DISTRICT 5-A AT A GLANCETeam on the rise: Copper Basin not only earned a playoff berth in six seasons, but advanced to the second round for the first time in a decade. The Cougars return 12 seniors who are now confident they can compete with anybody on their schedule. Nightmare schedule: Not only does Grace Academy open the season with back-to-back road games, but two of its three district games are also on the road. All but one of the Golden Eagles’ six non-district opponents made the playoffs last year. Dream schedule: Only two of Copper Basin’s opponents earned playoff berths last season, and the Cougars’ first four games are at home. Best game: Although it’s a non-district game, both Boyd-Buchanan and Red Bank lost the majority of their starters, so that Aug. 27 game at Boyd could set the tone for both teams’ seasons.Biggest shoes to fill: Boyd-Buchanan running back Ben Beasley averaged more than 6 yards per carry and gained well over 1,000 yards as the focal point of the offense.Playoff bound: Boyd-Buchanan and Copper Basin.
The theme throughout District 5-A high school football this year is change.
Defending district champion Boyd-Buchanan, which crushed its three league foes by an average of 46-3 last year, returns just five total starters. The Buccaneers, who advanced to the Class 2A state championship game, also have switched to a spread offense under new coordinator Carter Cardwell, a former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga assistant coach.
“Early on it was a transition for the kids just learning how to line up where they should be,” Bucs coach Grant Reynolds said. “But Carter has eased a lot of worries because this is an offense he’s very familiar with and confident in.”
With only three weeks remaining before the season opener, the Bucs will use preseason scrimmages to establish the starting quarterback as well as fine-tune the new offense. As of now, junior Clayton Parker (5-foot-11, 180) and freshman Jim Cardwell (5-9, 150) are battling to take snaps. Whichever one wins the job will have junior running back Chase Reed and senior fullback Hayden Meadows to carry much of the offensive burden behind a line with three 300-pounders.
“Our line is definitely our strength right now,” Reynolds said. “We’ve got a lot of questions going into the season, but we also know that there’s still a target on our backs because of the success we’ve had here. We’re used to that – we know we’ll get everybody’s best shot – but I think our kids kind of like it that way.”
Silverdale Baptist also has shifted to the spread offense, which is big news because coach John Allen has run the wing-T his entire career, including stints at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and Bradley Central.
“People that know me think I’ve lost my mind,” Allen joked. “I guess I’ve gone over to the dark side. It was a difficult change for me, but nobody runs the wing-T anymore. When I first started coaching, that’s all anybody ran. But the kids want to run something more wide open, and we’ve got some pretty good athletes coming up, so we decided to make the change.”
On a team littered with inexperience, senior two-way lineman Zach Capehart (6-2, 245) will be counted on to lead both units. The biggest question going into the season is at quarterback, where sophomores Will Amos (6-1, 180) and Spencer Mossberg (6-1, 155) are battling for the starting job. Amos could move to running back to allow him more carries.
“Amos is a good enough athlete that we have to get him on the field,” Allen said. “We’ll probably start four freshmen on defense, so this is the youngest team I’ve ever coached.
“But we’ve got kids who can play, and we believe we can compete with Boyd better than we have in the past. That game will be crucial as far as making the playoffs – we know that.”
With 17 starters returning from last year’s 7-5 team that advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in a decade, Copper Basin could present the biggest challenge for Boyd-Buchanan. The Cougars will have 12 seniors starting, including third-year quarterback Eric Sisson, running backs Justin Teems and Zach White and receivers Joey Buchanan and Austin Dickey. Sisson accounted for more than 1,800 yards last season.
The defensive leader, middle linebacker Cody Monteith, also returns. Although he’s just 5-foot-8, 140 pounds, Monteith led the team with 140 tackles and was the 2009 district player of the year.
“We’ll try to build on what we accomplished last year, because there is a lot of experience back and the kids gained a lot of confidence,” Cougars coach Patrick Daly said. “Expectations are a lot higher here than they have been in the past, but that’s a welcome change.”
After just one win last season, Grace Academy made a coaching change with the hiring of former McCallie assistant Bob Ateca. The Golden Eagles have five starters back on both sides, led by running back linebacker Nathan Rector (6-1, 190). Cory Nelson is better known as one of the city’s top young basketball players, but he could develop into a much needed big-play threat for Grace as a receiver and defensive back.