Hinton – After four years at the reins, Chris Vicars stepped down in the spring, vacating the head coaching spot in Summers County.
Fayetteville native Josh Evans eagerly stepped into the job and has enjoyed it since.
“It was just the community,” Evans said. “I came down here and met with Coach Dave Smith and he showed me around a little bit. The first thing they showed me was the weight room and that’s what Coach Woods has – he runs our weight program here. He opened the garage door down there and I was like ‘yep, this is where I want to be.’ That’s where it starts and there’s no question about it. They took pride in it.
“I’m from Fayetteville and I get the same feel here that I did there. That’s exactly what brought me here. It feels the same as when I played and coached at Fayetteville.”
It also doesn’t hurt that there’s a decent bit of talent left over from a program that made playoff runs in 2017 and 2018. The early returns have Evans convinced another one could be on the horizon with the number of kids that have already bought into what he’s selling.
“We started our offseason program at the beginning of July and gave them the last week off,” Evans said. “We averaged about 28 to 30 kids for volunteer workouts. That’s huge for single-A. It just seems like the kids that did show up, they learned a lot of football. Defensively we’re not going to change much because it’s been successful here so we’re not going to change it. But offensively we’re going to change some things up from what they did in the past and we were able to get a lot of that installed.”
The changes on offense include the single-back power with a gap scheme up front. It suits the personnel he has, highlighted by talented back Andre Merriam-Harshaw.
“He’s making the move from halfback to fullback this year,” Evans said. “He’s going to be hard to handle between the tackles. He’s 235 pounds and runs like a deer. You couldn’t ask for anything more but what’s going to make him go is those five guys up front. Without them we’re hurting. We’ve got some good ones up there.”
Behind Evans’ optimism for Merriam-Harshaw is an offensive line that has several players playing new positions. Fortunately he believes it’s putting them in a better position to succeed given the new system he wants to run.
“Suge Keaton was one of the seniors that sold out for us when we got here,” Evans said. “He’s probably lost about 20 pounds but he’s going to move from center to tackle because he fits better in our system for that. Duke Dodson, Andre – both of them have completely sold out for this. Coen McClaugherty is a pretty special kid as well. They all seem to show up and want to work but you’ve got to coach them though.
“T.J. Williams is a sophomore and he’ll probably play for us on the quick side tackle. Ashton Rose is a sophomore and he’s the one that sticks out to me the most up front just because he’s so physical but he’s so big and so fast. He runs like he’s 190 pounds but plays like he’s 270. It’s unreal. At center we’ll probably go with sophomore Bryce Taylor. He started at tackle but he fits better at center. Those guys are what will make Andre and Duke go.”
While most of the cast the Bobcats will start are younger, it isn’t worrying Evans. As he only has three seniors he considers it good experience for the younger players but he’s also seen the work they’ve put in to prepare for the season. That’s garnered his trust.
“We don’t have very many seniors but it’s a good problem to have,” Evans said. “This is single-A football. These younger players have bought in and they’re selling out too. The seniors have become really good leaders for us too, but I don’t have a worry in the world when it comes to putting the younger kids out there just because the work they put in in the weight room this spring. We have five kids, including an incoming freshman, hit the 1,000 pound club in three lifts. When you think about them being young, I don’t care. When they’re that strong and they can move we can do some things with them.”
The offense won’t be completely centered around the running game. Evans anticipates rolling with two quarterbacks.
“We’ll probably be a two-headed deal,” Evans said. “Brandon Isaac, who’s a sophomore, he’s the point guard on the basketball team so he’s a leader. He handles the offense very well. He picked it up really quick and he’s very smooth in his handoffs and play action stuff. Then we’ll go with another one in Ben Lane who’s also a sophomore. He’s a little but faster and we can do some stuff with him. It’s more of a wildcat set with him though. With guys like Duke and Andre and Caleb Black, we could put me back there at quarterback to hand off. We’ve got some pretty good running backs.”
The Bobcats will open the season on Aug. 26 against PikeView, a new yearly tradition that will be dubbed The Battle for Bluestone.
Contact Tyler Jackson at tylerjackson@lootpress.com, call him at 304-731-5542 and follow on Twitter @tjack94
Schedule
1 08/26/21 7:30PM H – PIKEVIEW –
2 09/03/21 7:30PM H – GREENBRIER WEST –
3 09/11/21 3:00PM A – SHADY SPRING –
4 09/17/21 7:30PM A – MOUNT VIEW HIGH SCHOOL –
5 09/24/21 7:30PM H – MIDLAND TRAIL HIGH SCHOOL –
6 10/01/21 7:30PM H – INDEPENDENCE SENIOR –
7 10/08/21 OPEN –
8 10/15/21 7:30PM H – MEADOW BRIDGE HIGH –
9 10/22/21 7:00PM A – POCAHONTAS COUNTY –
10 10/29/21 7:30PM H – RICHWOOD –
11 11/05/21 7:30PM A – JAMES MONROE –
Roster
# Pos. Name Gr Ht Wt Avg
Christopher Blankenship 11
Cruz Testerman 11
Drake Davis 10
Hunter Fox 10
Robert Dick 10
Thomas Williams 10
Charles Rodes 10
Wilson Sears 10
Christopher Thompson 9
Franklin McClaugherty 9
Tyson Adkins 9
Jonah Pugh 9
Grady Allen 9
Evan McGuire 9
Duke Testerman 9
Ryan Oliveros 9
Tyler Richmond 9
Matthew Cox 9
Landon Williams 9
Jordan Sears 9
1 RB/Dl Andre Merriam-Harshaw 11 6’0 215
3 RB/LB Willie Dodson 11 6’1 195
4 Kalob Black 12
7 Peyton Miller 11
9 WR/DB Alexander Hudgins 11 5’8 155
14 RB/DB Drake Cole 10 5’5 145
18 QB/DB Brandon Isaac 10 5’11 125
28 RB/DB Nathan Angell 10 5’1 85
51 OL/DL Ashton Rose 10 5’10 190
56 OL/DL Bryce Taylor 10 6’0 215
60 OL/DL Julien Keaton 12 5’8 235
64 OL/DL Coen McClaugherty 11 5’11 220
76 OL/DL Walter Lewis 11 5/10 205