July 29, 2010

KEY GAME Carroll at Hutchinson October 29

Carroll’s Max Martinez was able to get at least one solid hit on Josh Smith in the 2009 sub-state championship at Hutchinson. He and seven other defensive starters return at Carroll to take on Hutch in the most anticipated district game of the 2010 season. A loss means travel for the first round of the playoffs, something Hutch has never done under Dreiling, nor Carroll since 2003.

Entering their first season as a district opponent of six-time defending state champ Hutchinson, Carroll can take comfort in these Salthawk graduations: Josh Smith, school record holder in career rushing and scoring; Deveon Dinwiddie, greatest special teams player in school history; Justin Goetz, career sacks leader; Geneo Grissom, man-child and OU recruit.

This is the year, folks, the season which the insiders up in Hutch predicted years ago would be the next time the Salthawks would be legitimately vulnerable come playoff time. The greatest class in Hutch football history has graduated – a class which trailed only once in a playoff game – leaving behind no one on the offensive side of the ball –
and hope in the hearts of several quality programs which have taken routine beatings in recent seasons.

Of course Hutchinson’s bare cupboard would be a stacked gun rack in other towns. Consider this: any one of the 37 of 64 large-classification schools which have never won a state championship would be champing at the bit for their first one in 2010 with Hutch’s current makeup. It’s just not going to be so seemingly automatic, as it was in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

The defense remains the backbone of Hutch football with six players returning who ranked in 2009 in the top 14 on Hutch’s tackle chart points system, led by Ben Heeney and Matt Galliart, who will anchor the linebacking corp, and defensive tackle Dameitrik Morris. Heeney and a couple others will play both ways as much as any player at Hutch has in the past six or seven seasons. Hutch may average closer to half of the 53 points per game they scored in 2009, but the defense didn’t need that many points to win in 2009, nor will they in 2010.

In Week 9 against Carroll, however, despite the fact that OU recruit Blake Bell has graduated, Hutch had better have their offense tuned up, because the Eagles will be able to score points again. Eight starters return on offense, including senior quarterback Tyler Nance, Bell’s top target last season. Nance, fleet of foot, will not bring Bell’s star power to the gridiron, but he will lead a different kind of offense expected to be as effective at winning games as the 2009 spread version. He returns with plenty of help on the line and at wideout.

The defense, which also returns eight 2009 starters, promises to be stalwart after having its moments last season. In the playoffs, Carroll completely shut down Newton in the second half, gave up only six points to Emporia’s powerful ground force and forced Hutchinson to punt more than any other opponent last season. Carroll will start a
potentially great defensive player in each unit: Max Martinez in the secondary, Aaron Jackson at linebacker and Beau Bell at defensive end.

Carroll’s streak of six consecutive district titles is finally in danger to newcomer Hutch, as longtime district rival Liberal last defeated the Golden Eagles in 2003 under interim coach Gary Cornelsen. On their fourth different head coach since Cornelsen’s original resignation in 2001 (former Tulsa Union defensive coordinator Wade Standley,
who the Neosho Daily News reported last April was a finalist for the Rogers, Ark. head job), Liberal ran the spread offense last season, but didn’t score more than 19 points in any of their four league games.

Standley’s offense seemed to pick up in district play, though against
underwhelming opposition, scoring 108 points against Wichita West and Valley Center.

Despite giving up 61 to Carroll, Liberal can take some credit for scoring 35 points against the Gang Green of Carroll. Senior quarterback Slader McVey enters his second season in the spread to take his shot against the most difficult district slate in the state.

As for West High, the Pioneers, which have not won more than two games in a season since 2004, will see a rare barrage of offense in three district games. Hutch, which West last played in opening round of the playoffs in 2000, Carroll and Liberal will all be capable of scoring 50 points in a given game.

There are two teams on West High’s 2010 schedule which the Pioneers have beaten in the past five years, South and North, against whom they are a combined 5-5. –Tom Witherspoon

Advancing: Hutch, Carroll