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Wednesday, August 28, 2019 El Dorado News-Times 3D
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El Dorado Wildcats: El Dorado is scheduled to open its 2019 football season on Friday with a home game against Conway. The Wildcats will be coached by Steven Jones this season. Kickoff for the season opener is 7:30 p.m.
Wildcats to unveil uptempo offense this season
By Tony Burns
Sports Editor
El Dorado’s offense evolved when Scott Reed came to town 11 years ago. The Wildcats moved to an up-tempo, spread, no-huddle attack, resulting in nu- merous offensive records and, of course, four state championships.
New coach Steven Jones, who won a state title at Junction City last year, plans to continue the offen- sive evolution when he unveils his version of the hurry-up, up-tempo spread attack.
“It’s really adaptable to what we have on campus. If we are blessed with a lot of tight end, fullback bodies, we may be in more of a pro style sets. At the end of the day, it’s still an up-tempo, upbeat spread offense,” said Jones. “We have a pretty good mix this year. We have some skill guys that can really play in space. I expect to see a lot of four-wide, a lot of 10 personnel, with some 21 personnel, tight ends and fullbacks, mixed in. We really feel like we have the right kids in the right places to be very multiple of- fensively.”
Jones said the offense will have formations for shotgun, pistol and under-the-center. He even hinted at a Wildcat package, featuring tailback Alex Hicks. In addition to attacking an opponent’s weakness, he
said the idea is to put the ball into the hands of the big play makers.
That being said, it all starts up front. With four returning starters, El Dorado’s offensive line is the most experienced group on the team.
“A lot of people have bragged on our offensive line throughout the time I’ve been here as far as the ex- perience of that group. I think they will be the back- bone of our team,” said Jones. “We want to run the football downhill aggressively. For those guys to do that, it’s a challenge they’ve accepted, and they’ve embraced. I think the offensive line will be the back- bone of our team.
“But we also have talented groups at each spot on offense. The group I’m really excited about is the wide receiver group. Coach Hal Qualls has done an awesome job of getting them prepared and helping them understand the scheme of what we’re doing. Playmakers out in space are going to make us a lot better inside the box.”
The most glaring change in this year’s offense will be Hicks, who moved from quarterback last year to tailback this season. As a junior, Hicks led the team in passing, rushing and touchdowns at quarterback. He has worked at third-team signal caller in the pre- season behind junior Eli Shepherd and sophomore
Sharmon Rester.
“He could see some snaps at quarterback. We defi-
nitely feel confident with him back there being that he’s played it. He’s been there, done that,” Jones said of Hicks. “At this point, with the progression of Shar- mon and Eli, we feel good about having Alex Hicks be the every-down tailback where he can take over and really focus on that. He’s a collegiate prospect at running back. I think we’re doing him a favor by moving him to that spot so he can get his name out there and we can help get him into the next level.
“He is the guy on offense we want to build around. He is one of the best athletes on the team, one of the best overall football players on the team. We want him to have the ball as much as we possibly can.”
The Wildcats believe they have depth with Devonte Yarbrough also expected to contribute big at running back. In the end, depth could be the difference be- tween success and failure.
“On the offensive side of the ball, we have good depth, especially in our skill spots. We don’t want to lose anybody to injury, but we feel good about our backups on the offensive side of the ball,” Jones said. “Defensively, we’re kind of in the same boat.
See OFFENSE, Page 4D