Question for djr4hurleyfb . . .

[Warriors_XO 214]

How many seniors did Hurley have in 05? Will they be as hot in 06?

[djr4hurleyfb 12]

IIRC, Hurley had 7 seniors on 2005's 8-3 team. What will likely hurt the most is the fact that those kids played Offense, Defense, and ST 95% of the time.

 

From the defensive side of the ball, if everyone returns that should, Hurley will have some kids who saw a good bit of playing time. The DLine will be the problem as Hurley will have to break in a new starter at every position.

 

The offense just scares me, though. The QB position is vacant and the front-runner (Josh Childress) was your leading reciever as a WR/TE last year and the other option only got snaps with the 2nd team. The replacement for Shane Justice (Nathan Justus) doesn't have the size to be an every down back behind a brand new O-line and so far, I don't know of any other kid who may fill the spot off hand. The options at WR/TE are raw talent at best and would have to step up big time. And as mentioned previously, the O-line will return 1 starter.

 

The schedule shouldn't be too bad for breaking in a young team, but a lot will have to do with how much improvement the in-coming players see this off-season. Numbers very well could be an issue again this year. At this point in time, without having seen a two-a-day, I'd gauge that five wins would be considered a success.

 

Geez, now you've got me anticipating it early.

[Warriors_XO 214]

Yeah, I was anticipating 06 in early november 05. I saw Hurley's QB twice last year and I thought he was pretty decent but his most important role was as leader. With that gone, it will be tough but maybe someone will step up. I'm from Ervinton and we only lost one player to graduation. We are pretty much intact all the way across offense and defense. We will have 8 seniors next year. If nothing major happens, could be a good year for us.

[djr4hurleyfb 12]

Although it was never mentioned, Ervington actually did the best job (save for Haysi) stopping Justice from running all over them that I saw. Of course, other kids stepped up for Hurley in that game so it didn't hurt us much. I thought Ervington had a pretty good team, but it just seemed like a lot of kids were out of position (the QB looked better at WB; the second QB threw pretty well; Kiser @ WB instead of FB).

 

Best of luck this year.

[redtiger 1,742]

ervinton has some talent just not enough of it and some poor coaching (nothin against the guy) good luck next year

[Warriors_XO 214]

what makes you think there is poor coaching? They won 4 games last year, the most in 10 years. I am just curious. They did have two guys rush for 1100 and 900 yards, you mean the head coach or the assistants?

[djr4hurleyfb 12]

I'm not sure how long the current coach has been at Ervington, but I know that the team seemingly has improved in the three years I have seen them. Of course, the issue will always come up with A class teams that if you don't beat "big brother" then you really haven't improved all that much.

 

IE, for all the improvement that '05 Hurley team showed (4-7 to 8-3 records in '04 and '05, respectively), the '04 team played Haysi and Honaker much tougher than the '05 team did.

 

It is tough to gauge the middle to lower grade teams (not an insult, but the proper way to describe teams who don't typically compete for District/Regional/State titles) when playing each other. Look at the games versus the top grade teams. They tell the truth.

[Warriors_XO 214]

Someone is always going to disagree with a coach and it comes with the territory. I know this years team got better as the season went along. They also beat castlewood for the first time in at least 8 years. With these small schools, you just can't have great talent year in and year out. The current coach inherited a team in 2004 that had only 5 returning players total. 3 were starters. Things have improved.