Youth movement underway at Colcord

First-year coach Terrill Denny says expectations haven’t changed.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

— The last several months have been ones of transition for the Colcord (Okla.) football team.

The first and biggest change came in late Maywhen 10-year head coach Bud Simmons requested to be re-assigned to an assistant coach’s position and former Colcordstandout and then-assistant coach Terrill Denny was named the new head coach.

Then, in mid-summer, longtime defensive coordinator Henry Janes resigned and took an assistant coach’s position at Siloam Springs. Janes’ departure caused some reshuffling of the Colcord staff as Simmons returned to the role of defensive coordinator, a position he held in the late 1990s and early 2000s before becoming head coach in 2002. Simmons was 78-36 in 10 seasons as head coach.

To fill Janes’ coaching position, basketball coach Rick Hendren has joined the football staff as wide receivers coach.

And on top of all of that, the 2012 Hornets team returning is one of the youngest and most inexperienced in recent memory.

That doesn’t mean thatthe Hornets’ expectations aren’t high though. For a team that went 11-3 in 2010 and advanced to the Oklahoma Class 2A quarterfinals and then went 7-3 last year but missed the postseason, the Hornets expect to win.

“We may not state our goals publicly,” Denny said, “but within our group we’re expecting a lot.”

The two biggest concerns?

“Youth and depth,” Denny said. We’re not real deep.

But we do have a senior quarterback, and that always helps. It’s a huge difference. I’m excited about the group. We try to tell them, even though they’re young, we have high expectations for them. We’re going to set the goals just as if we had 20 seniors comingback.”

The Hornets don’t have anything close to 20 seniors returning. How about six?

But one of those seniorsis starting quarterback Austin Gilbert, who accounted for nearly 1,500 yards of offense in 2011 and 13 touchdowns.

Gilbert (5-foot-10, 150 pounds) is most dangerous on the move as he rushed for 939 yards on 120 carries (7.8 yards per rush) with 11 touchdowns. Gilbert also completed 47 of 102 passes for 558 yards and two touchdowns. He threw five interceptions.

“Obviously he’s super fast.

He’s the fastest kid (on the team) by far,” Denny said.

“Last year he started coming into his own throwing the football. He’s picked up right where he left off.

He’s really throwing the ball well. We know what he can do running the ball. We’re kind of excited about his ability to throw the ball.”

Gilbert will line up mostly in the pistol formation with sophomore running back Brandon Harper (6-0, 165) beside him. Harper had 11 carries for 244 yards as a freshman in 2011 and is likely to get the bulk of the carries in 2012.

The Hornets can still move to power running sets in the Wishbone, but Denny said the Wishbone package is a little depleted right now due to injuries to sophomores Caleb Shawver and Corbin Arnold.

In the passing game, the Hornets expect junior Slaten Ford to be a big target, figuratively and literally. Ford, at 6-foot-5, 190 pounds, is the tallest kid on the team and will play tight end. He caught five passesfor 61 yards a year ago.

“He did not miss a day this summer,” Denny said. “He would come up at lunch and work out.

He’s really looking good.”

Senior Zach Riley (5-9, 155) is the Hornets’ leading returning receiver from last year with 22 catches for 213 yards and a touchdown.

Denny said Riley was nearly unguardable at a 7 on 7 camp earlier in the summer. He’ll play slot receiver and also get some carries out of the backfield,Denny said.

“He plays everywhere because he’s highly intelligent,” Denny said.

Along with Riley, sophomore speedster Will Farris (5-11, 150) and junior Michael Wiser (5-5, 130) should be targets at wideout.

The Hornets expect Shawver back around the start of 8-2A District play after the sophomore suffered a broken leg at 7 on 7 camp in the summer. He’ll play running back.

On the offensive line, the Hornets will rely heavily on senior tackle Thomas Wiley (6-3, 295), who’s a threeyear starter. The same canbe said for junior guard Jaren Sanders (6-3, 255).

There’s a battle going on at the center position between juniors Chase Warder(6-0, 215) and Tyler Ingram (5-9, 165), and the one that doesn’t win that position will be in the mix for other starting positions onthe line along with sophomore Keifer Mendham (5-10, 165) and senior Randy Davidson (5-10, 190).

The Hornets’ youth is most evident on the defensive line, where junior Dustin Jumper (5-8, 250) will anchor the line at nose guard. Manning the defensive end positions will be a pair of freshmen, BlakeMeyer (6-0, 190) and Caleb Crites (6-1, 175). Davidson, Wiley and Sanders will also play some on the defensive line, Denny said.

At linebacker is where the Hornets will miss Shawver the most as Denny said the sophomore would have started in themiddle.

“He was probably going to be our leading tackler,” Denny said of Shawver.

“He’s worth 10 to 12 tackles a game.”

Instead, Ingram will man the middle, while Harper and sophomore Seth Chamberlain (5-10, 145) will play the weakside backer position. Mendham is expectedto play the strong side.

Riley will man one corner position, where he’s totaled 10 interceptions the last two seasons. Riley couldalso play some safety.

Farris will start at the other corner.

Chamberlain can also help at corner, Denny said.

The Hornetswill employ three safeties in their defensive scheme.

Arnold will man the strong safety position along with sophomore Kelby Jones (5-10, 150), while Wiser will be the weakside safety.

Gilbert will man the free safety.

Freshman Cash Hayes (5-8, 160) will handle the kicking duties.

Sports, Pages 46 on 08/29/2012