June 15...GREENSBURG-- Now we know the name of the 6’3”, 300-pound lineman who’s been visiting summer football workouts in Greensburg. More importantly, Mavericks Head Coach Clint Young told The Signal Monday night that Kirby Lewis told him earlier in the day he plans on attending classes here in August and being on the new Kiowa County team.
“Together with Lymon (Morehead, another lineman in the neighborhood of 300 pounds) this gives us a lot more size and solidifies things a lot for us,” Young said. This makes it a lot easier to draw things up and gives us more options. I’m excited to see what he (Lewis) can do for us. How many eight-man teams can say they have a pair of 300-pound guards?”
Meanwhile, another senior, speedster Darin McVay also told Young he definitely plans on being a member of the football squad this year. McVay, who just missed making state in the 100 meters, has run a sub 11-second sprint this past spring, meaning Young has yet another offensive weapon to put to use. And offense is likely the only side of the ball McVay is likely to see.
“Playing outside and wide is what he’s interested in and that’s where his speed can help us, so I’m interested in keeping him happy and having him work hard for us, so that’s how I see him being used,” Young said. “You put a 10.9 something guy on the edge and the defense has to put a speed guy on him. If they don’t, they get burned.”
Young also continues to be impressed with the potential of junior quarterback Ross Binford who’s gone till Thursday at a quarterback combine in Kansas City, where he’ll be evaluated in a number of ways.
“They film you, test you out and see what skill level they think you have,” Young said. “It’s a way of getting your name out there and getting you some exposure beyond the high school level.”
Asked if such an event is a step toward getting invited to various colleges’ junior days next winter or even a college camp next summer, Young said, “That, plus you get an idea as a player what areas you need to work on to advance as you go through high school.”
Young refers to this as a “special week,” coming as it does on the heels of last week when evening sessions were canceled due to basketball camp being held.
“We didn’t see them much last week so this Tuesday and Thursday we’ll put some people in new positions and I think they’ll like where we put them,” Young said. “Thursday’s session especially should be worth seeing because just about everyone should be there and we’ll probably run 20 to 25 plays from scrimmage.” Anyone interested in getting a sneak peek at how the Mavericks might look on the field this fall should be at the playing field around 7:15 Thursday evening.
While Young is glad he has the 600 plus pounds of beef of Morehead and Lewis up front, he said people shouldn’t assume the Mavericks will be the kind of power team the Rangers were the past two seasons.
“Where we get things done is when we spread the field offensively,” he said. “When you’ve got someone like Ross that throws a ball like he does and can run, and then you’ve got other athletes like Cody and several other guys you can throw at the defense you’re crazy if you don’t become more of a finesse or skill team. That’s the kind of players we have this year so that’s the kind of team we’re going to become.”
So without the likes of Stensland, Charlton and Sirois, don’t look for any inverted wishbone this fall, though a double-tight formation will likely be in the playbook.
While weight lifting Monday morning was the lowest turnout this summer—13 in all—Young said he wasn’t surprised or disappointed after the wet weather of the weekend.
“Some kids had trouble getting in here at 6 a.m. this morning with the roads and what not, and we’ve had some days where we’ve had twice that many. So for voluntary workouts I’m happy with the turnout we’ve had so far.”
Young has been not only pleased, but mildly surprised at the perfect attendance thus far of his two assistants, Steve Heft and Robin Rose. Acknowledging in May that one or the other would likely not be at every summer session because of work commitments, Young said he “wasn’t counting on each being here every day.” Asked for an explanation, he guessed, “I’d say they’re all excited about what’s coming together with this team and don’t want to miss out on anything from one day to the next.”
As for whether bringing Rose on board as a coach has been the plus he expected, Young said, “While I’m glad Robin’s with us I think that even if we hadn’t hired anyone from Haviland we’d still be where we are at this point, just because of the kids wanting to make this work,” he said. But am I gad we have Robin as part of out staff? Absolutely. I enjoy Robin. He has a lot to offer and I’m really glad we brought him over here. He adds a lot to what we can do as a staff.”
