Fast, Furious
Built around speed, Lions hungry under new coach
NEW BOSTON, Texas—New Boston may have to change its mascot to the Flying Lions under new coach Craig Fant and his coaching staff.
The coaches have installed a fast-paced offense and defense for the Lions in preparations for the upcoming year.
“The kids are excited about the upcoming season,” Fant said. “I was able to start right at the end of April, and first day we did weights and the second day we started putting in our offense. We tried to get as much football in as we could get accomplished. We had a good 7-on-7 during the summer and a good summer strength and conditioning program; we’re doing a lot of the up-tempo things on offense so things are flying around, in a hurry.”
Fant has served as the offensive coordinator for Atlanta the past few seasons prior to being hired at New Boston. Prior to that he coached at Texas High and was head coach at Linden-Kildare.
“We want to sell these guys on playing wide-open and the conditioning pace that goes with it,” Fant said. “They’ve been good with everything we’ve asked them to do. We’ve got nine coaches and six of us our new. Every sport at Boston High School, except volleyball, is going to have a new head coach.”
The Lions return five starters on either side of the ball
from last season’s football team, but several may be in new positions with the new strategies and schemes.
“Obviously, it’s going to be a different offense than what these kids have been used to,” Fant said. “We run a power-spread, kind of like Auburn and Clemson, as far as tempo and alignments. It’s been a lot of new guys moving around.”
Samuel Sanchez (6-2, 185) and Kyler Murphy (5-10, 160) have transitioned from the backfield to receiver.
Deaundre Robinson (6-3, 180) has played receiver in the past and will also see some snaps at quarterback in special play-calls, and Jake Bobbitt (6-0, 175) will see the majority of the snaps at signal-caller.
“A lot of the kids are in different spots, but they’re adjusting well and are excited about it,” Fant said. “We’re teaching and learning in a hurry.”
Sophomore Jerrian Cole (6-1, 180) will handle a lot of the carries at tailback. Sophomore Cade Fant (6-0, 215) will start at fullback and see routes out of the backfield.
“Those two are the main guys with a couple of other filling in and out,” the coach said.
Trent Graham (5-9, 180) is another sophomore who can spell Cole.
The offensive line was almost bare due to graduation.
Victor Sanchez (6-1, 265) was the only returning starter on the offensive line and also only senior lineman, and Ben Willis (5-9, 250) also saw playing time last fall up front.
“We had a bunch of new faces, new kids, and we tried to do a lot last spring to get acclimated with them,” Fant said. “I’ve coached offensive line for a long time, and you’ve got to make changes here or there. But the quicker you can get set for five or six main guys, the quicker you start developing as a unit. We’ve got some big kids, not a lot of experience, but i feel good about them. They’re going to get some experience quickly.”
Victor Sanchez has been working at right tackle, the right guard has been sophomore Aaron Strom (6-2, 245), and the center has been Willis. Practicing at right guard is Jacob Thompson (6-2, 265) and tackle is Cein’cerre Whidbee (6-3, 310). Sophomore Briar Caraway (6-3, 270) has also been working on the offensive line as well as the defensive line.
“The jayvee won district last year, and they’re a good group,” Fant said about the young line. “We’ve got 20-something kids in the sophomore class. They’ve got good size and can move around a little bit. We’re just putting in some of the basics of our up-tempo offense, and with that offense you don’t have as much to learn. You’ve just got to process it in a hurry.
“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel every week, so we don’t see a bunch of new stuff. That way you can see it develop within the system if we get those five guys on the same page.”
The Lions will rely on speed and athleticism on defense.
“Our whole defense is pretty athletic across the board,” Fant said. “That group has been flying around early in practices, and it’s hard to move the ball against our starting 11 the first week. Their athletic ability and being able to play fast is going to be a strength on that side.”
In the secondary, Samuel Sanchez, Robinson and Murphy all return and are the only two-way starters as New Boston kicks off the season.
“We’ve got two or three other guys rotating in there with them,” the Lion coach said. “And you can fill those guys in at receiver or the secondary and still feel really good about it. We did the same thing when I was at Atlanta and before at Linden-Kildare, we try to play as many kids as we possibly can.”
Sophomore Tyler Strain (5-9, 165) has been practicing the majority of the snaps in the cover-4 secondary. Seniors Carl Tindell (5-10, 175), Seth Garcia (5-9, 175) and sophomore Cameron Smith (6-0, 170) are seeing lots of work in the secondary and at receiver, as well.
“We’ve got solid numbers, and we’re just getting to know the kids,” Fant said about rotating so many players. “It gives the kids a chance. I’m just getting to know the kids, so I have no preconceived notions either way. We can build some depth, a lot of times, with that philosophy.”
The defensive line will feature junior Hiram Grider (5-11, 215) and sophomore Ja’veon Brown (6-3, 210) at tackles, and junior De’vyante Lopez (5-10, 205) at nose guard. Senior Anthony Rivera (5-9, 200) has also pushed for playing time, and Caraway and Victor Sanchez can also add depth on the defensive line.
Stancio Battles (6-0, 210) returns to lead the defense from inside linebacker for his senior year, and joining him at inside linebacker will be Jhoven Corres (5-11, 175), also a senior. Graham and Cade Fant have also worked at linebacker.
The outside linebackers are junior Demarcus Smith (5-9, 165) and Le’demmion Williams (6-2, 190), acting as a hybrid of a defensive end, a strong safety and outside linebackers in the Lions’ 3-4 alignments.
“All these sophomores and juniors have played together for a few years,” Fant said. “They had some success at the junior high level and last year with the junior varsity. We know Thursday night and Friday nights are a bit different. I’ve been really proud of our seniors; we’ve got a dozen or so seniors and they’ve shown good leadership. They’re hungry to be a part of what New Boston football was not too long ago, and you can tell they really want to be a part of a playoff team.
“I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to lead this bunch we’ve got. I’m fired up, and the community has been very accepting and welcoming.”