Eagles’ stable of backs, depth reasons for optimism
Holliday has long been known to churn out quality running backs. From Collin Leggett in the early 2000s to Brayden Little in the late 2000s to Tyler Cole in the early 2010s to Justin Jones in the late 2010s, the Eagles have long had strong options to give the ball to in the running game.
2021 should be no different with returners like senior Austin Jones and junior Jaxx Johnson headlining the Wing-T attack after combining for 1,238 yards and 15 touchdowns last year. Seniors Hunter Allen and Ethan Twilligear along with sophomore Collin Hays and freshman Parker Jones are all expected to split time in the backfield to keep everyone fresh for the fourth quarter.
“We’ll be strong at running back,” Holliday Head Coach Frank Johnson said. “We’ve got multiple kids that can carry the ball. In our little intrasquad scrimmage, I was pleased with all the fullbacks and tailbacks. Statistically, we’ll hardly ever have a leading rusher because we rotate guys to keep them fresh for the fourth quarter when other people are tired."
The offensive line has experienced some growing pains through the early portions of fall camp due to replacing three starters to graduation. Senior Cason Foster is back as a three year starter anchoring the o-line from the center position and junior Ben Tibbets is back at tackle.
“We’re a little further behind on the offensive line because we graduated more kids there,” Johnson explained. “They are doing the things they need to do to catch up. Cason and Ben are both star players. I feel like the other guys will be. Going against our defense in practice where nobody is going to the same gap two times in a row and they’re ahead of you, it’ll make you look a little stupid sometimes. We’ve got a solid foundation. We’re still looking for a tight end to replace Crosby (Jurecek). Tate Mahan has done a good job there. We’ve got a couple young kids on the offensive line that are getting to play a bunch, it just takes a little while to catch up. Hopefully nobody we play will have a defensive front as good as ours.”
Junior Peyton Marchand returns under center as the Eagles’ signal-caller after a coming out party last year as a sophomore. He earned District 5-3A Newcomer of the Year honors after leading the Eagles to a district championship by going 60-of-109 through the air for 1,004 yards and nine touchdowns. According to Johnson, Marchand has improved in the offseason by understanding his role in the offense.
“He’s throwing the ball better,” Johnson said. “At this point, he needs competition. A lot of them do. We’ve blocked dummies in intrasquad, now it’s time to do the pretend stuff and see where we’re at. I’m pleased with him right now. I got to work with him a little bit at a camp in Abilene. I was really pleased with how he threw the ball. He’s a good athlete. He throws a good quick game.”
Defensively, Johnson feels the Eagles are ahead of where they were last year at this point. The front-seven will again be a strength operating under DC Kyle Tucker whose exotic 3-4 blitz packages held opponents to 15.6 points per game last season.
Foster, a senior at middle linebacker, is poised for another big season after recording 100+ tackles in each of his previous two years. Johnson bookends foster in the linebacker crew after ranking third on the team with 78 tackles a season ago. Jones, Mahan, Allen and senior Austin Linn are all expected to serve pivotal roles after seeing significant action a season ago.
“Our defensive front is our strength,” Johnson said. “Our defensive front is solid. There’s a couple places I think we’re going through growing pains but I feel like we’re ahead defensively than where we were this time a year ago. A lot of that has to do with us being able to play multiple kids at multiple positions last year. Some of these younger kids that started behind a senior were able to get enough quality reps. We’re probably weakest in the secondary but we’re catching up. The biggest part is communication; figuring out set recognition and coverages quickly. That just takes reps. I’m really pleased up to now.”
Johnson feels the biggest strength of the team is depth. At the 3A level, being two-deep at every position is a luxury only the elite programs can have. He believes that depth will pay off in the non-district slate by playing schools in larger classifications like Iowa Park and Vernon.
“I think the Eagles are going to be alright,” Johnson quipped. “We’ve got high expectations. We’ve got to stay healthy and we’ve got to stay hungry. That’s the hardest part. Rankings and all that don’t make a crap if you don’t live up to them. It’s good that we’ve worked and feel entitled to a little bit of recognition but that stuff is yesterday. What have you done today?”
