'12 Team Preview: Washington Blue Lions
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
This year, the 2012 Washington Blue Lions are transitioning from being a big and powerful team to a team that will rely on their overall speed for team success.
As Washington head coach Corey Dye enters his fourth season at the helm of the Washington Blue Lions, he knows he has to replace a lot of talented players from their 2011 three-way second-place tie in the South Central Ohio League, a season where they went 4-2 against their league opponents and 5-5 overall as the Blue Lions scored 253 points and allowed 276 in 10 games.
This year, the Blue Lions return five to six starters on offense and defense, including senior Tyler Riley (guard), senior Cameron Shaw (center), Cody Jackson, senior Trevor Mustard (tackle) and Nathan Wilson. The Blue Lions welcome 1,000-plus yard running back Zach Zurface from Clinton-Massie, as the senior transferred to Washington.
Also with some varsity playing experience is Josh Williams, who got two starts last year at quarterback, along with Travis Leisure, who plays tight end and got to play several varsity games.
"The difference that we have from this year is we went from big and powerful to a lot of team speed. Our kids are quicker. We're going to rely on them to make big plays for us," Dye said. "We've got a lot of kids that we're going to play. When you have speed in football, it makes you a lot better not only on offense and defense, but special teams-wise, so we're going to utilize our strengths this year, which happens to be team speed.
"Having an offensive line with the experience we've got. Cameron Shaw is a three-year starter at center. Tyler Riley is a two-year starter, played a lot his sophomore year, so he's really like another three-year starter. Trevor Mustard, second-year starter, he's a big kid, he's a 6-4, 285 tackle that can move really well. We're not going to be the biggest team in the league, but I really think we can hurt teams with our speed."
Williams will be the quarterback for the Blue Lions in '12, and Dye and his coaching staff are relying on the junior QB's ability to lead Washington.
"He got a lot of experience last year. He started two games for us," Dye said. Josh is a different type of quarterback than we've had in a while. He can throw the ball really well, and he's a really good athlete, a three-sport athlete.
"He's a smart kid. I can see him doing a really nice job for us this year."
Also possibly looking at time not only at quarterback if needed, but at a wide receiver spot, is senior Skylar Johnson.
"Skylar is a type of kid we could throw in at quarterback if we needed," Dye said. "He throws really well and catches really well. He's fast, and we can move him to receiver some because he can catch the ball. He's very athletic."
One position the Blue Lions won't have depth problems at is wide receiver. Besides Johnson, the Blue Lions have multiple players able to play the position.
"I've got quite a few kids who can play wide receiver for us," Dye said. "We kind of laugh as a coaching staff because we've got kids who are kind of like clones. They're fast, not necessarily super big, but they're athletic."
Some of those players include: Malik Pettiford, Brandon May, Wilson, Antonio Rhodes, James Redding and Jackson.
"We've got a lot of depth in our skill positions, and we've got a lot of kids that have the ability to catch and make plays," Dye said.
Dye continued to talk about offensive players who can and probably will make receptions for the Blue Lions this fall.
"Zach Zurface can catch, and he'll be a primary running back for us," Dye said. "We also have Tye Smith (junior), and he and Zach … they're both really fast.
"As far as another receiver, Travis Leisure is our tight end, he's super fast. Then we got sophomore Tobin Anderson at fullback, Alex Sparkman (junior) at running back and Cole Trigg (senior).
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"I'd like to be able to run the football, control the clock, like we've been able to do in the past," Dye said about his offense this upcoming season. "We've got to develop a better passing game and a passing attack … better than we've had in the past couple years.
"I really think we've got the guys that can do that. Whenever you can have a balanced attack like that, it definitely makes it harder for the teams to be able to stop you on offense."
All those names for this season have big shoes to fill as they will be replacing players who graduated in Riley Shaw and Jerrome Pettiford, whom Dye described as "irreplaceable," especially on the defensive side.
