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KHQA BARNSTORM CAMP NOTES

BROWN COUNTY OFFENSIVE LINE

Projected Team Strengths: Youth, Depth, Offensive Line Prospects Present and Future, Backfield Speed

Projected Question Marks: Experience, Strength of Schedule

A BOLD NEW LOOK: Remember all those years when Carthage (come Illini West) would start 20 seniors and return nothing in the way of veteran players yet the Blueboys (come Chargers) would still win nine games and contend for state championships? We call that the Unruh Plateau and I am not sure I have seen another coaching staff anywhere that reach that level of instant player development. This year we will find out just how much Tom Little learned from his old boss. The Hornets have three returning starters back and likely not a single veteran on defense. Two of those guys are Offensive Lineman, which as promising as Nathan Banta and Colt Garrett are, still doesn't exactly make them household names. The other is a starting Quarterback/Defensive Back coming off a knee surgery. This will be the youngest, most unrecognizable Brown County team we've seen yet. Which means the key to this season, in a nutshell, is player development. Eric Grady builds great defenses every year. Heath Fullerton has perfected the art of the undersized lineman. How quickly they get these pieces up to speed, many of the them underclassmen could be the difference between Brown County fighting for a WIVC Championship or being relegated to the second tier behind Triopia and Conference newcomer CSE.

TOUGHER THAN A T-BONE: No one had a tougher 2011 than Tim Woodward. The Hornets starting Quarterback tore up his knee early in the playoff win over Triopia and not only sat out the rest of the football season but was forced to miss what looked to be an incredibly promising basketball campaign as well. And that was the easy part of the equation. One day after the injury, Tim also lost his father to cancer. You would be hard pressed to find another human being of any age, let alone a 17 year old, who handled such adversities with the grace that Tim did. He is as good a character guy as you will find in this game and the type of player a coach can proudly make the cornerstone of a team. Here's the deal, though. He's moving exceptionally well too. Part of the allure of barnstorming is trying to figure out where a guy like Woodward is in the recovery process. During 11 on 11, Tim really had not done much other than hand off the football. Then on one particularly busted play, he took off. I remember thinking to myself "this might not be good" but Woodward may a cut three yards down the field that he absolutely exploded out of, reminiscent of some of the things I saw him do at the Illinois College Basketball Camp a summer ago when you just kind of go "whoa." I asked Tim about it afterwards and he estimated that he was at 100% and that the knee felt good. I talked to Jared Hoots about Tim afterwards and he said that Woodward took part in Summer basketball workouts and has looked pre-injury sharp. That bodes very well indeed for an offensive backfield already loaded with speed. I suspect Woodward's offensive value will probably end his Defensive Back career, but clearly, the Hornets will have a capable general at the tiller on Offense.

BLAZERS: What the Hornets will cede to Triopia and CSE in terms of size and experience, they may be able to make up for in overall team speed. Granted, Brady Long and Braxton Phelps aren't known commodities yet, but both kids can flat move. We got to watch Braxton in mop up duty against someone last year and he broke off a 30 yard touchdown run where no one was remotely within five yards of him after initially breaking the line of scrimmage. Long is a terrific all around athlete who, like Phelps, will likely man this offensive backfield for the next two years. The Hornets have some sorting out to do at Fullback, where bruising Senior Adam Veith makes things really interesting after returning to the sport for the first time since his Freshman year. Veith may be the Hornets 2012 version of Joe Cross going forward. Overall, this has the makings of a very productive backfield.

HEATH WARNING: Coach Fullerton has two veteran Offensive Lineman to build around in Colt Garrett (5'10" 280 pounds) and Nathan Banta, which should help accelerate the maturation process. The really intriguing thing here is the quality of the underclassmen who are in play to start. Heath Fullerton's resume has been built on getting ridiculously high end production from undersized stars like Nathan Goudschaal and Austin Gooding (we call it the TJ Menn theory) who play with motors and mean streaks. Coach Fullerton has a knack for finding good kids with a burning competitive desire and a little fight in them (Gooding for example was an accomplished martial artist) and pushing them to their high end. There are a couple of young guards in the system who are boxers who Coach Fullerton thinks could fit that mold to a tee and he confided that he thinks that when the lights go on for real, this current Offensive Line has a chance to be really gritty and a lot better than anyone realizes. More to the point, it's pretty scary to think what Brown County Football might look like in 2013 with four returning starters back in the trenches. Oh...and not to mention Phelps and Long running behind them.

PLAYER OF GRAVITY: Banta. One of my favorite recent Brown County alums tells me that Banta has All State level play in him and that all he needs to get noticed is a stage, absent the incredible Austin Gooding, to be truly appreciated.

SLEEPERS: Again, internal scouting report, but the spies tell me Nathan Makdera, Nathan Fisher, Clint Lewis and Ryan Burge (provided he stays healthy) are the under radar kids here who have the gumption and tenacity to be real impact players replacing some pretty darned good Linebackers and Defensive Linemen.

PROSPECT: Michael Scoggan. Kid has really bulked up nicely in the weight room and might be one of the most versatile set pieces anywhere. May initially line up at Tight End but can also run Fullback, Quarterback, Tailback. On the two carries I saw him take in practice, he hit the hole with Malique Robbins type bad intentions and, quite honestly, terrific burst. He's just a Sophomore and has some growing to do to prove he's a legitimate Varsity Weapon but if Michael embraces his role and continues to play with nastiness, he has a chance to be extra special on both sides of the football.