wildstangs
08-07-2004, 03:31 PM
New district, same finish?
It's been over six months since the University Interscho-lastic League's decision to place Sweetwater in a new five-team district that may be the toughest -- at least in this part of Texas -- in any classification.
But that's not the only big change Mustang head coach Kent Jackson has had to adjust to in the time since his 2003 Sweetwater team captured the District 3-3A championship.
Jackson will have a lot of new faces on his coaching staff this year, including a new offensive coordinator, Al Hunt, who was also a coach here in the early- to-mid-'80s including 1985, when Sweetwater won its only state title in school history.
And then there's the matter of finding replacements for the 23 lettermen who graduated af-ter a 9-3 season, which also saw the Mustangs defeat Kermit and Perryton in the playoffs be-fore losing to Vernon in the Division II regional finals.
Among the many standout players who graduated were all-state end Giles Montgomery, who will play for TCU this year, and linebacker Michael Straley, who earned all-state honorable mention and will play college ball at Angelo State University.
Jackson will have six starters returning on offense, including quarterback Jeremy Thomp-son, who led the team in rushing a year ago and was named the district's offensive MVP. On the defensive side, however, are just three players with starting experience and one of them could be at a new position.
Still, Sweetwater is expected to contend for another champi-onship in a power-packed Dis-trict 4-3A, which also includes Abilene Wylie, Snyder, Merkel and Clyde. The Mustangs have won or shared the district title each of the past two years, and have reached the playoffs in 17 of the last 20 seasons.
But their new district -- which includes three teams (Wylie, Merkel and Clyde) who were also in Sweetwater's district in 2000 and 2001 -- is loaded with teams who have experienced plenty of winning in recent years.
Wylie, a perennial state contender under longtime coach Hugh Sandifer, went to the Division I semifinals this past season and is ranked No. 16 in the state by Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine.
Snyder and Merkel, meanwhile, finished 2-3 in the standings behind Sweetwater last year in District 3-3A and, like the Mustangs, went three rounds deep into the playoffs. Snyder, in fact, lost to Wylie in the Division I quarterfinals.
That leaves Clyde, which up-set Wylie in district a year ago but lost a chance to get in the playoffs on a tiebreaker.
And Sweetwater's non-district schedule is hardly filled with 98-pound weaklings.
The first four opponents -- Lubbock Cooper, San Angelo Lake View, Midland Green-wood and Andrews -- all made the playoffs in 2003, with Lake View and Andrews each doing it in Class 4A.
The next two, Pecos and Lev-elland, are former district rivals who won a total of just four games last year, but are expected to do much better in 2004.
While there are a lot of questions to be answered about this year's team, Jackson is excited about the Mustangs' potential.
"We feel confident they will get the job done. They just need time," he said. "We just have to get our pads on and work, and give them a chance to do things against other people."
Jackson said the team had a "really, really good" first week of practices that began this past Monday.
"The thing that encourages me is the work ethic and the at-titudes we've seen (from the players)," he said. "The new faces have brought a new energy that has rubbed off on all of us. It's been fun and exciting getting up and coming to work every day."
In addition to Hunt, the new faces on the high school coaching staff this year will be Shane Mobley, Che Hendrix and Ja-son Petty along with Dustin Alt-miller, who previously coached at the middle school. The re-turning coaches are Chris Wig-ington (defensive coordinator), Vic Ivy, David Mayes, Patrick Villa and Scott Lambert.
Altmiller's position on the middle school staff was filled by Roddy Alexander, a former star player at Roscoe whose father, Kim, has coached at both Ros-coe and Sweetwater.
Offense
Sweetwater ran for an average of 259 yards last season and passed for only 51. And the top two individual rushers from a year ago are back: Thompson (155), who gained 754 yards in just eight starts, and Copeland (192), who ran for 522 and re-turns at fullback. Copeland was named first team all-district.
At halfback, Justin Clowers (150), who rushed for four TDs in spot duty last year, and Ken-dal Carrillo (180) are currently penciled in as the starters.
Others who are competing for playing time in the backfield are Garrett Clayton (241), Ed-ward Salgado (170) and Alex Garcia (185) at fullback and Jacinto Rosas (157), Matt Miles (140), Eric Brown, Joseph Ban-yard (167), Duone Cunnings (156) and Skye Green (140) at either right or left halfback; and Sonny Birdwell (170) and Car-rillo at quarterback.