"Riley and Jerrome are two guys I believe are irreplaceable. Not having them is a big loss, but we've got some guys that can step in and get the job done," Dye said. "Cameron Shaw, he's always been a starter on our defense, he plays defensive end for us. Tyler Riley, he's going to play defensive line for us, and he's been a two-year starter and got a lot of action when he was a sophomore."
Dye continued to talk about players who will be a large part of the Blue Lions' success this season.
"DJ Merricks (a junior), he's going to be one of our linebackers. DJ is a fierce competitor, hard hitter, very physical guy."
Other players mentioned defensively for the Blue Lions included: Skylar Fox (senior), Anderson (sophomore), Seth Haines (sophomore), Garett Long (sophomore) and Cody Clay (junior).
"These guys are battling out for the linebacker spots," Dye said. "It's going to be interesting to see how that all plays out. They're all good football players. We got Tye Smith playing nose for us, he's a quicker guy, a real athletic kid."
In the secondary, Washington has a lot of experience returning with Jackson and Wilson, two starters from one season ago. Leisure will be playing safety this season.
"Travis played for us a lot last year. He didn't necessarily start for us, but he got some experience playing there," Dye said. "We've got experience with Mason Smith and Malik Pettiford. These guys, they got to play a lot of special teams last year and got in the varsity games some. I'm really looking forward to seeing how our speed can help us as far as on the defensive end, too."
Dye was also pleased with the Washington offseason.
"We had a great offseason. One thing we've got going strong at the school is our wrestling program, which really helps with football," Dye said. "It's excelling. Coach (Louis) Reid does a fantastic job, so we've got quite a few wrestlers. We've got some basketball players too. The kids who aren't involved with a winter sport, they're lifting weights, and we had a pretty good showing in the weight room.
"The kids know how important it is to get bigger, faster and stronger. They know by doing that it's going to make them a better player, and when they become better players, obviously it makes our team better. I've really been pleased with the work ethic of this group. They're a hardworking group. We've been led by some really good seniors. I'm looking forward to the season, and I really think if we keep going in the right direction, we could be pretty good."
As Washington head coach Corey Dye enters his fourth season at the helm of the Washington Blue Lions, he knows he has to replace a lot of talented players from their 2011 three-way second-place tie in the South Central Ohio League, a season where they went 4-2 against their league opponents and 5-5 overall as the Blue Lions scored 253 points and allowed 276 in 10 games.
This year, the Blue Lions return five to six starters on offense and defense, including senior Tyler Riley (guard), senior Cameron Shaw (center), Cody Jackson, senior Trevor Mustard (tackle) and Nathan Wilson. The Blue Lions welcome 1,000-plus yard running back Zach Zurface from Clinton-Massie, as the senior transferred to Washington.
Also with some varsity playing experience is Josh Williams, who got two starts last year at quarterback, along with Travis Leisure, who plays tight end and got to play several varsity games.
"The difference that we have from this year is we went from big and powerful to a lot of team speed. Our kids are quicker. We're going to rely on them to make big plays for us," Dye said. "We've got a lot of kids that we're going to play. When you have speed in football, it makes you a lot better not only on offense and defense, but special teams-wise, so we're going to utilize our strengths this year, which happens to be team speed.
"Having an offensive line with the experience we've got. Cameron Shaw is a three-year starter at center. Tyler Riley is a two-year starter, played a lot his sophomore year, so he's really like another three-year starter. Trevor Mustard, second-year starter, he's a big kid, he's a 6-4, 285 tackle that can move really well. We're not going to be the biggest team in the league, but I really think we can hurt teams with our speed."
Williams will be the quarterback for the Blue Lions in '12, and Dye and his coaching staff are relying on the junior QB's ability to lead Washington.
"He got a lot of experience last year. He started two games for us," Dye said. Josh is a different type of quarterback than we've had in a while. He can throw the ball really well, and he's a really good athlete, a three-sport athlete.
"He's a smart kid. I can see him doing a really nice job for us this year."
