Seniors have
Carey aiming high on gridiron
Sawtooth
eight-man football contenders
By JEFF
CORDES
Express Staff Writer
High
school football season has arrived—and a strong returning cast of
players has installed the Carey School Panthers as one of Idaho’s top
1A eight-man teams in the preseason.
New light
standards have been installed at Carey’s Derrick Parke Memorial Field
as well, which means the Panthers will be playing three night football
games for the first time.
Carey
head coach Lane Kirkland, backed by longtime defensive coordinator Lee
Cook, have high hopes for the 2002 eight-man football campaign. Express
photo by David N. Seelig
While
other Gem State powers have unloaded, graduating important seniors,
Carey has reloaded with nine seniors. Eight of those anchored last fall’s
7-2 Panther state playoff squad that outscored its opponents 38-16.
Experience
is vital on the gridiron.
"Our
team has the most experience of any in the state," said second-year
Carey coach Lane Kirkland, who has welcomed 23 Panthers to preseason
practices.
"It
is our goal to go undefeated and win the conference championship. We
have an extremely positive attitude among all our players."
Under
offensive coordinator Kirkland, Carey had the personnel and willingness
to diversify its offense last year—rushing for 2,037 yards (28 TDs
from scrimmage) and passing for 1,452 yards (20 TDs).
Carey’s
Wyoming offense probably won’t change much, although Kirkland said he
has put together several more plays to go with his slot and T-offense.
"We’ll try for a balanced offense behind a front line that
averages 205 pounds," he said.
The
defense under longtime defensive coordinator Lee Cook is likely to be
more stubborn than last year, when Carey won its first six games and
earned third place in the 12-team Sawtooth Conference with a resounding
62-14 win at Murtaugh.
Leading
the way are returning All-State players and last year’s captains Shawn
Hennefer and John Saili.
On
offense, Hennefer was Carey’s leading rusher (839 yards), leading
scorer (18 TDs and 112 points) and second-leading passer (559 yards and
9 TD). An All-State defensive back and fumble-causing tackler, Hennefer
intercepted three passes and should pick off a few more in 2002.
Sure-handed
and tough to bring down, Saili (35 catches for 534 yards, 8 TDs) made
first-team All-State offense as a wide receiver.
Coach
Kirkland has the luxury of having two senior quarterbacks in Hennefer
and Sean Cenarrusa (75 completions for 885 yards, 11 TD).
And he’s
got two senior running backs who can carry the payload in Destry Simpson
(651 yards, 11 TD) and Robbie Ellsworth (5 TD and a team-leading 7
two-point conversions). They can catch, too. Simpson and Ellsworth each
caught 27 passes.
"Destry
is looking real strong and wiry," said Kirkland. "Robbie is a
little plug who loves to hit."
The
offensive line revolves around center Blake Surerus, a 6-2, 195-pound
junior who is stronger and quicker than last year. The guards are
220-pound senior Kole Peck and 6-0 junior Bryson Ellsworth. Senior
Stephen Jurgensmeier plays right end.
Jurgensmeier
is the placekicker and Hennefer handles the punting.
Senior
Seth Adamson, rock solid at left defensive end, is a key player on what
appears to be a very strong defense. Peck and Bryson Ellsworth line up
in the middle, with Saili at right defensive end. Robbie Ellsworth and
Jurgensmeier are linebackers, and Simpson and Hennefer are safeties.
Joe
Patterson is the other Carey senior. Other juniors are Randy Lundergreen
and Ty Simmons, an end with excellent hands.
The
sophomores are Ian Gamino, Juan Alvarez and Matt Trammell. Coach
Kirkland said he also has seven hard-hitting freshmen who collectively
have a great attitude.
Most of
Carey’s rivals in the Sawtooth Conference’s North Division have lost
important players and will be playing catch-up this fall.
Dietrich’s
triple threat and Carey nemesis Chris Maughan has graduated, as has
Camas County’s do-everything All-Stater Brandon Blodgett. All-State
Eric Snowder of Clark County is also gone.
Looming
large in the South Division, however, is defending Sawtooth king
Castleford, with its returning All-State senior Elvis Medina.
Passing
for 500 yards and running for 1,600 yards and 25 TDs, Medina led
Castleford (9-1) to the state semi-finals for the third straight year.
Castleford whipped Camas County 56-6 for the Sawtooth crown and beat
Carey 54-8 before falling at Horseshoe Bend 34-6 in the semi-finals.
"Castleford
has some good leaders back and a high population of players," said
Kirkland, who said he preferred Carey’s quality of players.
When it
comes to Castleford, Carey has some payback. Playing under the lights at
home, the Wolves have eliminated the Panthers from the playoffs the past
two years. And the South Division champion will host this year’s
Sawtooth title game.
Carey
played only two of its nine games under the lights last fall, both in
the playoffs. In contrast, the 2002 Panthers are due to play six of
their eight games at night before they even arrive at the conference
title game.
Lending
more weight to Kirkland’s statement about Carey’s edge in
experience, the opposing teams in last fall’s State 1A eight-man
championship game have lost a lot.
The
two-time defending state champion Kendrick Tigers (11-1, nearly 5,000
rushing yards and 72 TDs) are rebuilding. So are the Horseshoe Bend
Mustangs (11-1), who lost seven seniors. Kendrick beat Horseshoe Bend
62-26 in Moscow.