Friday, August 17, 2007 11:53 PM CDT
Redemption in '07
'Smart and tough' Trojans ready to bounce back
BY BRIAN NIELSEN Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON – No roster is being released but Charleston football coach Brian Halsey will tell you about his junk yard dogs.
This year he does admit that last year’s starting quarterback is this year’s starting quarterback, a name he did not release last year because his annual season-opening opponent Taylorville coach Scott Alberssen usually tries to keep his starting lineup confidential.
And no, Halsey’s reason for 5:30 a.m. practices Monday and Tuesday was not to try to get the offense installed during dark hours before Taylorville might send some spy.
With Charleston having teacher’s institute on Monday and then starting school Tuesday seemingly just after the last Fourth of July firework hit the ground, predawn practices seemed to be the only way the Trojans could have the two-a-day drills that most schools with more traditional calendars were having.
Two-a-days ended after Tuesday for Charleston, however.
“We decided we wanted quality over quantity,” Halsey said. “It wasn’t doing the kids any good or the coaches any good. Fortunately, we were able to do this because we utilized our (IHSA allotted) 25 (summer) contact days. Things are in. It’s polishing now. I think we’re ahead of schedule. We’re polishing and finalizing ones and twos.”
After all, this team probably did not need alarm clocks to get their practice days started in an irritable mood.
Last year’s 2-7 season after four straight playoff appearances did that.
“I think sometimes you need to get knocked off the mountain to appreciate things,” Halsey said. “Not only did we get knocked off the mount but down the countryside.
“Probably the most notable thing this year is experience and we’ve got that. Now we’re just trying to refine and make them smart and tough. That sounds kind of odd but we’ve got some kids who are smart enough to know what to do and when to do it and are tough enough to get it done.”
While Halsey wants those starters and backups to remain a mystery to Taylorville, the Charleston coach likely has a rather good idea of a lineup now that he has an experienced group that paid its dues.
He does reveal that the locked-in-a-file roster includes 20 seniors, the most he can remember as he enters his eighth season as the Trojans’ head coach.
“I want to say we’ve been 18, 19 but I can’t remember having 20,” Halsey said.
Only one of the 20 seniors is a newcomer from last season.
And those 20 do not even include junior Jamel Johnson, who as a sophomore scored six touchdowns catching 20 passes for 358 yards. At 6-foot-5 or so with a year of experience not only in football but as a basketball starter he is being touted as a college prospect already.
Considering last year’s main ball carriers – power-running fullback Cody Mason and speedster Justin Rardin – graduated, Johnson could possibly play a variety of roles this year.
Asked if he would give an idea of his plans for Johnson this season, Halsey had a lengthy answer: “No.”
“I’ll tell you Gentry is our quarterback,” Halsey said. “He’s my guy and I’ve been awfully hard on him. He’s got the physical talent but I’m trying to get him to the next level mentally. So far he’s responded well and that says a little bit about Eric along with the hard work Mark (Heise, the quarterbacks coach) puts in.”
Gentry led the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier area in passing yards last season with 1,066, completing 86 of 159 attempts with 11 touchdowns but 14 interceptions.
Also back is the area’s No. 3 receiver Clayton Murphy, who is back for his third season as a varsity regular after catching 29 passes for 327 yards as a junior.
You can only assume at this point the Gentry-Murphy connection again would be intact.
And while the coach is not saying where he is putting his personnel offensively or defensively, he does give you some general ideas.
“We’ve got some JYDs,” Halsey said. “We’ve got some junk yard dogs on defense. They’re mean. They’re nasty. And for the first time I’ve been at Charleston we’ve had to hold them back in practice. I’ve been told the two things you can’t coach are speed and nasty.”
Some of the Trojans’ nastiness might come from last year’s 2-7 season ending a streak of four straight postseason playoff appearances.
“I think last year’s record embarrassed these kids because they were the bunch that had the streak snapped,” Halsey said. “That hurt. We let some games get away that we felt we maybe could have won. Again, we’re preaching smart and tough all the time. Smart and tough. Smart and tough. A lot of the smarts come with experience and the tough is just these kids.”
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
SCHEDULE
Games start at 7 p.m.; (Last year’s scores in parentheses with Charleston’s score first)
Aug. 24 – at Taylorville (14-36)
Aug. 31 – at Mount Zion* (13-21)
Sept. 8 – PARIS* (49-7)
Sept. 14 – at Newton* (37-39)
Sept. 21 – ROBINSON* (21-28)
Sept. 28 – at Salem* (21-55)
Oct. 5 – EFFINGHAM* (13-29)
Oct. 12 – OLNEY* (30-20)
Oct. 19 – HIGHLAND* (12-29)
* - Apollo Conference game
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
