Eagles make do with few

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Waurika Eagle Mason Wilkerson evades a tackle from a Maysville Warrior during a scrimmage. Matt Tillson

August 31, 2010

Jeff Kaley For The Duncan Banner The Duncan Banner Tue Aug 31, 2010, 05:33 PM CDT

WAURIKA — Were he to instruct a class on the composition of a football roster, Larry VanBeber might dub the course: How to Make Do With Few, 101.

The Eagles had 16 players during their spring practice sessions and by the time the first official practice of August arrived, that number had dipped to 15. By the middle of the second week of workouts, the roster had grown some, but when WHS went to its first preseason scrimmage at Bray-Doyle, there were 18 players in uniform.

The roster is currently at 19, but the Eagles haven’t had a practice in which they can line up and scrimmage with 11 players on each side of the line. VanBeber, who’s been on both sides of the numbers game in 17 years as a head coach, said the lack of bodies requires creative preparation.

“I’ve had teams with 16 or 17, and I’ve had teams with 100 or more,” said the Eagles third-year skipper, who had rosters of 22 to 26 in his first two years at Waurika. “What you have to do is make do with the number of guys you’ve got, but low numbers make it difficult in some ways.

“Obviously, depth is really going to be a problem for us this year. We’ve got to stay healthy and our kids have to take care of their academics.”

Regardless how many Eagles there are, they’ve spent much of preseason installing the “double-wing flexbone,” which is the offense of choice for 2010.

“We don’t have two 6-foot-1, 210-pound running backs anymore,” VanBeber said, referring to Gil Griffin and Levi Henderson, classic power runners who combined for 1,559 yards and 18 touchdowns a year ago.

“The ‘double-wing’ is similar to the ‘wing-T’ that we’ve run since I’ve been here, the only big differences in the backfield is that we only have one back and we use two wingbacks. But it fits the kind of players we’ve got this year,” VanBeber explained.

With rare exception, those players are leaner but quicker than a year ago. Taylor Fuller, a 5-10, 210-pounder, may be used on occasion as the “set back,” but at 5-10, 175, Fuller’s brother Tyler is more typical of the Eagles’ skilled position players of 2010.

In fact, there’s almost a cookie-cutter appearance to the stable of backs and outside receivers: Quarterback Mason Johnson (5-9, 180); set back (fullback) Cameron Bloodworth (5-8, 155); wingbacks Mason Wilkerson (6-1,170), Joey Romero (5-7, 150) and Austin Masoner (5-7, 140); wideouts Robert Gomez (5-8, 150), Garrett Bachand (6-1, 140), Dawson Porterfield (5-11, 145) and Michael Huff (5-9, 150).

“There’s a lot more misdirection involved, with all four backs going somewhere different on each play. Our passing routes are shorter and quicker, although we can still throw the ball down field out of it,” VanBeber noted. “And it has simplified some things for our linemen in their blocking responsibilities.”

Experience and versatility are factors up front, beginning at center, where juniors Gage Pittman and Kevin Guzman are three-year starters.

Guard Dillon Pruitt has been a full- or part-time starter for two seasons, and although Gus Porterfield didn’t play as a junior, VanBeber and line coach Glenn Howard value the senior’s size (6-foot, 240), quickness and aggressive nature.

The coaching staff has been extremely pleased with the progress of junior Evan Waid, who can play guard or center, and joins senior guard Reece Bartling as options to back Taylor Fuller at tight end.

Defensively, Howard has been forced to test his ability to work jigsaw puzzles, trying to bring together pieces that fit into the grand scheme of things.

“One of my big adjustments, and one the other coaches are experiencing, is getting the kids into the right positions, and then helping them figure out how to play that position,” he said. “It’s like, we don’t have four or five true defensive tackles, so we’ve had to adjust the techniques and alignments to suit the kind of players we have.”

Howard wants to stick with the 4-3 alignment the Eagles used in the 2009 season. However, that scheme requires some bulk in the front line; tackles with the size and strength to drive offensive linemen aside and allow linebackers to fill rushing gaps and make tackles.

The Eagles have fair but not outstanding size at the tackle spots. Gus Porterfield, Guzman and Marshall fall in the 240- to 250-pound range. Two other tackle prospects — 6-foot, 215-pound Waid and 5-11, 204-pound Chance Deason — will have to substitute athleticism for going bulk on bulk.

Although his background is as a linebacker, Pittman figures to open the season at defensive end, where Wilkerson is also a possibility. The starting linebackers may come from the trio of Bartling, Taylor Fuller and Prewitt.

While the front seven may be a work in progress, Howard is already projecting big things out of the secondary. Bloodworth was a starter as a sophomore and Tyler Fuller has played nearly every secondary spot in his first two seasons. Each position in the defensive backfield is at least two deep.

“Cameron Bloodworth is as natural at free safety as any kid I’ve seen in Class A, and Tyler is proven at strong safety,” Howard said. “Austin Masoner just needs some experience and he can become a good free safety, although we can also play him at cornerback.

“Mason Johnson will be a good backup to Tyler, and we’ve got Garrett Bachand at strong safety as well, but one day he’ll be a defensive end or cornerback.

“We’ve got four kids at the cornerback spots — Romero, Gomez and Dawson Porterfield, and Huff is a freshman move-in from Lawton.

“Every one of them can play somewhere, and they each have a skill set that can help us. They’ve been aggressive, top to bottom, and I think our secondary can be impressive.”

— Jeff Kaley is editor of the Waurika News-Democrat and a Duncan Banner columnist. He can be reached at 580-228-2316 or e-mailed at jeff.kaley@duncanbanner.com.

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