Roster cuts hit Davidson Middle School’s football team hard. The Panthers will dress just 30 players in an always tough Okaloosa County middle school league.
But Panther Coach Chris Small believes that Davidson — which won the last two of its seven county championships in 2009 and 2010 — can be competitive.
Team strength: Our skill positions — our backs, receivers and quarterbacks.
Offensive line: We are smart with talent like Taylor Barrow, James Secrest and Cody Bass. But a concern is replacing the entire offensive line
Receivers: The Voisin brothers (twins Jaden and Devin) will team with Derek Peoples.
Offensive backfield: Hayes will be repping at quarterback and running back. He’s going to be one of the leaders on our team and will play a big part in how successful we will be this year.
Chase Moulton is an incoming seventh-grader. He’s done a great job of stepping in and running the offense at quarterback.
We are looking at Austin French at fullback and at tailbacks Zyneal Daniels and Taylor Scarbrough.
Defense: Austin is returning at middle linebacker for us. But we’ve never had this many open positions for people to take.
Defensive line: One player that has stepped up and helped his stock is Kelton Lima. Cody Bass has looked strong in there. Cody Schutjer is getting there. We’ve got some guys that are stepping up.
But we've got to replace some people.
Linebackers: Our strength is Austin French at middle linebacker. We’ve worked James Secrest in there behind Austin some.
Keith Brace had a back injury and will miss the season – that will hurt us.
Secondary: Derek Peoples started out there at corner for us last year and he’s going to be back stronger and better.
We have a young seventh-grader we are excited about, Mi’quel Coward. He’s looking strong for us out at corner.
Randy’s take: Davidson could make some noise if the Panther skill positions can play up to Small’s expectations.
I expect to see Davidson in the playoffs if the Panthers stay healthy. But with a 30-man roster, I don’t see Davidson having the depth to win the county title.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Davidson still strong after replacing offensive line