Page 23 - 2016 Football

Strickland expects the offense to be highly productive
By Kev Moyé
News-Times Staff
SMACKOVER – In recent seasons, the Smackover Buckaroos have benefited from having an explosive offense.
However, much of the talent the Bucks featured previously has now graduat- ed. Yet coach Brian Strickland remains confident that the Buckaroos will be difficult to contain.
“I think the offense has a chance to be real explosive. Beau Burson has a strong arm and runs extremely well. Michael Edwards is a shifty back with good speed, good hands,” he said. “Demarious White and Tyrek Rucks will be in the backfield with other tal- ented players. We have a chance to have a great year.
“As for our receivers, Corbin Lee has as good a speed as anybody we’ll play. Charles Manning has shown us that he’ll make a tough catch. So we have a chance to be very explosive if we play to our potential.”
Smackover has a variety of depend- able options offensively. But Strickland’s team will first attempt to overwhelm opponents with the run.
“We’re a running team. But we’ll throw it,” he said. “But we’ve always been more about running right at you. If the defense crowds the box to stop the run, we’ll try to throw it over the top. We’re going to take what the defense shows.”
Smackover understanding its offen-
Strickland is searching for individuals who can maintain the outstanding play at linebacker.
“We’re waiting for some guys to take over. The guys playing at linebacker are Demarious White, Austin Jones, Alex Eutsey, Cade Schibler, Tyler Earnest, Wesley Longing, Kolbie Hamilton. We’re waiting to see who will step up,” the coach said. “The linebacker position is big for us. Especially after the line- backers we’ve had in previous seasons, we need three or four of those guys to step up.”
The cornerback position could be a strength for the Buckaroos.
“Michael Edwards is back and he started for us last year. Corbin Lee has returned and he played a lot for us. Javon Modica, a sophomore, has looked good. Another young man who’ll be on the field a lot is Tyler Hatcher,” Strickland said. “Peyton Jones, Bryce Lockhart, George Williams, Chris Hopper are all guys who are in the mix. They’re mak- ing each other better.
“At the start of the summer, cor- nerback was an area of concern. But we now feel a lot better than we did
sive strategy is important.
“No matter what formation we get in,
none of the calls or plays change. What we do is no secret. If you watch film of us, we’ll get in different formations to try and get the defense to line up wrong and to force them to prepare for differ- ent things,” Strickland said. “But when it’s all said and done we’re going to go back to our bread-and-butter, and that’s coming right at you.”
Strickland likes his quarterback situ- ation.
“Starting at quarterback we have Beau Burson. He’ll be a senior and a two- year starter. He knows our offense,” the coach stated. “Behind him we have Bryce Lockhart and Roshard Boone.
“Both of them have taken a lot of reps. But Bryce has really stepped up his game. He has a bright future, and so does Roshard.”
Much to the delight of Strickland, the Bucks’ tailbacks possess immense ath- letic ability.
“We have Michael Edwards back. Alex Eutsey is a player who has worked hard. He’s going to be in the backfield a lot for us. Javon Modica will get time back there,” the coach said. “Corbin Lee, who’s also one of our receivers, can play at tailback. He’s looked good. He has good quickness, shifty, and has a lot of moves.
“We’ve also looked at Tyrek Rucks. We’ve let him run some tailback and he’s looked good.”
because of the way the guys have prac- ticed and played.”
Smackover’s safeties have a gritty mentality that Strickland admires.
“At safety we have Charles Manning and Omari Wibourn. Corbin could play at safety and Michael could also slide over to that position,” the coach stated. “Roshard Boone, Malik Boone are both working hard. Omari has looked good. Charles has played well. Corbin, with his speed, has played at safety. It’s really a group of hard workers who are push- ing each other every day.”
By the time league play commences, Strickland will know a lot about the Buckaroo defense.
“Our conference is so brutal that we needed three tough non-confernce games to get us ready,” Strickland said. “We’ll get that with Harmony Grove, which is a Spread team. Harding Academy, under a new coach, we think they’re staying in the spread. And then we’re facing a good Wing-T running team in Fountain Lake.
“The teams that we’re playing will make us better defensively because they’re such good ball clubs.”
Smackover will have a litany of people who can handle fullback duties.
“Demarious White, Tyrek Rucks, Cade Schibler, Tyler Earnest, and Caleb Thornton, all of those young men are working hard. Tyrek started for us last year,” Strickland said. “Demarious would probably be our starter right now.
“They run the ball hard and do a good job of lead blocking for the tailback. We’re looking for big things out of our fullbacks.”
If all goes well, Smackover’s receiving corps could be lethal.
“At receiver, we have Corbin Lee a returning starter. There’s also Omari Wilbourn and Charles Manning. Charles has looked real good. Omari has looked real good. Peyton Jones has a good set of hands and runs good routes,” Strickland said. “Tyler Hatcher is a player who is still trying to come back from an ankle injury. We want to see if we can get him back to where he was during our first 7-on-7 of the sum- mer. Chris Hopper, George Williams, Malik Boone, Javon Modica, Forrest Harrison are all receivers who are in the mix. They’re giving us the depth we need at the 3A level.”
This season the tight end could be heavily featured in the Buckaroo
offense.
“Dorsey Williams and Max Gaithright
are our leading tight ends. But we’ve also looked at Tyrek and Demarious,” the coach said. “We’re going to use them some at tight end. We’ve got to use our tight ends.”
Strickland is confident the players up front will develop throughout the season.
“On the line we’ve got Andrew Odom, Reave Mullens and Nate Bates coming back from last year’s team. They all started for us,” Strickland said. “Hunter Goocher has put himself in position to have a great year.
“Kolbie Hamilton, Austin Jones, William Mitchell, Braden McKinnon, Joe Barron, Noel Pietranski, Cauy Easley, Patrick Boothe, and Wesley Longing (could all help us).”
The current offense doesn’t possess the same kind of personnel as its pre- decessors. But Strickland is confident in their potential to produce similar results.
“We have a group we think a lot of. We’re eager to get on the field and get them working on Friday nights,” he stat- ed. “I believe people will be surprised. I know people think we’ll be down, but this group of players doesn’t believe it. They’re working hard.”
Defense
Continued from Page 19
El Dorado NEWS-TIMES – Thursday, September 1, 2016 – 23
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 7
THE CONSERVATIVE CHOICE PAID FOR BY SONIA BARKER FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
Wishes all area fall sports teams a safe and successful season.
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