Shoal River has played in the Okaloosa County championship game the last two years, falling short both times.
Will the Mustangs claim the school’s first football championship? Head Coach Ryan Gillis weighs in.
Team strength: Our speed.
Concerns: If I had to say we had a weakness, it would be our depth at the line of scrimmage; our depth up front.
Offensive line: All of our linemen are returning eighth-graders, except maybe our left tackle. Guards Weston Tew and Bryson Norris and Clifton Baker are key returnees. Seventh-grader Cade Kootsouradis is making a big push for starting job at left tackle.
I’d put my starters against any line we’ve had here, but after that there’s a little bit of a gap with the guys they are replacing. If we can stay healthy there we’ll be pretty good.
Receivers: We are as deep as we’ve been. Tyree Jackson is a phenomenal athlete; he has all the intangibles. Terelle Holliday is another one.
However,blocking ability is a concern. We are going to show some different things on offense and they are going to have to be able to block. That’s always tough for a middle-schooler.
Offensive backfield: I think we are going to run two quarterbacks this year: Jack Corbin and Gage Ellis. Right now, Jack has Gage by a nose. Gage is also one of our receivers. He’s very agile and he’s about 6 feet. We are going to try to find ways to get the ball in his hands.
Holliday, Austin Chapman and Jay Stanton are three of the running backs that will see considerable action.
We are going to be able to run three groups of backs in and out and that will help us with the kids that go both ways.
Ball control and not making many mistakes will be a concern.
Defense: We are going back to that speed. I like to put all of our speed on defense. And they also are strong kids. We are going to lean on our defense.
On defensive line,Braison Smith came out of nowhere last year as a seventh-grader and is back to anchor the line. He really likes it down there.
Tyree Johnson and Taurean Mays will be at defensive end.
Marcus Purcell was expected to have a big year, before being lost for the season with an injury.
Keeping people healthy will be a concern.
Linebackers: We’ve got some depth there. Our running backs are actually going to be our linebackers. We will be able to rest them on offense, rotating those tandems.
Austin Chapman Jr., McGlaughlin and Holliday will join linebacker Jay Accurso. Accurso has come out of nowhere and I’m excited to see him on the field.
Secondary: They are really athletic and are students of the game. They are thriving.
One player that really stands out is Bobby Sanders. He’s probably one of the best cornerbacks I’ve ever coached. He’s watched football and is a student of it.
Ellis will be at the other cornerback; Stanton will be at safety.
Randy’s take: This could be the year the Mustangs claim the school’s first county championship. Shoal River has been county runner up the last two seasons. If the Mustang defense is as good as advertised, they will be tough to beat.
Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Shoal River football team looks to claim championship