Entry of June 8…
Greensburg, KS —Kiowa County High School’s (it’s going to take a while to get used to writing that) summer football sessions got underway last week, June 1 to be exact, and according to head coach Clint Young, things are off to a good start.
With Tuesday and Thursday evenings set aside for drills around 7 p.m., weight lifting runs from 6-7:45 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
After talking with his team the first evening about expectations and team goals, Young went with those tabbed for or interested in the skill positions (quarterback, running back and receiver) onto the field to start familiarizing those there with the offensive terminology to be used this fall. That night and Thursday he said at least 15 showed up with a “good mix of kids from around the county.” He also said at least 20 have shown up so far for each of the weight session—“Pretty good,” he said, “for being so spread out, plus a lot of these kids are working for their folks or someone else this summer.”
Chemistry starting to jell…
Building team camaraderie being a major concern of Young’s, the coach said the chemistry is starting to come together. “The kids are responding to me and the other coaches really well,” he said. “They’re starting to ask me questions and joke around with me a little.”
Young also said he’s changed up the workouts from the past so that even the Greensburg kids who’ve worked with him previously are finding a few surprises. He mentioned several of the Haviland players commenting on the strenuous nature of the routine. “Some have been saying they’ve never had a workout like that before,” he said, “and that they’ve never been so tired. But it’s not in a complaining way. I think everyone’s excited about doing something new.”
Some of the new elements Young incorporates come from players he’s sent on to play at the next level. He cited Grant Sirois, who’s already started working out at Hutch Juco. “Grant called me the other day with a drill he thought I’d like,” Young said. “It sounded interesting so we’ll try it next week.”
Getting a feel for the offense…
Saying he’s already started implementing the two quarterback offense he’d envisioned last spring, Young says players are starting to see for themselves what he’d drawn up for them before on paper. He refers to quarterbacks Ross Binford and Cody Headrick as “two good athletes who work well together. So it’s not just a matter of having two quarterbacks on the field at the same time, but two excellent athletes surrounded by more good athletes. The kids are starting to see how nasty this offense can be for a defense to deal with. Now they can see the possibilities now that they’re taking reps.”
Young also mentioned Haviland’s John Musquez proving to be a good candidate to anchor a tight end spot on the offense.
“The kid’s got size, he can move and he’s got good hands on the short routes,” Young said. “And once he gets his hands wrapped around that ball he’s like a bowling ball to bring down.”
While the two-quarterback offense will be potent, it won’t be the Mavericks’ only offensive look, Young hinting he’s also in the market for a fullback for a power game.
Newcomers…
Though he didn’t want to mention his name for fear he’d get it wrong, Young couldn’t help but mention a 6’3” 300-pound senior from Southwestern Heights who’s been attending workouts but is yet to decide whether he’ll attend here or return to Heights for his last year.
“He’s fit in with the kids here well and we’re doing all we can to make him feel welcome,” Young said. “Obviously he’d be a great addition. With Lymon (Morehead) we’d have a pair of 300-pounders so when we face a power team like Pretty Prairie we’ll have 600 pounds to put in the A gap. He’s here for the summer. I think his dad is moving to Haviland, so it’d be great if he hung around here for his senior year.”
Young said he’s also heard of a “couple of kids who are supposed to be moving here but I haven’t met yet.”
He’s also liked what he’s seen in such incoming freshmen as Trever Powell, John Terhune and Evan Jacks. “They’ve all been here at least once and I don’t think Jacks has missed yet,” he said. “Good athletes, good kids, and we’ve got them for four years.”
So far, so good…
Though he says he’s not fooling himself into thinking this will automatically translate into a “Cinderella season,” Young likes what he’s seen so far.
“So far, I haven’t seen a bad attitude from anyone,” he said. “Turnout’s been good and effort has been good.”
With basketball camp running in the evenings this week, Young decided to cancel the Tuesday and Thursday evening workouts. “I know some kids want to play basketball and I don’t want to wear them out with four hours a day on those two days,” he said. “But they’re still showing up for weights, and they’re working hard for the time they’re here. That’s all you can ask of them.”