Also possibly looking at time not only at quarterback if needed, but at a wide receiver spot, is senior Skylar Johnson.
"Skylar is a type of kid we could throw in at quarterback if we needed," Dye said. "He throws really well and catches really well. He's fast, and we can move him to receiver some because he can catch the ball. He's very athletic."
One position the Blue Lions won't have depth problems at is wide receiver. Besides Johnson, the Blue Lions have multiple players able to play the position.
"I've got quite a few kids who can play wide receiver for us," Dye said. "We kind of laugh as a coaching staff because we've got kids who are kind of like clones. They're fast, not necessarily super big, but they're athletic."
Some of those players include: Malik Pettiford, Brandon May, Wilson, Antonio Rhodes, James Redding and Jackson.
"We've got a lot of depth in our skill positions, and we've got a lot of kids that have the ability to catch and make plays," Dye said.
Dye continued to talk about offensive players who can and probably will make receptions for the Blue Lions this fall.
"Zach Zurface can catch, and he'll be a primary running back for us," Dye said. "We also have Tye Smith (junior), and he and Zach … they're both really fast.
"As far as another receiver, Travis Leisure is our tight end, he's super fast. Then we got sophomore Tobin Anderson at fullback, Alex Sparkman (junior) at running back and Cole Trigg (senior).
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"I'd like to be able to run the football, control the clock, like we've been able to do in the past," Dye said about his offense this upcoming season. "We've got to develop a better passing game and a passing attack … better than we've had in the past couple years.
"I really think we've got the guys that can do that. Whenever you can have a balanced attack like that, it definitely makes it harder for the teams to be able to stop you on offense."
All those names for this season have big shoes to fill as they will be replacing players who graduated in Riley Shaw and Jerrome Pettiford, whom Dye described as "irreplaceable," especially on the defensive side.
"Riley and Jerrome are two guys I believe are irreplaceable. Not having them is a big loss, but we've got some guys that can step in and get the job done," Dye said. "Cameron Shaw, he's always been a starter on our defense, he plays defensive end for us. Tyler Riley, he's going to play defensive line for us, and he's been a two-year starter and got a lot of action when he was a sophomore."
Dye continued to talk about players who will be a large part of the Blue Lions' success this season.
"DJ Merricks (a junior), he's going to be one of our linebackers. DJ is a fierce competitor, hard hitter, very physical guy."
Other players mentioned defensively for the Blue Lions included: Skylar Fox (senior), Anderson (sophomore), Seth Haines (sophomore), Garett Long (sophomore) and Cody Clay (junior).
"These guys are battling out for the linebacker spots," Dye said. "It's going to be interesting to see how that all plays out. They're all good football players. We got Tye Smith playing nose for us, he's a quicker guy, a real athletic kid."
In the secondary, Washington has a lot of experience returning with Jackson and Wilson, two starters from one season ago. Leisure will be playing safety this season.
"Travis played for us a lot last year. He didn't necessarily start for us, but he got some experience playing there," Dye said. "We've got experience with Mason Smith and Malik Pettiford. These guys, they got to play a lot of special teams last year and got in the varsity games some. I'm really looking forward to seeing how our speed can help us as far as on the defensive end, too."
Dye was also pleased with the Washington offseason.
"We had a great offseason. One thing we've got going strong at the school is our wrestling program, which really helps with football," Dye said. "It's excelling. Coach (Louis) Reid does a fantastic job, so we've got quite a few wrestlers. We've got some basketball players too. The kids who aren't involved with a winter sport, they're lifting weights, and we had a pretty good showing in the weight room.
"The kids know how important it is to get bigger, faster and stronger. They know by doing that it's going to make them a better player, and when they become better players, obviously it makes our team better. I've really been pleased with the work ethic of this group. They're a hardworking group. We've been led by some really good seniors. I'm looking forward to the season, and I really think if we keep going in the right direction, we could be pretty good."