Football Preview - Wise County Messenger

38 WISE COUNTY MESSENGER, Decatur, Texas, Thursday, August 28, 2008PREDICTIONSNo breaks for Northwest as the tough got toughery ROBERT MORGANWhen the University InterscholasicLeague announced its biennialealignment in February, the NorthestHigh School coaching staff waslated to fi nd out that Southlake Caroll— a nationally ranked team theast three years — was moved into aistrict with the Lewisville schools.The bad news, however, is that EuessTrinity took the place of the Dragns.All the Trojans did last year wasin the Class 5A state championshipnd capture the No. 1 national rankngto start this season — both featshat Southlake did not achieve lastear.That’s not all the disappointingews. Haltom and Richland will alsoe replaced by Keller Fossil Ridgend L.D. Bell for the next two years.oth schools boast winning tradiions.The Texans’ offense was depletedy graduation last year. Three-yeartarters Drew Ashley (tailback) andicky Broxton (receiver) are two ofPreseason predictionsDistrict 5-5ATexas Football ........................................Coaches poll .............................Robert Morgan1. Trinity (2,984) ................................... Trinity ......................................... Trinity2. Colleyville (2,461) ............................ Fossil Ridge ............................... Colleyville3. Fossil Ridge (2,145) ......................... Colleyville ................................... Grapevine4. Grapevine (2,212) ............................ L.D. Bell ...................................... Fossil Ridge5. L.D. Bell (2,662) ............................... Keller .......................................... Keller6. Keller (2,923) ................................... Grapevine .................................. L.D. Bell7. Keller Central (2,928) ....................... Northwest ................................... Northwest8. Northwest (3,005) ............................ Keller Central ............................. Keller Central( ) is high school enrollment. The largest enrollment to make the playoffs will go to the D-Iplayoffs, while the other two qualifi ers from each district will play in the D-II bracket.many weapons that won’t be back.Northwest head coach LeonardMcAngus will need several junior varsityplayers and varsity back-ups tomake a big impact.Quarterback Bryson Curb is backand Taylor Barnhill, who competed forthe QB job as a sophomore last yearbefore missing the year with an injury,will make a big impact at receiver.Though Northwest has the largestenrollment of all eight schools inDistrict 5-5A, it may be the smallestwhen it comes to depth. That is costlyat this level and could make for a longseason.Trinity, the top-ranked team in thecountry, is loaded and arguably theteam to beat in every preseason poll.The Trojans’ defense allowed lessthan 210 yards a game last year andwill be just as good this year.Colleyville Heritage and FossilRidge both have talented quarterbacksagain this season and will fi ghtit out for second and third place asthe title appears to be a one-teamrace.The second interesting race willbe for fourth place since the top fourteams make the playoffs in Class 5A.Grapevine, which lost nearly everyoffensive starter, made the playoffsthe last three years and should begood enough to compete for the fi nalspot again.The Mustangs and Trinity have acombined four state championshipsin the last four years and are the onlyteams in 5-5A to win a title. FossilRidge, a pass-happy team, is new tothe district but will be play a big rolein the playoff race with a bulk of itsstarters back.The winner of the Grapevine/FossilRidge game will likely steal the fi nalplayoff spot that Northwest, L.D. Belland Keller want to grab.L.D. Bell has been down the lastthree years but is always in the thickof the playoff race. Keller is thin ondepth and will fi nd it hard to competewith the top-tier teams of the district.Continued from 36a solid prospect. It will most likelybe running-back-by-committeefor Coach Olivo. Linemen AndrewModica, Christian Baskin andGarrett Somers will be leadingthe way for whomever carries thefootball.The Bell defense was in theTop 15 in the area last year, butonly returns three starters. Defensivelineman Josh Mauro (6-6,210 lbs.) brings experience andheight to the line and is joined bylineman Nove Finau. All-districtcornerback Mike Trujillo returns,as does linebacker Steven Uasiketo give the defensive secondarysome experience. Theunit will probably be a far cry fromlast years group, but the returningstarters are very talented.KellerLast year’s record: 4-7, 3-4 indistrict playLettermen: 18Offensive starters: 5Defensive starters: 4After losing to Flower MoundMarcus in the first round of theplayoffs last year, Keller HeadCoach Kevin Atkinson was facedwith the difficult challenge of replacinghis starting quarterbackas well as his top three rushersand receivers. It looks as ifhe may have pulled it off. With agood core of returning players,the Indians could make a surpriserun towards the postseason.Taking the reins at quarterbackwill most likely be Camm Allerheilgen.In 2007, Allerheilgen wasthe star for the JV team, throwingfor almost 3,000 yards. At 6-feet-3-inches and 200 pounds, Allerheilgencould fill the slot vacatedby Crawford Jones very nicely.Seniors Evan Perkins andAaron Young will move from theNo. 3 and No. 4 receivers to thego-to guys for Allerheilgen in theIndiand offense. Perkins, thoughundersized, is a tough receiverthat can also double as a runningback. Last year he caught 33 ballsDISTRICT 5-5A OPPONENTSfor 442 yards and 3 touchdownsand also ran for 147 yards and 2touchdowns. Young, an all-districtplayer last year, will complementPerkins nicely. Senior Matt Whitecould also fight for playing time atreceiver.Junior Kelo Webster will probablyfill the role of running backafter seeing limited action as asophomore in 2007, but standoutsophomore Bear Allbritton (6-1,205 lbs.) could also get sometouches. The returning starterson the offensive line bring sizewith tackle Nick Ask (6-5, 275lbs.), Nate Richards (6-3, 265lbs.), and all-district player BryanCollins (6-3, 260 lbs.).Defensively, linebacker JakeMizell and cornerback White returnto help lead the defense.Linebackers Randy McMinn andOskar Cadena bring depth to thelinebackers, and John Allison is astandout defensive back, alongwith Robbie Love and Kyle Fields.On the D-line, all of the startersgraduated, and Coach Atkinsonwill have to look to players fromthe JV squad to fill the holes.Keller CentralLast year’s record: 1-9, 1-6 indistrict playLettermen: 28Offensive starters: 8Defensive starters: 6Youth was the problem lastyear for the Central Chargers andCoach Bart Helsley. The Chargersreturn 28 lettermen from lastyear’s team, including the startingquarterback, the top two runningbacks, and three of their top fivereceivers, along with three offensivelinemen.Senior Dustin Stenta (5-11,195 lbs.) is a dual-threat quarterback,throwing for 2,639 yardsand 29 touchdowns last year andleading the team in rushing with460 yards on 90 carries. A year ofexperience will only make Stentabetter, and look for him to put upsimilar numbers through the airand on the ground.True running back Trenton Turrentineis only a junior, and had animpressive sophomore season.He may take carries away fromStenta, but that shouldn’t makethe running game suffer. Withguards Jake Lafferty and AlexPerales and tackle Cody Cuttingreturning to block for Turrentine,he could put up big numbers.The receiver to watch is 6-foot-5-inch Jarrod Darden. He hauledin 46 catches for 739 yards lastyear, and is a touchdown specialist,catching 14 in 2007. ComplementingDarden will be juniorIsrael Valentin, who caught 24passes in his sophomore season.Safety Jake Patterson leadsthe defense, joined by returnersNeal Vaughn at linebacker andAnthony Linder at tackle. SeniorsJake Bray, Brad McGuire, C.J.Cartwright and Matt Boles joinVaughn at linebacker. Both Peralesand Lafferty could see sometime on the defensive line. SeniorJonathan Wilson could challengefor playing time in the secondary.