Optimism is running high for the Madill football team as they head into the season opener Friday night at home against arch-rival Kingston.
New head coach John Heavner saw a lot of positives with the Wildcats in last week’s lone scrimmage againstHugo,whichwasalso thefirsttimehehadbeenable to see most of the squad in real game-like competition.
“I thought the scrimmage last week went really well,” Heavner commented. “I was able to see a lot of guys in action against an outside opponent for the first time, which was really fun.
“We saw a lot of good things on both sides of the ball. We threw the ball about 75 percent of the time in the scrimmage and our pass protection wasgood.Ourdefense played extremely hard and tackled well for the most part, considering that was one of the first times we have a lot of full scale tackling to be able to work on.”
Under Heavner’s leadership expect the Wildcats to rely heavily on their experience up front on both sides of the football while turning things around after last year’s 2-8 finish.
Offensively they welcome back four seniors on the offensive line with Deuce Glenn, Gage Stanley, Braelyn Pickens and Tobith Guevara. They’ll be joined by freshman stalwart Landon Burgess, who tips the scales at 284 pounds.
“We’ve got a lot of solid experience up there on the line of scrimmage,” Heavner said. “Wearegoingtoleanonthem heavily to clear the running lanes and provide solid pass protectionbecausewewantto try and be balanced as much as possible. So far they have done very well.
“Burgess carries himself like an older guy and has a chance to have a really bright futureforus.Hehasexceeded any expectation I have had for a freshman thus far so we think he can solidify that fifth spot on the offensive line.”
Senior Gilberto Grimaldo is a versatile standout returning at tight end and expected to be a strong leader.
Athletic sophomore Baylor Bond will get the nod at quarterback with a plethora of running backs, including Kris Rimaldo, Amauri Winston, Charles Thomas and Landen Clutter, all expected to see carries at various points.
“We are going to try and do a little bit of everything offensively,” Heavner added. “We learned in the scrimmage some of what certain guys can do so we are still working on putting guys in the right spot where they can best help us. A lot of those guys in the backfield will also be playing a lot on defense so we will be trying to get fresh legs out there whenever we can.”
Madill will work out of a 3-4 alignment defensively with the heart and soul of the unit expected to be in that front seven unit.
Senior middle linebacker Joel Gonzalez will once again be the bell cow of that unit and be one of the tackling leaders. There are also high expectations for Christian Robledo, who has moved to nose tackle, and has shined in preseason drills despite being a bit undersized.
“He plays a lot bigger than his size,” Heavner said of Robledo. “He is explosive, fast and plays hard. I think we mayhavefoundadiamondin the rough with him disrupting things in the middle and causing problems for opposing offenses.”
Madill is firmly focused on avenging a narrow 35-34 overtime loss to Kingston a year ago while trying to get off to a strong start in Heavner’s debut.
The Wildcats know they will need to be at the top of their game come 7:30 Friday night.
“Kingston has a good squad and does some things offensively to make it difficult on people,” Heavner said. “They have really good players, are coached well and play hard.Wehaveatonofrespect for what they are doing.
“Ultimately, we have to be able to win in the trenches and take care of the football. If we can win the turnover battle and have some explosive plays, we’ll put ourselves in a good position. They create challenges with their formations and make you play in space. It’s difficult to deal with if you are not lined up well and read your keys correctly.”