Pewitt will ‘stay blue’ this year
OMAHA-NAPLES, Texas— Paul Pewitt has its eyes set on a District 7-3A title.
Brahma head coach Ryan Gentry is determined to help guide his team toward success.
“I talked to the players and coaches about competing for a district championship,” Gentry said. “We were six points away from being two-time district champions. We know that we can get there, we just have to win those games that really matter.”
Two years ago, Paul Pewitt lost to Hooks by just three points. Last season, the Brahmas fell to Daingerfield in a 2-point game and lost to Hooks by a point.
Pewitt’s motto this year is ‘Stay Blue’. Gentry said that if a player is not giving great effort, he might as well be playing for the other team.
“Last year we lost on a blocked extra point to Hooks,” Gentry said. “There are so many little things from last year that we could have done better. A lot of schools would have been happy with a 6-5 record, but I am not.”
Starting quarterback Lucas Hungerford (5-10, 170) returns for his senior season. Last year, Hungerford hit on 109 of 190 pass attempts for 1,909 yards and 25 touchdowns. He rushed for 1,006 yards on 181 totes and 10 touchdowns.
The Brahmas run a smashmouth spread offense. They spread it out and run the football and have had a couple of thousand-yard rushers in the past two seasons that Gentry has been at the helm.
Hungerford was first-team, All-District quarterback last year. He accounted for 2,915 all purpose yards out of Pewitt’s 5,022 total.
“Lucas is projected to be our offensive MVP, and we are giving him a lot of the reins this year,” Gentry said. “A lot of our offense is going to be contingent on what Lucas sees and what he decides to do.
“He sees the field like a coach; his vision is outstanding. Lucas gets everyone lined
up and can see where a team is missing players so that he can get the ball to the open field. He is accurate, smart and has a great arm.”
Returning starting running back Labrandon Houston (5-9, 190) comes back for his senior year. Houston racked up 1,063 yards on 180 carries and nine TDs.
Houston is well known for his physicality and loves to initiate contact.
“Houston is strong, fast and physical,” Gentry said. “He likes to run through people, which is good. We’d like for him to round around people more, but he likes to duck his head and run through people, which I am not going to complain about.”
Catching a lot of Hungerford’s passes will be senior wide receiver Nick Garrett (5-11, 170).
In his junior year, Garrett hauled in 15 passes for 301 yards and three scores. He also starts at cornerback and safety.
“Nick does a really good job of getting himself open and is a sure-handed kid,” Gentry said. “We also return Sam Smith, who started for us quite a bit last year as the other outside receiver. They will both do a good job for us.”
Senior Zach Shaddix (5-11, 230), who started all of last season, anchors the offensive line at center.
Stepping up to help out on the offensive line is tackle Jarret McCollum. Gentry says McCollum is big and athletic.
“Our main challenge on offense is depth,” Gentry said. “We had 49 kids show up for practice on the first day, which is low for us. But we have big sophomore and freshman classes coming up.”
The Brahmas run a split defense with multiple coverages. Senior Jackson Fitts is returning at outside linebacker and is the leader of the defense.
Last year, Fitts made 59 tackles, three of which went for lost yardage.
“Jackson is really smart and does a good job of reading offenses,” Gentry said. “He always gives full effort and is coachable.”
Sophomores DJ Turner (6-0, 170) and Lajathan Allen (5-7, 165) are expected to contribute in the secondary. Turner and Allen will probably be the starting safeties. Turner has great speed, and Allen is very strong.
Paul Pewitt had to revamp its defensive line and have younger players competing for starting positions. Depth on defense and the vacant inside linebacker positions will be concerns for Coach Gentry.
Both of the Brahmas’ starting inside linebackers were lost to graduation.
“This year’s team has the work ethic to go out and be great,” Gentry said. “They are not complacent and are hungry to succeed.”