Sports

New coach brings new attitude to the football program

Tue, 08/29/2006 - 3:50pm
By: Michael Boylan

McIntosh football practice Coach Dwight Jones signals the end of a kick returning play at a recent practice. Photo/Michael Boylan
McIntosh High School has a new head coach, Dwight Jones, but the question on the mind of every fan of the Chiefs is, will the results be any different?

Winning seasons are few and far between at McIntosh and the 15 seniors on the squad have never experienced one. Coach Jones and his staff worked with the team a little in the spring and have had only a few short weeks before the season got started to install the program.
“We have a long road to hoe and a short time to do it in,” Jones said at a press conference earlier this summer, adding “the big question is ‘do we have the guts and know what it takes to win’ and the answer right now is we’re not sure.”

The Chiefs are expected to run a 4-3 defense and some of the players to watch will be senior Tom Wiegele, a 6’4, 305 pound lineman, senior Jeff Betts, a 6’3, 295 pound defensive tackle and senior Lance Huynh, a 6’, 215 pound lineman.
McIntosh has some questions at defensive end but juniors Matt Carroll and Erik Willanzheimer are expected to play a lot in those positions. Seniors Brandyn Thill and Nick Popeill are expected to play linebacker and senior Brett Buehler and junior Austin Wolfe will play in the secondary.

Buehler could see time both at free safety and cornerback.

Coach Jones stated that fans would likley see a lot of the same guys on offense that played defense.

Wynn and Carroll will play at guard positions, while Wiegele and Betts will play at tackle. Senior Brice Carlson, listed at 5’11, 215 pounds, will play center. Willanzheimer will play tight end, as will Nick Nelson, while seniors Chris Jett and Tyler Schmidt and junior Kell Harrison will play at split end. The running game will be done by committee. Junior Davis Mason will play some fullback and Popeill and Kenny Thomson will also get the ball. As for quarterback, juniors Ben Sims and Jeff Prather and Buehler are all working at the position.
In the past, football teams have had six weeks of practice before the season started, due to new rules, the prep time is down to four weeks.

This has been a set back for a team getting used to a new coach and a new system. Coach Jones has seen good things from his kids so far and it appears they are buying into the system, although he wondered if they would still buy into it when they were out of the weight room and getting hit.

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It's Butch Prosser all over again...
Basmati's picture
Submitted by Basmati on Wed, 08/30/2006 - 1:23pm.

"Coach Jones stated that fans would likley see a lot of the same guys on offense that played defense."

Oh boy.

So what I'm hearing is that McIntosh Football is going to do the same thing they did every year under the previous Prosser years: the same 12-15 players play every down.

Go to a McIntosh home football game. At the end you'll see 12 to 15 jerseys stained and muddy, and the other 45 to 50 jerseys won't even need to be washed.

McIntosh High almost always plays their collective hearts out in the first half of a football game...the problem has always been the third and fourth quarters when the kids who play both offense and defense simply run out of gas. No amount of conditioning is going to compensate for that, you rarely if ever see a player in college or the pros taking every snap.

Looks like another 3-7 or 4-6 season. *sigh*

(side note: one of those kids mentioned above had better change his MySpace page or he might not play a single down this year.)


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Got to start somewhere
odoylerules's picture
Submitted by odoylerules on Wed, 08/30/2006 - 1:40pm.

I think you see a lot of kids on both sides of the ball at many of the area schools. From everything I've heard so far, Jones is doing a good job - a lot of those upset parents from last year have been won over and the kids are working harder than ever. He knows the challenge he faces - the same one every football coach there has faced - and this program won't change overnight - not in this region.

3-7 may be optimistic though - measure this season in effort and close games, I think - Their best chances for wins come from Oct. 20-Nov. 3 - Woodward, Northgate and Fayette. No way do they beat Starr's Mill, Whitewater or Creekside. I'd like to see them shock East Coweta or Westlake though and really get the attention of everybody, including the players themselves.

If they can get a full four quarters over everybody and stay close to some of these teams, they will eventually learn how to win some of these games.


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