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During a Hobbton Wildcats practice, Brad Evans hands the ball off during a play.
“Our expectations for the 2009 season is to just get better each week,” Byrd said. “We would love to improve on what we did last year, but the league is so tough you just want to get better each week.”
According to Byrd, Hobbton finished 8-5 for the 2008-09 season, and, he added, that the Wildcats plan to pull more time on offense to improve from last year.
Although Byrd, along with assistant coaches Al Peacock, Chad Brewer, Michael Burnett, Tim McDuffie, Robin Smith, Al Britt, Zack Thornton and Les Spell, ran a combination of a Pro-I, Wing-T and Spread offense last year, officials revealed that this season they will stick with the Wing-T.
“We will just be running a Wing-T offense this year,” Byrd stated. “We’ve always done it. Coach Britt is back coaching the offense, and he is familiar with it. We have also had good success with it.”
As for the Wildcats defense, Byrd confirmed that the team will present a 40-front or a 3-5 defense this season.
In addition to illustrating the offense and defense, Byrd also confirmed that the Wildcats will see roughly 20 returning players, 15 of which are starters.
Byrd told sports writer David Johnson, “We have 32 varsity players here. We returned eight starters on offense and seven on defense.”
“This year we returned the whole offensive line; so, this year the experience will be a strength. Defensive wise, we returned our best linebacker and leading tackle,” Byrd said.
According to Byrd, some returning starters are Michael Bass, Allen Britt, Tyler Sinclair, Brad Evans, Henry Barnes, Eli Chestnutt, Jesse Yaw, Ira Moore, Courtney Robertson, Dancy Chestnutt, Al Hunter, Xavier Thompson, Michael Swinson and Josh Faison.
In relation to the roster, Byrd said, “We have everybody we expected except one who has a family situation that is keeping him out. We have every varsity player I thought was coming out.”
“Brad Evans started the last couple of games last year, and he will be the main quarterback,” Byrd said. “Henry Barnes Jr. and a kid from the JV will back him up. We lost three running backs, but we have several that can fill those spots. We have a couple of seniors we can put in the backfield, and we will have the Barnes kid back there. I feel pretty good about the offense.”
Byrd also revealed that the Wildcats have a “couple” sophomores that may move up this season.
As for the upcoming season, Byrd admitted that the competition will be tough.
“Our biggest rivalry is probably Midway High School,” Byrd said. “The Tri-County Conference is probably the toughest 1-A conference, I think, in the state.”
With the addition of Trask and Pender into the mix, Byrd continued, “It was always a competitive conference (when it was Super Six), but Trask and Pender add to the fire.”
However, he continued, “In the new conference alignment we may be better and still not win as many games. I am optimistic.”
Even though Byrd voiced that the Wildcats have had a real “good” week of practice, with players showing “enthusiasm and understanding” of what the football program is trying to accomplish this season, he admitted youth as a weakness on the field.
“We are still a young team. There may be 10 seniors and 17 juniors. I think it will be better this year because they all played 13 games last year, giving them a little more experience this year,” he said.
After acknowledging the question marks for the upcoming season, Byrd continued to explain that Hobbton is excited about the new season and conference.
“We’ve been looking forward to this season, and we (the coaching staff) are really pleased with what we have seen.”
Byrd furthered, “We haven’t had any injuries the first couple of days, and the kids have been running all summer; so, they are in better shape than I thought they might be.”
The Hobbton Wildcats will host the annual Pigskin Jamboree Friday, Aug. 14, starting at 7 p.m.
Jessica Wagner can be contacted at (910) 592-8137 ext.122 or reached by e-mail at siphoto@myclintonnc.com
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