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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Experienced Pointers face daunting schedule
South Point Pointers football 2008
Purchase this photoSOUTH POINT, Ohio -- Coach Doug Shilot now knows all of his players names and they all know his scheme.
And after South Point shared the OVC title in Shilot's first season, the Pointers also know they have what it takes to win a championship.
Shilot has seven starters on each side of the ball returning, meaning there is a lot of experience coming back from the 2007 team that went 4-1 in OVC play after starting its brutal schedule 1-4.
South Point will once again endure a brutal non-conference schedule that will undoubtedly prepare the team for OVC play.
"It's all about staying healthy," Shilot said. "If we get an injury here or there, our backups, a lot of them are younger and lack experience."
South Point opens the season at Portsmouth then is at home for back-to-back games with Wheelersburg and Portsmouth West.
All of those teams have tradition and depth advantages on Shilot, but the second-year coach knows that if you are going to turn a program into a powerhouse, you must first compete with the powerhouses.
"The reality is that we could play excellent football and still start 0-3 again," Shilot said. "But last year, in our second game, we were just down 3-0 at Wheelersburg at the half. We just have to go in and take care of our end of things."
Execution on both sides of the ball will be led by a strong senior class at skill positions and also on the offensive and defensive lines.
Offensively, Chase Kratzenburg will line up under center with Jacob Seagraves and Ryan Plants behind him at the running back positions. Doug Dillon will also see time in the backfield.
"Plants and Seagraves are a 1-2 punch there and Doug Dillon is a junior this year," Shilot said. "All those guys got a lot of reps for us last year, so they should do well for us."
Up front, Shilot is encouraged by the return of several linemen on both sides of the ball, including Jake Adkins and Clinton Pack.
In addition to Adkins and Pack, Seagraves, Dillon and Casey West return as starters at linebacker while Kratzenburg and Plants will look to fill the void left by the graduation of Beau Weed.
Shilot knows that after the strong end to the 2007 season, expectations will be high for this season, no matter how daunting the early schedule is.
Having starters return on both sides of the ball is a luxury for Shilot, but so is having a preseason in which he hasn't had to teach terminology or learn names. Instead, it has been a continuation from the successful second half of last season.
"This year, (the players) all know our base plays and everything is much more fluid," Shilot said. "We have chances to do really well if we execute."
