HERITAGE GENERALS
Head coach: E.K. Slaughter (26-17 in four years here; 59-54 overall)
Returning starters: 3 offensive, 1 defensive
Key players: RB/LB Jeffrey Curtis (6-0, 220), RB/DB Malik Dumas (5-11, 185), QB Nick Hanson (6-4, 215), OL/DL Kobe McAllister (6-6, 267), OL/DL Thomas Owens (5-10, 245).
Team strengths: The Generals will have the size to match up with most teams on their schedule, led by McAllister, Owens, Lane Phillips and Noah Sims. The physical Curtis is a two-way hammer.
Team concerns: With 18 new starters, there naturally are concerns at virtually every position. The players who provided almost all the offensive production a year ago are gone, and depth will be a major problem everywhere.
Newcomers to watch: These will be numerous, most notably quarterback Hanson, who showed well in mop-up duty a year ago as a freshman. Chandler Hill and Cade Kiniry will be counted on heavily to replace the 2,000-plus yards lost with Ryan Carter and Luke Grant gone.
Season outlook: It’s not as if Slaughter and his veteran staff are starting over, but it probably felt that way at times this spring and summer.
No longer on the field are more than 30 seniors from 2017 and ’18 who helped earn 17 wins and two playoff appearances the past two seasons. Those seniors manned 18 starting positions a year ago, including standouts Carter, Grant, Blake Bryan, Zaine Burton, Zach Goins and Hank Weldon.
Yet there is optimism in the Generals’ camp that recent success has raised the expectations within the program. It also helps that many of the new starters gained precious playing time due to the team’s number of lopsided wins.
“We are further along than where I actually thought we would be at this point,” Slaughter said in mid-July. “The biggest thing is we are just trying to learn football. It’s a complicated game and we run some complicated stuff, so it takes some intelligence.”
Foremost among the new starters is Hanson, a good-sized dual threat who showed an accurate arm last year. As with all of his quarterbacks, Slaughter is asking him to absorb a lot of information quickly.
“Nick is coming along nicely, and he’s going to be really special,” Slaughter said. “He’s made some nice throws this summer, and the guys are responding to him.”
It will also help Hanson to have Curtis with him as a fullback and a line that will be larger than a year ago. To help a defense that returns only Curtis at linebacker, the Generals may be able to shorten games by using the running game more often.
“If we stay healthy, we are going to be real big and real physical up front,” Slaughter said. “We will be a little more run-heavy because of that size.”