'12 Team Preview: Clinton-Massie Falcons
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Every season, the Clinton-Massie Falcons set their expectations very high, and every season, they've been able to accomplish and even exceed the goals they have set for a particular year. This season, there is no expectation or goal that is higher as they want to exceed where they were one season ago, and then they reached the Division IV State Final Four.
Clinton-Massie enters this season with eight players returning on each side of the football, a starting quarterback entering his second season and two running backs returning who each rushed for over 1,000 yards.
If there ever was a year to have the highest of goals, then this is the season to have them, as CM head coach Dan McSurley has been more than pleased with the current offseason.
"I think for the most part, it's been a great offseason. We've got a lot of kids, and we've become so competitive within our own team, a lot of kids went on and they're going to individualized training on their own time," McSurley said. "We've got a bunch of them going to the strength lab in Wilmington. We go to Ignition, we go to Renegade. We've got about 30 to 40 kids not only working in our school as part of our offseason training, but we've got a lot of kids doing personalized training, which is outstanding from a football standpoint because you're just making them bigger, stronger, faster. So it's been really good."
To make things even better for the Falcons, the defending six-time SCOL champions, they are entering the season with a very large senior class at 22.
One of those seniors is defensive end Trent Smart, who recently verbally committed to Division I Ohio University. Smart had around 12 sacks last season, and on offense, he'll play at tight end. Last season, unofficially, Smart totaled 61 tackles (38 unassisted).
"We moved him from the center position to the tight end position, trying to use his athleticism in that aspect offensively and of course defensive end," McSurley said.
The Falcons, who were 11-3 last season, including three playoff wins, are known for their rushing attack, and last season, they racked up over 4,100 yards on the ground with three backs going over the century mark. Returning to the team are junior Bayle Wolf and senior Wyatt Running. Wolf unofficially rushed for nearly 1,500 yards and 31 touchdowns. Running totaled 1,200 yards unofficially with 14 touchdowns.
"Bayle is going to be our feature back, along with Wyatt, who's a four-year starter," McSurley said. "Those two tandem kids in the backfield are going to be a lot, I think, for teams to handle, so hopefully we can keep them fresh and healthy and they have a good year."
The offensive line for the Falcons will be a tad bit different with the graduation of Jimmy Singleton and Jared Salisbury. Though the size of the offensive line won't be as husky as in recent years, they will replace some of the size with speed.
Senior Jake Weaver returns from last year, as he started left guard, along with Bobby Ringer, who started last year in four or five games for the Falcons at left tackle. AJ Avery started last year at the offensive tackle position, and McSurley said he'll probably utilize him at the right tackle position. George Phillips started in some games last year for CM. McSurley said that Kyle Aubry and Jake Garrison are "also standing out," and Jordan Morris, a 250-pound senior, is also battling for a spot on the offensive line.
"Our offensive line … we're not as big as we've been in the past. We've replaced Jimmy Singleton and Jared Salisbury, but as far as athleticism, we're very athletic, we've got guys who are all in the 230, 240 range, most of them are over six foot," McSurley said. "We feel like athletic wise, we're not quite as big, but we're very, very athletic on the offensive line."
So with the speedy line and even faster and more powerful runners, it's easy to see the Falcons will be lining up and running the football once again.
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"Most teams know what we do, but we're going to run the option and try to get our offensive linemen downfield, blocking, in that second level," McSurley said. "But you know, we still obviously have to be able to run inside the tackles and move guys out of their gaps, but I think it's going to enable us to be more of a perimeter-type team offensively.
"Again, we need to get those tackles and guards out there in space, and hopefully our running backs will be able to use that ability of their offensive line to their advantage."
Returning for his second season as the starting quarterback is Tyler Uetrecht, along with a group of receivers who look to round out the CM offense, not to mention the OU-bound Smart at tight end.
"We're going to feature a kid named Dylan Rose at wide receiver. He's about 6-3, and is just one of those guys that runs like a deer and jumps as high as one too. He was our starting wideout last year, and I think he'll back with more effectiveness," McSurley said.
