Starting his second season as head football coach at Oak Hill High School, David Moneypenny expected to open the season with a group fully ingrained to his system.
COVID restrictions did not allow that to happen, unfortunately.
“Last year we had the same thing that everyone else did, but it was kinda hard to establish any type of scheme because play was so hit and miss,” Moneypenny said. “We are still kinda behind right now where we don’t have that full year under our belt, like we normally would have. There are still some learning curves and growing pains. That first full year under our belt won’t come until maybe about halfway through this season.”
After missing the first month of the season due COVID cases in Fayette County, Oak Hill finished the 2020 season at 3-3. A loss to University in the final week of the regular season kept the Red Devils out of the postseason.
However, in a shortened season, there were a couple of big highlights with wins over old rivals Woodrow Wilson and Greenbrier East.
If Oak Hill is to be successful in 2021, it will need to patch up a couple areas of concern. The first being an offensive line hit hard by graduation.
“We are getting some depth by keeping the offense a little more simple right now,” Moneypenny said. “We are expanding things slowly and that seems to be helping our offense, especially up front. There are still some things we definitely need to work on.”
The offensive line will be made up mostly by seniors. Moneypenny feels Brody Warden, Max Underwood, Brian Cruz and Lucas Whaples will see time along with Logan Wallace and Ronnie Helton.
“It is just a matter of getting two or three guys comfortable and going from there,” Moneypenny explained. “We will definitely be older up front and have some age up there. We may lack experience with some of those guys, but I think they will make up for it with their maturity. Hopefully that will help us out.”
The second area of concern will be finding a quarterback to replace Logan Lawhorn.
“We have two kids in there that are pretty much neck and neck right now. Alex Colaiseno is one of those guys. This will be his third year here,” Moneypenny said. “Then we have a new guy, Jacob Ward. He is one of those multi-sport athletes, a baseball and basketball guy.”
With each player doing good things in the preseason, Moneypenny is not opposed to both players seeing time under the Friday spotlight.
“As I get older, I am more flexible with things. I am not sure if there is a right answer or not. It is nice to have two guys neck and neck because if you have someone on your heels, it makes you work a little harder,” Moneypenny said. “The competition and the fact that the position is not totally defined yet, that is helping us. Both are doing extremely well.”
Moneypenny also has a third option at quarterback in one of the state’s most versatile athletes, Ethan Vargo-Thomas.
“We are throwing Ethan in there too for some snaps. We are feeling better about that as well because he is a guy we can use at multiple positions,” Moneypenny said. “There is no question he is a special player. He can throw it, catch it and he can run with it. He can block, he can punt and kick, there is a lot of things he can do. We are going to use him in a lot of different ways and he will have to be ready.”
One of the biggest assets that the Red Devils have this season is speed, and lots of it.
“We do have some speed here at Oak Hill and we are going to do the best we can to utilize it. It is just a matter of keeping everybody happy,” Moneypenny said. “There is just one football and trying to get the ball to all these guys can be tricky at times. It is a good problem to have.”
The list of speedsters and playmakers for the Red Devils is one that would make opposing coaches envious.
“Leonard Farrow and Braxton Hall are both seniors and we have to get the ball to those guys. They have great skill and have a lot of snaps under their belts,” Moneypenny said. “Omar Lewis played a lot last year for us. We are also looking for big plays from Alex Baxter and Braylon Thomas. We also have Trent Rider and Byron Shelton. We have a nice stable of kids that we are trying to get reps and playing time for us.”
Moneypenny is also looking for ways to put his team speed to use on the defensive side of the ball.
“We have to determine how we are going to utilize that speed to defend the field and get people moving quickly to the ball,” Moneypenny said. “Our secondary should be pretty decent. We have several of those guys coming back. That will be a good thing because we are facing some really good quarterbacks this year. I think we will be ok on defense as well.”
Anthony Harris and Logan Wallace are names to watch on defense along with Jeremiah Jackson who will likely spearhead things up front. Moneypenny describes Jackson as a big guy with good speed that is hard to handle inside.”
Although they are young, the linebacking core is expected to be solid.
“Max Underwood is one linebacker,” Moneypenny said. “Mason McMullen and J.D. Mauritz are the other guys we are looking at in there along with Adam Long. Three of those guys are kinda young, so we don’t have the age we would like there, but we definitely have the enthusiasm.”
Moneypenny remains cautiously optimistic about his team, but he likes how things are developing.
“We can be as good as we want to be. I think we have a really good group of kids and we have good numbers with a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Moneypenny said. “Trying to manage those young guys is a little tricky sometimes, but we are having a lot of fun and the future looks bright here at Oak Hill.”
Schedule
1 08/27/21 7:00PM H – NICHOLAS COUNTY –
2 09/03/21 7:00PM H – WESTSIDE –
3 09/10/21 7:30PM A – PRINCETON SENIOR –
4 09/17/21 7:00PM H – LINCOLN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL –
5 09/24/21 7:30PM A – RIPLEY –
6 10/01/21 7:00PM H – CABELL MIDLAND –
7 10/08/21 7:30PM A – GREENBRIER EAST –
8 10/15/21 OPEN –
9 10/22/21 7:00PM H – BLUEFIELD –
10 10/29/21 7:30PM A – WOODROW WILSON –
11 11/05/21 7:30PM A – UNIVERSITY –
Roster