Fan's guide to this year's East Hamilton Hurricanes
Coach: Ted Gatewood (9-22 in four years here, 55-46 in his 13 years) Stadium address: 2015 Ooltewah-Ringgold Road, Ooltewah, TN 37363
Three strengths
1) The offense returns nine starters, many of them up front, but the Hurricanes abandoned a two-quarterback offense and settled on Hunter Moore, who's back after throwing for 848 yards while gaining experience.
2) Running back Logan Jackson was slowed by ankle and shoulder injuries and missed most of the final three games. It cost him his second straight 1,000-yard season, but he is back to take full advantage of a run-oriented power offense.
3) End Francisco Rodriguez will anchor a 3-4 defense that also features David Hughley at tackle and linebackers Harrison Warren, Dallas Hammond and Austin Gatewood.
Three concerns
1) Maturity. The Hurricanes found themselves in uncharted waters a year ago - a winning season, a postseason berth - and floundered after working so hard to get there. The seniors this year represent the first group to arrive as freshmen, and Gatewood and his staff have to be hoping for a more positive mindset with special attention on learning how to finish and paying attention to the smallest of details.
2) Special teams are an area where the Hurricanes can get stronger. And although they lost punter Chris Moore, they expect that rising senior Cameron Carter will be a college kicking prospect after earning a top-10 national ranking at Ray Guy's Pro Kicker camp in Nashville this summer.
3) Developing experienced depth. There are 28 returning lettermen, but East Hamilton has been fielding freshman and junior varsity teams since 2009. New varsity members may have a chance to get their feet wet because of the returning experience.
Three questions with ...
LOGAN JACKSON
(Senior running back)
Q: What are the team goals this year?
A: We came out last year and, well, we want to prove that we're a better team this year than last. We want to work hard every day, and our main goal is to get better every day.
Q: You won a district title and got into the postseason, but was last year a letdown?
A: Yes, I feel we were better than Brainerd [in the playoff loss] and that we should have gone further in the playoffs than we did. I think we were looking ahead and a few of the underclassmen were ready for the season to be over when we got to the playoffs.
Q: What's your favorite electronic device?
A: My cell phone, just so I can talk with everybody. I don't watch much TV and I don't have an X-box.
BY THE NUMBERS
1 - The total in each case of winning seasons, district championships and playoff games for East Hamilton, all achieved last year.
4 - Most consecutive wins in Hurricanes history, ending the 2011 regular season against Hixson, Tyner, Red Bank and Howard.
6 - Most wins in a season. The Hurricanes finished 6-5 in 2011 to double the number of all-time victories. They won one game in the inaugural 2009 season and had two wins in 2010.
2011 stats leaders
RUSHING Att Yards Avg TD
*Logan Jackson 142 996 7.0 8
*Lamond Greer 76 382 5.0 2
*Chas Holsey 37 90 2.4 1
PASSING Comp-Att Yards Int TD
*Hunter Moore 64-130 848 7 11
Chris Moore 16-29 175 2 3
RECEIVING Att Yards Avg TD
*Tre Herndon 26 314 12.1 3
*Christian Lewis 12 218 18.2 3
Chris Moore 12 152 12.7 1
*Logan Jackson 7 46 6.9 0
TACKLES Solo Assists Total
Chad Patterson 38 43 59.5
Chansler Williamson 43 28 57
*Francisco Rodriguez 33 25 45.5
*Harrison Warren 30 29 44.5
*returning player
Schedule
Aug. 17 Signal Mountain
Aug. 24 Ooltewah
Aug. 31 at Central*
Sept. 7 at Bradley Central
Sept. 14 at Brainerd*
Sept. 28 East Ridge*
Oct. 5 Hixson*
Oct. 12 Tyner*
Oct. 19 at Red Bank*
Oct. 26 at Howard*
*District 6-AA game
All games start at 7:30 p.m.
Roster
No. Name Class)
1 Alonzo Francois Junior
2 Jonathan Jackson Senior
3 Quinn Griffith Junior
4 Adam Todd Junior
6 Matt Milita Sophomore
7 Hunter Parker Junior
8 E.J. Brown Junior
9 DeAndre Black Junior
10 Austin Gatewood Junior
11 DeShawn Thoomas Junior
12 Hunter Moore Junior
13 Tanner Huggins Senior
14 Parker Monroe Junior
15 Cameron Carter Senior
16 Ben Hall Junior
17 Harrison Warren Senior
18 Logan Jackson Senior
19 Lamond Greer Senior
20 Jack Tatum Junior
21 Tre Herndon Junior
22 Tony Francois Junior
23 Tyler Lowery Junior
24 Cody Knox Senior
25 Dallas Hammond Senior
26 Demetrius Goode Senior
28 Bonza Monroe Senior
30 Michael Hunter Sophomore
31 Martez Durrah Sophomore
32 Chaz Holsey Senior
33 Nick Gratigny Sophomore
34 Brandon Kennedy Sophomore
35 Garrett Campbell Sophomore
36 Delandis Massengil Sophomore
40 Robert Horbinski Sophomore
42 Harrison Williams Sophomore
43 Christian Lewis Senior
44 Caleb Rhodes Sophomore
45 Matt Lundy Senior
46 Charles Sanders Sophomore
50 John Dalton Senior
51 Jesse Barfield Junior
52 Drew Templeton Junior
53 D.J. Skidmore Senior
54 Jacob Horne Junior
55 Francisco Rodriguez Senior
56 Zack Thomas Sophomore
57 Zach Scharf Sophomore
58 Griffin Reagan Junior
59 Romell Edwards 59
61 Tyler Fly Sophomore
62 Michael Walmarkeer Junior
63 John Schusler Sophomore
64 Dustin Reed Sophomore
65 Price McGinnis Senior
67 Tanner Wade Junior
68 Michael Price Senior
71 Demetrious Morgan Sophomore
72 Jarrett Wilhoit Senior
73 Brad Thomas Sophomore
74 Cordell Sands Junior
75 Gavin Crow Junior
76 David Hughley Senior
77 Dennis Fielder Senior
78 Jordan Wallace Junior
79 Rhett Morgan Sophomore
80 Jordan Hammond Sophomore
81 Bailey Lenoir Junior
82 James McAllister Sophomore
83 Tyler Tucker Sophomore
84 Aaron Dalarymploe Junior
85 Jacob Noorbergen Senior
86 Tristain Marenic Sophomore
88 Ryne McCoy Senior
89 Trenton Pratt Junior
90 Garrett McGhee Sophomore