"Especially when you've got a strong tight end like Trent (Smart), teams are going to really have to focus on him, I think, and that's going to take a lot of pressure off Dylan for the passing aspect of it. J.D. Curtsinger, he's probably going to be another wide receiver slot back … he's got a lot of talent, had 10 interceptions last year on defense."
Along with the 10 interceptions by Curtsinger, the CM defensive unit looks to be as dominating as usual, with Duane Sowers leading the way as a captain.
"Duane led the defense from the nose guard, so we feel real good about him," McSurley said. "Another kid, Austin Florea, is going to be in there. He played a lot of strong defensive end, but our secondary's intact, and that's big for us."
The secondary includes Travis Daugherty, Cole Brogan, Curtsinger and Zach Santoro.
"We feel real good about our secondary right now. You know our linebackers, we may move Bayle back there at strong safety, he played middle linebacker last year," McSurley said. "He could play outside, and SAM … he started as a freshman, so we've got a lot of different combinations of guys we think are going to be effective on defense."
One thing that still motivates the Falcons are two regular-season losses against Waynesville and Jonathan Alder last season, which changed the entire outcome of their season … it made them even stronger.
"After those two losses came early in the season, we were in a situation we hadn't been in before in a long time, like 10 years," McSurley said. "In every game after that, we were kind of up against the wall. In other words, we couldn't afford another loss. Those kids knew that, so it made us stronger, mentally, as a team, and then hopefully we go in and we're going to take it game by game, week by week. They experienced losses, and they know what it's like to lose, and hopefully they're going to work hard not to ever let it happen."
As the reigning six-time consecutive South Central Ohio League champions begin their season, McSurley said his team is still "hungry."
"They're hungry … I'm not going to lie. This group is very hungry," he said. "It didn't go real well for us in that semifinal game.
"We had some kids get nicked up. We ran into the best quarterback in the United States of America in Maty Mauk, so we feel like we were close last year. This year, these guys, I think, are even more motivated than they ever have been because of how close they actually did get. You've got kids who played in big games, they know how to win. From a coaching standpoint, you just got to keep doing your job, can't get complacent. I can't expect to go out and things are always going to go our way. We've got to to keep working hard and scouting teams up and just try to get our kids prepared physically and mentally."
Clinton-Massie enters this season with eight players returning on each side of the football, a starting quarterback entering his second season and two running backs returning who each rushed for over 1,000 yards.
If there ever was a year to have the highest of goals, then this is the season to have them, as CM head coach Dan McSurley has been more than pleased with the current offseason.
"I think for the most part, it's been a great offseason. We've got a lot of kids, and we've become so competitive within our own team, a lot of kids went on and they're going to individualized training on their own time," McSurley said. "We've got a bunch of them going to the strength lab in Wilmington. We go to Ignition, we go to Renegade. We've got about 30 to 40 kids not only working in our school as part of our offseason training, but we've got a lot of kids doing personalized training, which is outstanding from a football standpoint because you're just making them bigger, stronger, faster. So it's been really good."
To make things even better for the Falcons, the defending six-time SCOL champions, they are entering the season with a very large senior class at 22.
One of those seniors is defensive end Trent Smart, who recently verbally committed to Division I Ohio University. Smart had around 12 sacks last season, and on offense, he'll play at tight end. Last season, unofficially, Smart totaled 61 tackles (38 unassisted).
"We moved him from the center position to the tight end position, trying to use his athleticism in that aspect offensively and of course defensive end," McSurley said.
The Falcons, who were 11-3 last season, including three playoff wins, are known for their rushing attack, and last season, they racked up over 4,100 yards on the ground with three backs going over the century mark. Returning to the team are junior Bayle Wolf and senior Wyatt Running. Wolf unofficially rushed for nearly 1,500 yards and 31 touchdowns. Running totaled 1,200 yards unofficially with 14 touchdowns.
"Bayle is going to be our feature back, along with Wyatt, who's a four-year starter," McSurley said. "Those two tandem kids in the backfield are going to be a lot, I think, for teams to handle, so hopefully we can keep them fresh and healthy and they have a good year."
