Football Preview - Wise County Messenger

WISE COUNTY MESSENGER, Decatur, Texas, Thursday, August 28, 2008 5DECATUR PREVIEWEagles ready to fly as the underdogBy ROBERT MORGANSix straight district championshipsand boasting one ofthe most prolific offenses inNorth Texas is not enough tosatisfy the critics this year. Inat least two preseason pollsthe Decatur High School footballteam is picked to fi nishfourth out of six teams in therealigned District 5-3A.The forecast would meanno playoffs for the first timesince 2001. DHS head footballcoach Kyle Story is justhappy his team will have lesspressure going into this season.“I guess we’re not a playofffootball team this year,” Storyjoked when asked about histhoughts of the prediction.“Let the other teams havethat pressure. We just wantto stay healthy and get betterevery Friday night. If we dothose things we will be wherewe want to be after the lastdistrict game.”The Eagles have somework to do if they want toprove the pollsters wrong.Despite returning half of their50 lettermen from last year’splayoff team, they only haveseven total starters back froma group that went 6-5.Decatur has built a reputationas an offensive machinein winning more than 70games in the last six years.This season, however, Storysaid it might be his defensethat steals the show.There will be no surprisesthis year on the defensiveside of the Eagles. Dependingon the situation and theoffense, they will run out ofbase 3-4 or 4-3 scheme.The unit has four startersback from a year ago and hasimpressed coaches throughthe fi rst month of practice.Story said his defense hadHARRISON MADDEN MOOREthe potential to be somethingspecial last year before it wasdecimated by injuries.“We battled through injuriesall of last year. I don’tthink anyone ever saw usplay with a full starting group,”he said. “There were a fewweeks when we only had onelinebacker so we were fillingholes with other positions.”This year’s linebacker corpsis solid, quick and experienced.The outside spots willbe fi lled by Reece Madden(team-high 101 tackles lastyear among the returnees)and Justin Tompkins, a onetwopunch that Story is gladto have. Tompkins was oneof many linebackers out lastseason as he recovered froman ACL tear that benched himduring two-a-days.The featured inside linebackersare slated to be JesseKing and Cookie Zamora.Also rotating in at linebackerwill be seniors Andrew Hampton,Ryan Wallace and MontyNewman as well as juniorsClint Taylor, Shay Tuttle andColton White.The defensive backfi eld hasplenty of experience beginningwith senior safeties KoleFuller and Chad Harrison. At6-foot-2, the tandem could bethe best in 5-3A. With Harrisonplaying a big role onoffense, Ross Madden andChris Metts could also seesignifi cant time at safety.The cornerbacks will be seniorsJake Williams and JakeConnally. The duo, which willbe backed up by Chris Metts,made a big impression in theEagles’ scrimmage with Kennedaletwo weeks ago.The defensive front, whichaverages 245 pounds, will beanchored by a pair of stingyyoung tackles. Junior NickMartinez (255) and sophomoreJonathan Alling ( 230)will both line up when in the4-3 scheme. Keldyn Kee(260) will also fi gure into themix throughout the season.The defensive ends will beColby Moore and SterlingHicks. Matt Huddleston andMartinez will also rotate onthe outside.Offensively, the Eagleshave some work to do. Theunit returns just three startersfrom a group that struggled totake advantage of good fieldposition last year.The good news, however, isthat Decatur has some dangerousweapons back in theskilled positions. The mostcritical spot is at quarterbackwere Tim Metts is back to runthe no-huddle offense.“Tim did a good job in earningthe position last year asa sophomore,” Story said.“Overall he has gotten a lotbetter, but he has also maturedand has taken the leadershiprole.”Metts but up big numbersin eight starts last year. Hecompleted 134 of 230 passesfor 2,347 yards and 22 touchdowns.His backups this yearwill be Tompkins and RossMadden.Harrison, who is being recruitedby several colleges,was a big reason for the bignumbers in the passing gameand he will be the go-to guythis year. He had 35 catchesfor 655 yards and seventouchdowns in 2007.Also fi lling in at the insidereceiver spot will be BrandonJones, Ryan Thomas, Connallyand Tompkins.Zack Zamzow, who torcheddefenses last season, wasexpected to give DHS possiblythe top receiver tandem inthe district this year. However,he broke his collar bone for asecond time in the Kennedalescrimmage and is out for upto eight weeks.In his absence, TaylorHawkins will likely fi ll thevoid in the outside slot. ZachGage, Reece Madden, KyleGreen and Fuller will also seesome time catching passesfrom Metts.The skilled position playerswill only be as good as theirfront line. The coaching staffhas been busy replacing anoffensive line that was depletedby graduation.“We are going to be prettyINDEPENDENTLOCALLY OWNEDMEMBER FDIC ANDEQUAL HOUSING LENDERyoung on the line but I thinkwe’re going to be good,” Storysaid. “They have done a goodjob so far, but it’s early andwe still have a lot of improvingto do — just like all teamsat this time of the year.”The tentative starters average245 across the front. DillonDeaton (260) should startat center and will be backedup by Nathan Alling (275).Seniors Brad Bakker (260)and Tommy Combs will likelyanchor the tackle spots whileJase Reeves and Moore willrotate in during the game.The guards are seniors KalenMinor (265) and Cody Byrd(195) but Ryan Cangley andFrancisco Perez will see extensiveplaying time as theyare still vying for starting positions.“We’ve just got to keepimproving on offense. Allcoaches say that, I know, butif we just stay consistent wecould compete for a playoffspot. Too many times lastyear the defense either gaveus great field position and wedidn’t move the ball 50 yards,or the offense was scoringa lot of the points. We needeverybody scoring this yearand I think they will if we stayhealthy.”Wishing GoodLuck to All WiseCountyTeams!800 Highway 287, Suite A • Rhome • 817-638-5111www.woodhavenbank.comEQUAL HOUSINGOPPORTUNITY