9 Wade Patterson REC/DB Sr10 Leo Garcia REC/DB Sr11 Tyler Bigham RB/DB Jr15 David Herrera QB/DB Sr20 Ryan Mote RB/LB Sr22 Marcus McCain RB/LB Sr25 Justin Carlton RB/LB Sr30 Wes Workman RB/LB Jr32 Naamon Barkley REC/DB Jr34 Austin McNair REC/DB Jr44 Nathan Dawson TE/DE So50 Lincoln McNabb OL/DL Sr51 Carlos Colorado OL/DL Jr52 Sabian Williams OL/DL So55 Caleb Matice OL/DL So61 Cody Byers OL/DL Jr64 Josh Stapp OL/DL Sr66 Alex Delgado OL/DL Jr70 Britt Workman OL/DL Sr75 Travis Reese OL/DL Sr80 Dakota Saldivar REC/DB Jr85 Gabriel Rohan TE/DE SoCoaches: Pete Hart, Billy Garza, MikeMcAlister, Mike May, Jason Sanders andAnthony OwenLast year’s record:0-10, 0-5 in districtReturning lettermen: 12Offensive starters: 5Defensive starters: 5y ROBERT MORGANThings can only get betterhis year for the Chico Highchool varsity football team.fter going winless last yearnd chalking up just oneictory in 2007, the Dragonsan only get better.Head coach Pete Hart beievesthat is going to starthis season. With nearly halfhe starters back on eachide of the ball, more size onhe lines and a little moreepth than usual, he hasood reason to think everyhingwill be fine in 2009.“We have had a very goodoffseason and a number ofthe boys put in the extra effortcoming into two-a-daysand for the last three weeksof practice,” said Hart. “Wewill still have a lot of guysplaying on both sides of theball, but it’s good to know wehave more guys to plug inand give others a few morebreaks.”Hart is extremely pleasedwith the progress of his defensewhich has four startersback in the secondary.The group is undersized butis making the routine plays.Senior Justin Carlton(5-11,180) and junior WesWorkman (5-9, 160) willanchor the linebacker positionsat the middle andweak spots, respectively.Senior Ryan Mote (6-0, 175)is likely to take over at thestrong side spot and seniorMarcus McCain (5-10, 165)will fill in at all three spots.The Dragons have a coupleof veterans to lead thecornerbacks crew as seniorsWade Patterson and LeoGarcia are returning starters,and junior Dakota Saldivarwill likely complete thethree-man rotation. JuniorAustin McNair will takeover at strong safety andcoaches believe junior TylerBingham and senior DavidHerrera will compete for thefree safety job.“We are not real big or realfast in the secondary, but weare hitting people on a moreregular basis right now,” saidHart. “All guys are loweringtheir pads and bringing thewood. If we keep doing thosephysical things, they willmake the plays we need.”The only position set instone on the defensive frontis talented senior LincolnMcNabb (6-1, 190). SophomoreGabriel Rohan hasa shot at taking the otherend spot, which is also beingsought by sophomoreNathan Dawson. The coachingstaff does not have anyoneslated to start at tackleas it plans to rotate all thelinemen in those two spotsindefinitely.“When we scrimmagedSanto last week it was somegood ol’ fashion smashmouthfootball,” Hart said.Both teams were runningthe ball and hitting everywhere.I don’t think therewere more than four passesthrown in the entire scrimmage.Lots of hitting and welike to see that.”Offensively, there is competitionat quarterbacksince Klent Selz transferredat the end of the season.That has left the job wideopen between McCain (5-10,165) and Herrera (6-3, 180),and Hart said they will continueto battle for the jobgoing into the non-districtschedule.Whoever wins the job willget to lead Chico back into anew offense as it is switchingfrom the spread offenseto an I-formation. Thatleads into another battleContinued on page 49