Experienced Knights look to carry on recent success

After setting a school record of nine wins last season and a trip to the quarterfinals of the Class 3A state playoffs, Centerpoint head coach Cary Rogers said his main goal for this year is just to continue that success.

“We want to improve on last year,” Rogers said. “We finished third in the district last year, and nine wins is the most we have ever had.

“We want to keep it rolling and hope to move forward. We like to think of ourselves as a playoff team, and we are looking to keep that rolling.”

Rogers said he is trying to close the gap on Prescott and Glen Rose, because “they are pretty good.”

The Knights have five starters returning on offense this season, including senior lineman James Sanchez at center and Joey Lopez at tackle.

“James started for us last year, and he does a good job,” Rogers said. “We are going to get good snaps from him. He does a good job blocking up front.

“Joey does a really good job at tackle and protecting the passer at the edge.”

Senior Eric Valdez returns at tight end after catching 39 passes for 550 yards, and “he is a pretty good blocker as well,” the coach said.

Junior Blake Crawford rushed for 585 yards with six touchdowns and is one of the strongest and fastest players on the team, Rogers said.

Junior Michael Bright returns at receiver after totaling 19 catches for 220 yards his sophomore season.

“He runs a 4.7 and does a good job running routes and catching the ball,” Rogers said.

Defensively, Centerpoint has six starters returning, including senior defensive tackle Oscar Flores. Last year, he had 35 tackles and three sacks.

“He is one of our bigger kids,” Rogers said. “He is about 5-10 and 210 pounds. He has really good technique and makes plays for us.”

Senior Trace Jackson returns at linebacker after tallying 70 tackles a year ago.

“He is a big middle linebacker, and he fills the gaps up front,” the coach said.

Joining Jackson at linebacker is Gibson Lybrand, who played defensive end last year. He had 65 tackles and three sacks as a junior.

“We like to have speed at linebacker, and he has a good nose for the football,” Rogers said.

Senior Drew Fowler returns at cornerback after earning 28 tackles and an interception last season.

Junior Owen Bright, who started at safety last year, will start at quarterback this year. As back-up quarterback, he started two games and completed 26 of 47 passes for 462 yards and four touchdowns. At safety, he had 51 tackles and an interception.

Junior safety Daniel Forsythe had 18 tackles last year but may get moved to wingback this season because “he runs well and has good hands,” the coach said.

“We have pretty good team speed,” Rogers said. “We don’t have one or two extremely fast kids, but we do have quite a bit of experience coming back.

“A lot of kids have played before.” Centerpoint competed in a scrimmage Aug. 22, but the coach said the Knights didn’t play as well as he had hoped.

“But we saw exactly what we needed to pinpoint to work on,” Rogers said. “Hopefully, we will get it all ironed out soon.”