The offensive line for the Falcons will be a tad bit different with the graduation of Jimmy Singleton and Jared Salisbury. Though the size of the offensive line won't be as husky as in recent years, they will replace some of the size with speed.
Senior Jake Weaver returns from last year, as he started left guard, along with Bobby Ringer, who started last year in four or five games for the Falcons at left tackle. AJ Avery started last year at the offensive tackle position, and McSurley said he'll probably utilize him at the right tackle position. George Phillips started in some games last year for CM. McSurley said that Kyle Aubry and Jake Garrison are "also standing out," and Jordan Morris, a 250-pound senior, is also battling for a spot on the offensive line.
"Our offensive line … we're not as big as we've been in the past. We've replaced Jimmy Singleton and Jared Salisbury, but as far as athleticism, we're very athletic, we've got guys who are all in the 230, 240 range, most of them are over six foot," McSurley said. "We feel like athletic wise, we're not quite as big, but we're very, very athletic on the offensive line."
So with the speedy line and even faster and more powerful runners, it's easy to see the Falcons will be lining up and running the football once again.
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"Most teams know what we do, but we're going to run the option and try to get our offensive linemen downfield, blocking, in that second level," McSurley said. "But you know, we still obviously have to be able to run inside the tackles and move guys out of their gaps, but I think it's going to enable us to be more of a perimeter-type team offensively.
"Again, we need to get those tackles and guards out there in space, and hopefully our running backs will be able to use that ability of their offensive line to their advantage."
Returning for his second season as the starting quarterback is Tyler Uetrecht, along with a group of receivers who look to round out the CM offense, not to mention the OU-bound Smart at tight end.
"We're going to feature a kid named Dylan Rose at wide receiver. He's about 6-3, and is just one of those guys that runs like a deer and jumps as high as one too. He was our starting wideout last year, and I think he'll back with more effectiveness," McSurley said.
"Especially when you've got a strong tight end like Trent (Smart), teams are going to really have to focus on him, I think, and that's going to take a lot of pressure off Dylan for the passing aspect of it. J.D. Curtsinger, he's probably going to be another wide receiver slot back … he's got a lot of talent, had 10 interceptions last year on defense."
Along with the 10 interceptions by Curtsinger, the CM defensive unit looks to be as dominating as usual, with Duane Sowers leading the way as a captain.
"Duane led the defense from the nose guard, so we feel real good about him," McSurley said. "Another kid, Austin Florea, is going to be in there. He played a lot of strong defensive end, but our secondary's intact, and that's big for us."
The secondary includes Travis Daugherty, Cole Brogan, Curtsinger and Zach Santoro.
"We feel real good about our secondary right now. You know our linebackers, we may move Bayle back there at strong safety, he played middle linebacker last year," McSurley said. "He could play outside, and SAM … he started as a freshman, so we've got a lot of different combinations of guys we think are going to be effective on defense."
One thing that still motivates the Falcons are two regular-season losses against Waynesville and Jonathan Alder last season, which changed the entire outcome of their season … it made them even stronger.
"After those two losses came early in the season, we were in a situation we hadn't been in before in a long time, like 10 years," McSurley said. "In every game after that, we were kind of up against the wall. In other words, we couldn't afford another loss. Those kids knew that, so it made us stronger, mentally, as a team, and then hopefully we go in and we're going to take it game by game, week by week. They experienced losses, and they know what it's like to lose, and hopefully they're going to work hard not to ever let it happen."
As the reigning six-time consecutive South Central Ohio League champions begin their season, McSurley said his team is still "hungry."
"They're hungry … I'm not going to lie. This group is very hungry," he said. "It didn't go real well for us in that semifinal game.
"We had some kids get nicked up. We ran into the best quarterback in the United States of America in Maty Mauk, so we feel like we were close last year. This year, these guys, I think, are even more motivated than they ever have been because of how close they actually did get. You've got kids who played in big games, they know how to win. From a coaching standpoint, you just got to keep doing your job, can't get complacent. I can't expect to go out and things are always going to go our way. We've got to to keep working hard and scouting teams up and just try to get our kids prepared physically and mentally."