PREP FOOTBALL Building a New Outlook
Del Norte expects to have exciting offense under new coach
Impressive new classroom structures serve as a backdrop to Del Norte High School’s football practice field this season.
The Knights believe it’s fitting.
Coming off a turbulent 1-9 season, Del Norte is not looking to simply turn the page. A whole new book is in the works.
Enter enthusiastic new head coach Bruce Binkley, a former offensive lineman who moved to the Northeast Heights after serving as an assistant coach at Volcano Vista. Binkley plans to build on the tangible excitement around Del Norte and its freshly constructed facilities.
“It’s really like a new school,” Binkley said. “We’ve got people in the community talking to us, graduates are excited. We want to make Del Norte people proud.”
With that in mind, Binkley plans to acknowledge the program’s roots. Del Norte will honor its 1974 state championship team during an intrasquad scrimmage next week.
Then it’s time to focus on the present and future. To an extent they’ll go hand in hand, because the 2012 Knights are a youthful bunch.
“We only have six seniors,” Binkley said, “but our overall numbers really are better than I thought they’d be.”
Del Norte has 55 combined varsity and JV players in preseason drills. The program also has 40 freshmen.
“That speaks well about the future. Kids are excited,” Binkley said. “Our job is to keep them excited.”
The Knights face a tough assignment in 2012, drawing a schedule loaded with road tests and strong opponents. Still, the players aren’t approaching this as a rebuilding season.
“We’re going to be more aggressive, not back down from the challenge,” junior running back Daryl Wiggins said. “We’re going a lot harder in the offseason because we want to get it right this year.”
Wiggins is part of what Binkley believes can be an explosive offense, with speed and talent at the skill positions. That includes mobile sophomore quarterback Tyrelle Jackson, who made a number of impressive throws during the scrimmage portion of Thursday’s practice.
“We have a young offensive line, sophomores and juniors,” Jackson said. “We won’t be able to just run the ball all the time, so we’ll spread it around. It’s fun for a quarterback, definitely.”
Binkley believes his team’s offense will evolve as the season progresses.
“Our skill kids are as good as anybody’s,” he said, “so we’ll spread the field and go get ’ em. Our line is probably a weakness right now, but it’ll be a strength by the end of the year, I guarantee you.”
Such timing could work in Del Norte’s favor as it doesn’t play a district game until November. The revamped District 5-4A is comprised of just Del Norte, Moriarty and St. Pius.
“St. Pius is the team to beat,” Binkley said. “They’ve got good kids, a great coach and tradition. But I’ve never been around kids who’ve worked as hard as this group. We’re going to play as hard as we can and have no excuses.” Jackson agreed. “Coach (Binkley) wants things done now, not later. If we keep pushing, work as a team and don’t get down, I really believe it’ll pay off.”