By Bryan Bloodworth
Heyworth coach Mark Hancock has a goal of returning the Hornets to the playoffs, while Mike Castleman has the task of blending the talents and personalities of players from Lexington-Blue Ridge and Ridgeview together to form a team in a co-operative agreement among the three schools.
Heyworth, a playoff team two years ago, looks to return to the playoffs after a 3-6 campaign last year. Hancock, who is in his seventh season at the helm, believes he has the players to get the job done,
“I think this team could definitely get there,” said Hancock. “Looking at the schedule, we’ll definitely have to win the games we’re supposed to win and steal a couple from what preseason rankings would go. But if we can get started off on the right foot and get a little confidence these kids could do something special.”
Hancock feels good about the leadership he’s getting from the veteran players.
“Our seniors are a real good group of kids,” Hancock continued. “I think the leadership they are going to give us is going to be really important. They’ve done a really good job so far. Up front we’re pretty solid across the board. In the backfield, we have Cole Sinn coming back and I think he’s going to be a player for us.”
Heyworth fans can expect to see some new wrinkles in the team’s offense, according to Hancock.
“We’re changing things up a little bit,” he added. “Jacob Day finished the year at quarterback and he’s probably as good a passer as we’ve had since I’ve been here. I think we’ll be able to throw the ball more efficiently this year.
“We’re going back to some of the basics that we’ve done in the past offensively as far as power and option and still be able to spread people out. We’ll have a mix of everything.”
Hancock said the Hornets’ defense look similar to past years.
“We’re changing our fronts up a little bit, probably won’t go with as much pressure as the past. Up front we’re solid across the board. We don’t have a lot of depth and the kids we do have we’ll have to fit to their strengths.”
With 30 total players in the program, Hancock hopes the Hornets don’t get stung by the injury bug.
“Our front 11 are as good as we’ve had,” he said. “Our first 11, 13, are solid, then we start getting into the younger kids and they just don’t have the experience yet.”
Meanwhile, former Lexington coach Mike Castleman said things are progressing nicely in Colfax where the newly formed R-B-L Mustangs are based.
“We had a fantastic summer,” added Castleman. “We got together 20 times. We used 20 of our 25 contact days and they just have meshed together very, very well. The enthusiasm is high and they are doing what we’ve asked them to do. From that standpoint, things are going very well.”
Lexington joined a previous co-op agreement between Ridgeview and Blue Ridge this year because of a lack of numbers, but that isn’t a problem now as there are about 50 total players in the program and 36 on the varsity, according to Castleman.
“Lexington has 17 kids in the program. Blue Ridge has 14 and Ridgeview would have the remainder,” added Castleman. “It’s not exactly even, but it’s a pretty good mix from each school. It’s interesting because we hit on early in the process that’s it wasn’t going to be about equal number of kids playing. It was going to be putting the best kids in each position to give us the best chance to be successful.”
Castleman also said the increased numbers are providing strong competition in practice.
“We do have some players, who were starters last year on various teams who aren’t necessarily starting this year,” Castleman continued. “I think that was an adjustment for some kids. The level of competition has increased in practice because now you’re fighting with another senior or junior for a starting spot whereas in the past your backup was a freshman. It has made us all better.”
Castleman, who served as head coach at Lexington for seven seasons, admitted expectations run the gamut.
“I think we start by identifying small successes and build up to larger things we would like to see happen,” he said. “We want to be in every game. We want to compete. We don’t want to have a running clock in the second half. We want to do things correctly. We want to do the fundamentals the way we’re taught.
“Then we build from there. We want to win games. We want to win the close games. We want to win conference games. We want to qualify for the playoffs. We want to win playoff games. But right now, we just want to get better and prepare for that next game.”
Because the team is based at Ridgeview High School in Colfax, the team will wear the Mustangs’ uniforms and carry their navy blue, silver and whilte colors. The team will play one game in Lexington on Sept. 4; one in Farmer City on Sept. 18 with the other home games in Colfax.
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at lefty@wjbc.com
