'13 Team Preview: East Clinton Astros
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
There is a lot going on for the East Clinton Astros this season. They've had coaching changes, not just with the head coach, but the entire staff, so it is easy to see and know the Astros are rebuilding their entire program in all aspects.
Leading the Astros will be Bill Hrabak, a veteran coach of high school football. Hrabak replaces Matt Hodge, who is now the head coach at Hillsboro.
Hrabak spoke candidly about helping the Astros rebuild their program, which has roughly 39 players, including 11 seniors.
"In some ways, it is like a complete blank chalkboard, because really we don't have any holdover coaches," Hrabak said. "Everything they are being taught, from offense line, to quarterbacks, receivers and running backs is all new stuff. Same thing on defense, so that's got pluses and minuses."
Coach Hrabak said there is a renewed hope with his football team, which is good and bad.
"The plus is it always gives kids a renewed hope," he said. "There is an opportunity there to play they didn't have before. A negative aspect is that everything is new, and everything has to be re-taught."
With the new staff intact, the Astros had a good preseason weight room, which is important for their rebuilding of the program.
"We had really good attendance in the weight room," Hrabak said. "We were really impressed with the fact the kids were excited about being in there. Two out of three days a week, we'd have over 20 kids in there.
"The 7-on-7s, we ran one team at Paint Valley and the last two we ran two 'B' teams as well and had 30 kids out. We are keeping it fun for the kids, and we're keeping them involved."
EC is coming off their first season in the South Central Ohio League as they finished with an overall record of 3-7 and a league mark of 2-5. Last season, the Astros scored 220 points and allowed 321, ending the season with two straight losses.
Their three wins one season ago came against Southeastern (49-14), Hillsboro (31-26) and Madison-Plains (28-20).
With new coaches and a new system, the question for Hrabak is what does he want from his team?
"Two things we want to see are we want to see them play fast and play hard," he said. "We've been preaching that from day one. We want to play with speed and not let up. We want to be coming at them. We were talking about defense (in practice), saying we're going to put the fastest guys on defense without sacrificing aggressiveness.
"There might a kid who is more aggressive on defense. He can still earn a spot, but we'll be getting a lot of helmets to the football. We're going to run and make plays, but my philosophy playing with the speed scheme is if one guy misses, there are still going to be five other guys there, and someone is going to take him down."
East Clinton's defense will resemble Texas Christian University and Boise State in a 4-2-5 formation.
"We'll be between a 4-4 and a 4-2-5 … it all depends on who we'll be playing," Hrabak said. "A 4-2-5 won't work too well against some traditional offenses, but it gives us the flexibility to jump into a 4-4.
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"The defense has been getting better each week we've been out there. We've been promoting to play more aggressively. Clyde Snow (FS) and Zac (Hrabak) (DE), they both have been playing on the edge this summer. They come in and play hard."
On the offensive side of the ball, the Astros want to play a pressure game in the spread offense.
"The offense will take the personality of the players we have, but we want to play a pressure game and to play fast, just like I want to see on defense," Hrabak said. "We always strive to be 50-50 in what we do offensively, but it never works out that way. You are always going to be a shade one way or the other. Our goal is to be able to run the football and to be a a good passing team at the same time."
Two of the more standout players this offseason in the 7-on-7s have been Snow and Jesse Livingston.
"From the weight room, Clyde has been a great leader for us," Hrabak said. "I'd venture to say he has a dozen interceptions this summer between all three 7-on-7s. He's really developed into a nice receiver this summer.
"Jesse (junior, TE) has had a good summer for us … he caught 14 passes at the Wilmington 7-on-7."
The head coach also spoke highly of three-year quarterback Dalton Floyd, who will be playing his fourth varsity season.
"Dalton has had a nice showing at quarterback," Hrabak said. "He was out of town the first part of the summer, and he was a little behind to start but has come along nicely since then. He's thrown the ball well, so we'll be looking for big things out of him.
"It's always nice to have experience at quarterback. To throw a first-year kid out there is always tough, but Dalton has a lot of ability and has a skill set that I don't know has been exploited in the past. We are going to try to utilize him as a runner and a passer, so hopefully we'll get some production out of him. He has the athletic ability to do all of that for us."
In the SCOL, not many teams are known for running the spread offensive formation, but it is an offense Hrabak wants to run.
"We're looking forward to changing the culture of how we play football here," Hrabak said. "EC has been a tradition of playing a lot of power football. Changing the offense will be exciting to the kids."
The Astros are just ready for the season to begin.
"We're just looking forward to the season," Hrabak said. "We have a great staff here and a young staff here. We have coaches who have a lot of college playing experience and aren't too far removed for the game.
