Published: August 28, 2008 11:53 am            

Roos open season with The Colony

For many of the Weatherford Kangaroos, the scrimmage game against the Stephenville Yellowjackets last week was their first varsity experience under the lights at Kangaroo Stadium. This week, against The Colony Cougars, it will be their first varsity experience under the lights in a game that counts.

For the Weatherford offensive line, the scrimmage was an invaluable experience and a great coaching tool for the Weatherford staff as the entire unit, with the exception of Marcus Trew, was playing on Thursdays last season with the Roos’ JV team.

“None of those guys ... Marcus Trew was on the varsity, but I don’t know if he played 10 plays last year, to be honest with you,” said Weatherford head coach Kenny Wheaton. “The rest of them were JV players. We’re like that throughout our whole football team. The biggest thing with those guys, is preventing penetration. The only negative yard plays we had the other night were when we stepped the wrong way and let that big ‘ol 76 run through there, which I could have run through there. That’s stuff that is fixable. It’s not like he was just that good, he was good, but when we step properly, again, because of the nature of our offense, we don’t have to block everybody. We can double guys like that. We can put two assigned to them and the whole deal.

“No penetration. That’s the one thing that will hurt us is penetration and when you’re getting it because you’re stepping wrong, you’re like, ‘OK, we can fix that,’ but when you’re getting it because that guy is just so good, which that should never happen when you have two guys on one.

“We talk to our kids all the time about numbers and angles,” he said. “We have the numerical advantage and we have the angle advantage because our quarterback is not going to check off and ask a lineman to do something to put him in a bad situation. We’re getting better at that, too.”

Three Weatherford quarterbacks saw time against Stephenville, but junior Mitchael Rucker will be the one calling the plays against The Colony. He will be joined in the backfield by Brownwood transfer fullback Shawn Roberson, meaning Roos fans will have to get used to hearing some new names and faces on the offensive side of the ball.

While there are many new names on offense, there are eight more on defense as only three starters from the 2007 defense return for 2008. One new addition to the Roos’ defense will be recognizable for most fans, however, this year, instead of catching passes from his quarterback, Shelby Armstrong will be defending passes from the opposing quarterback.

“Shelby has been a great blessing at corner,” Wheaton said of the converted wide receiver. “The corners have been a lot better than we anticipated and we needed that. That was a position we were concerned about. Our defense’s team speed is a lot better.

“I know the defensive coaches, before we even looked at the tape Friday night were doing the wash and they were all excited and were pumped and they just felt really good about how the kids flew to the football and ran and hit and didn’t back down [against Stephenville]. That’s nice when you’re coaches are feeling good about it.

“Of course, we came in and graded the tape Saturday and they still felt good about it. As always, you’re going to correct some things. You’re going to praise them for some things and correct them for some other things. It’s a process. You’re trying to teach and correct and that’s what we did.”

That experience and that excitement on defense, should it carry over into the meeting with The Colony Friday night, will prove beneficial for the Roos as they look to slow down Cougars running back Tony Peoples, who finished with 1,812 yards and 14 touchdowns and quarterback Bryce Perkins, who completed 13-of-227 passing attempts for 1,843 yards and 11 touchdowns with eight interceptions in 2007.

Weatherford and The Colony meet for the first time to open the 2008 season at Kangaroo Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

        

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