Carrillo is also expected to be Sweetwater's punter.
Sweetwater's fleet of runners in the Wishbone-based attack will have the luxury of a potentially huge offensive line that includes two returning first team all-district performers in guard Zach Gilbert (240) and tackle Ty Palmer (261).
Other possible starters who lettered this past year are Josh Camacho (262) at tackle, Carl Cunnings (230) at guard and Russell Clayton (220), who is the younger brother of Garrett Clayton, at tight end. Lance Clark (242) may be the starting center.
The athletes who are competing for a starting spot at one or more positions on the line include T.J. Rosson (190), John Stratton (360), Kendall Mayes (225), Taylor Jones (170), Brandon Fangman (186), Casey Toland (181), Rhylon Glass, Paul Reckner (377), Britt Glo-ver (235), James Beckwith (198), Michael Hollis, Ty Jones (220) and Justin Adames (170).
Returning lettermen Michael Williams (145) and Joel Baker (176) are in the mix at wide re-ceiver as well as Brittan Pitt-man (155) and Parker Morrow (140), who is expected to be the team's starting placekicker.
Defense
Sweetwater's three returning players who started on the defensive side of the ball are Copeland at linebacker, Wil-liams at cornerback and Carril-lo at safety.
However, Copeland could be moved to weak side defensive end, with Russell Clayton on the strong side.
Others who are getting the early nod to start on the four-man line are Garrett Clayton at tackle and Rosson at the noseguard slot. Also competing for a starting spot on the line are Garcia, Fangman, Reckner and Palmer at noseguard; Gilbert and Camacho at tackle; Rosson and Beckwith at the weak side (bandit) end; and Carl Cun-nings and Ty Jones at the strong side (anchor) end.
Salgado could start at middle linebacker if Copeland switches to defensive end, with Rosas on the strong side and Miles on the weak side. Also competing for a starting spot in the line-backing corps will be Adames, Banyard and Morrow.
Williams is expected to start at left cornerback with Clow-ers on the right side. Carrillo is the projected starter at free safety and Pittman gets the ear-ly nod at strong safety.
The other candidates to earn a starting job in the secondary are Thompson, Green, Baker and Brown at cornerback, Bird-well at free safety and Duone Cunnings at strong safety.
It's been over six months since the University Interscho-lastic League's decision to place Sweetwater in a new five-team district that may be the toughest -- at least in this part of Texas -- in any classification.
But that's not the only big change Mustang head coach Kent Jackson has had to adjust to in the time since his 2003 Sweetwater team captured the District 3-3A championship.
Jackson will have a lot of new faces on his coaching staff this year, including a new offensive coordinator, Al Hunt, who was also a coach here in the early- to-mid-'80s including 1985, when Sweetwater won its only state title in school history.
And then there's the matter of finding replacements for the 23 lettermen who graduated af-ter a 9-3 season, which also saw the Mustangs defeat Kermit and Perryton in the playoffs be-fore losing to Vernon in the Division II regional finals.
Among the many standout players who graduated were all-state end Giles Montgomery, who will play for TCU this year, and linebacker Michael Straley, who earned all-state honorable mention and will play college ball at Angelo State University.
Jackson will have six starters returning on offense, including quarterback Jeremy Thomp-son, who led the team in rushing a year ago and was named the district's offensive MVP. On the defensive side, however, are just three players with starting experience and one of them could be at a new position.
Still, Sweetwater is expected to contend for another champi-onship in a power-packed Dis-trict 4-3A, which also includes Abilene Wylie, Snyder, Merkel and Clyde. The Mustangs have won or shared the district title each of the past two years, and have reached the playoffs in 17 of the last 20 seasons.
But their new district -- which includes three teams (Wylie, Merkel and Clyde) who were also in Sweetwater's district in 2000 and 2001 -- is loaded with teams who have experienced plenty of winning in recent years.
Wylie, a perennial state contender under longtime coach Hugh Sandifer, went to the Division I semifinals this past season and is ranked No. 16 in the state by Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine.
Snyder and Merkel, meanwhile, finished 2-3 in the standings behind Sweetwater last year in District 3-3A and, like the Mustangs, went three rounds deep into the playoffs. Snyder, in fact, lost to Wylie in the Division I quarterfinals.
That leaves Clyde, which up-set Wylie in district a year ago but lost a chance to get in the playoffs on a tiebreaker.