"They have a lot of experience and can relay that to the kids. I've always believed on having a blend on a coaching staff. Some guys will be yellers, some will pat them on the back. Kids respond to different kinds of coaching, so it is good to have a variety of coaches on the staff."
Leading the Astros will be Bill Hrabak, a veteran coach of high school football. Hrabak replaces Matt Hodge, who is now the head coach at Hillsboro.
Hrabak spoke candidly about helping the Astros rebuild their program, which has roughly 39 players, including 11 seniors.
"In some ways, it is like a complete blank chalkboard, because really we don't have any holdover coaches," Hrabak said. "Everything they are being taught, from offense line, to quarterbacks, receivers and running backs is all new stuff. Same thing on defense, so that's got pluses and minuses."
Coach Hrabak said there is a renewed hope with his football team, which is good and bad.
"The plus is it always gives kids a renewed hope," he said. "There is an opportunity there to play they didn't have before. A negative aspect is that everything is new, and everything has to be re-taught."
With the new staff intact, the Astros had a good preseason weight room, which is important for their rebuilding of the program.
"We had really good attendance in the weight room," Hrabak said. "We were really impressed with the fact the kids were excited about being in there. Two out of three days a week, we'd have over 20 kids in there.
"The 7-on-7s, we ran one team at Paint Valley and the last two we ran two 'B' teams as well and had 30 kids out. We are keeping it fun for the kids, and we're keeping them involved."
EC is coming off their first season in the South Central Ohio League as they finished with an overall record of 3-7 and a league mark of 2-5. Last season, the Astros scored 220 points and allowed 321, ending the season with two straight losses.
Their three wins one season ago came against Southeastern (49-14), Hillsboro (31-26) and Madison-Plains (28-20).
With new coaches and a new system, the question for Hrabak is what does he want from his team?
"Two things we want to see are we want to see them play fast and play hard," he said. "We've been preaching that from day one. We want to play with speed and not let up. We want to be coming at them. We were talking about defense (in practice), saying we're going to put the fastest guys on defense without sacrificing aggressiveness.
"There might a kid who is more aggressive on defense. He can still earn a spot, but we'll be getting a lot of helmets to the football. We're going to run and make plays, but my philosophy playing with the speed scheme is if one guy misses, there are still going to be five other guys there, and someone is going to take him down."
East Clinton's defense will resemble Texas Christian University and Boise State in a 4-2-5 formation.
"We'll be between a 4-4 and a 4-2-5 … it all depends on who we'll be playing," Hrabak said. "A 4-2-5 won't work too well against some traditional offenses, but it gives us the flexibility to jump into a 4-4.
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"The defense has been getting better each week we've been out there. We've been promoting to play more aggressively. Clyde Snow (FS) and Zac (Hrabak) (DE), they both have been playing on the edge this summer. They come in and play hard."
On the offensive side of the ball, the Astros want to play a pressure game in the spread offense.
"The offense will take the personality of the players we have, but we want to play a pressure game and to play fast, just like I want to see on defense," Hrabak said. "We always strive to be 50-50 in what we do offensively, but it never works out that way. You are always going to be a shade one way or the other. Our goal is to be able to run the football and to be a a good passing team at the same time."
Two of the more standout players this offseason in the 7-on-7s have been Snow and Jesse Livingston.
"From the weight room, Clyde has been a great leader for us," Hrabak said. "I'd venture to say he has a dozen interceptions this summer between all three 7-on-7s. He's really developed into a nice receiver this summer.
"Jesse (junior, TE) has had a good summer for us … he caught 14 passes at the Wilmington 7-on-7."
The head coach also spoke highly of three-year quarterback Dalton Floyd, who will be playing his fourth varsity season.
"Dalton has had a nice showing at quarterback," Hrabak said. "He was out of town the first part of the summer, and he was a little behind to start but has come along nicely since then. He's thrown the ball well, so we'll be looking for big things out of him.
"It's always nice to have experience at quarterback. To throw a first-year kid out there is always tough, but Dalton has a lot of ability and has a skill set that I don't know has been exploited in the past. We are going to try to utilize him as a runner and a passer, so hopefully we'll get some production out of him. He has the athletic ability to do all of that for us."
In the SCOL, not many teams are known for running the spread offensive formation, but it is an offense Hrabak wants to run.
"We're looking forward to changing the culture of how we play football here," Hrabak said. "EC has been a tradition of playing a lot of power football. Changing the offense will be exciting to the kids."
The Astros are just ready for the season to begin.
"We're just looking forward to the season," Hrabak said. "We have a great staff here and a young staff here. We have coaches who have a lot of college playing experience and aren't too far removed for the game.
"They have a lot of experience and can relay that to the kids. I've always believed on having a blend on a coaching staff. Some guys will be yellers, some will pat them on the back. Kids respond to different kinds of coaching, so it is good to have a variety of coaches on the staff."