And Sweetwater's non-district schedule is hardly filled with 98-pound weaklings.
The first four opponents -- Lubbock Cooper, San Angelo Lake View, Midland Green-wood and Andrews -- all made the playoffs in 2003, with Lake View and Andrews each doing it in Class 4A.
The next two, Pecos and Lev-elland, are former district rivals who won a total of just four games last year, but are expected to do much better in 2004.
While there are a lot of questions to be answered about this year's team, Jackson is excited about the Mustangs' potential.
"We feel confident they will get the job done. They just need time," he said. "We just have to get our pads on and work, and give them a chance to do things against other people."
Jackson said the team had a "really, really good" first week of practices that began this past Monday.
"The thing that encourages me is the work ethic and the at-titudes we've seen (from the players)," he said. "The new faces have brought a new energy that has rubbed off on all of us. It's been fun and exciting getting up and coming to work every day."
In addition to Hunt, the new faces on the high school coaching staff this year will be Shane Mobley, Che Hendrix and Ja-son Petty along with Dustin Alt-miller, who previously coached at the middle school. The re-turning coaches are Chris Wig-ington (defensive coordinator), Vic Ivy, David Mayes, Patrick Villa and Scott Lambert.
Altmiller's position on the middle school staff was filled by Roddy Alexander, a former star player at Roscoe whose father, Kim, has coached at both Ros-coe and Sweetwater.
Offense
Sweetwater ran for an average of 259 yards last season and passed for only 51. And the top two individual rushers from a year ago are back: Thompson (155), who gained 754 yards in just eight starts, and Copeland (192), who ran for 522 and re-turns at fullback. Copeland was named first team all-district.
At halfback, Justin Clowers (150), who rushed for four TDs in spot duty last year, and Ken-dal Carrillo (180) are currently penciled in as the starters.
Others who are competing for playing time in the backfield are Garrett Clayton (241), Ed-ward Salgado (170) and Alex Garcia (185) at fullback and Jacinto Rosas (157), Matt Miles (140), Eric Brown, Joseph Ban-yard (167), Duone Cunnings (156) and Skye Green (140) at either right or left halfback; and Sonny Birdwell (170) and Car-rillo at quarterback.
Carrillo is also expected to be Sweetwater's punter.
Sweetwater's fleet of runners in the Wishbone-based attack will have the luxury of a potentially huge offensive line that includes two returning first team all-district performers in guard Zach Gilbert (240) and tackle Ty Palmer (261).
Other possible starters who lettered this past year are Josh Camacho (262) at tackle, Carl Cunnings (230) at guard and Russell Clayton (220), who is the younger brother of Garrett Clayton, at tight end. Lance Clark (242) may be the starting center.
The athletes who are competing for a starting spot at one or more positions on the line include T.J. Rosson (190), John Stratton (360), Kendall Mayes (225), Taylor Jones (170), Brandon Fangman (186), Casey Toland (181), Rhylon Glass, Paul Reckner (377), Britt Glo-ver (235), James Beckwith (198), Michael Hollis, Ty Jones (220) and Justin Adames (170).
Returning lettermen Michael Williams (145) and Joel Baker (176) are in the mix at wide re-ceiver as well as Brittan Pitt-man (155) and Parker Morrow (140), who is expected to be the team's starting placekicker.
Defense
Sweetwater's three returning players who started on the defensive side of the ball are Copeland at linebacker, Wil-liams at cornerback and Carril-lo at safety.
However, Copeland could be moved to weak side defensive end, with Russell Clayton on the strong side.
Others who are getting the early nod to start on the four-man line are Garrett Clayton at tackle and Rosson at the noseguard slot. Also competing for a starting spot on the line are Garcia, Fangman, Reckner and Palmer at noseguard; Gilbert and Camacho at tackle; Rosson and Beckwith at the weak side (bandit) end; and Carl Cun-nings and Ty Jones at the strong side (anchor) end.
Salgado could start at middle linebacker if Copeland switches to defensive end, with Rosas on the strong side and Miles on the weak side. Also competing for a starting spot in the line-backing corps will be Adames, Banyard and Morrow.
Williams is expected to start at left cornerback with Clow-ers on the right side. Carrillo is the projected starter at free safety and Pittman gets the ear-ly nod at strong safety.
The other candidates to earn a starting job in the secondary are Thompson, Green, Baker and Brown at cornerback, Bird-well at free safety and Duone Cunnings at strong safety.