Fall Sports 2012
“We are going to be a lot different on defense,� Croy said. “Coach Adwell really blitzed a lot of people and sent a lot of guys and tried to make big plays to offset offensive games by making big plays for losses. This year with Coach Coffey we are a lot more involved with our base defense. We might not make the big sack of minus 10 yards, but we don’t want to give up a big play either. I think the kids have really embraced the change. They are both sound philosophies, but we will probably send fewer people this year, play in our base a lot more and hopefully use good fundamentals and good tackling to get their offense off the field a lot more.� Defensive Line Much like on offense, Trenton will be small up front on the defensive line. Josh Davis, Wilson Utley, Dakota Galvin and Wyatt Coffman will be the starting front four. “Our defensive line will be made up of basically the same guys we have up front on offense,� Croy said. “We are going to be playing a lot of guys both ways and that is a concern for us going in. You feel so much better when you have those kids going just one way, especially at the beginning of the year. Those four guys will hold the front four positions down for us, though, and we have some other kids battling behind them. Hopefully, some of those guys step up and we can get some of our offensive guys off the field sometimes.� Linebackers
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Trenton Bulldogs Football
Where the offense is faced with the challenge of replacing two quality running backs, the defense has holes to fill at linebacker where alldistrict selections James Fairchild and Fred Pannell have graduated. Both of those two players are playing football at the collegiate level this season and Trenton will slide some new faces into those spots. Dalton Burkeybile and Colby Larson, who started in the secondary a year ago, will move up and join Garrett Runnels as the team’s linebacking corp. Mason Mounce has also been competing for time and gives the group good depth. “Dalton is moving from strong safety to linebacker and we kind of knew going in he was going to be solid for us there,� Croy said. “Garrett Runnels has solidified himself as our ‘mic’ backer this year. He had a really strong summer and while he doesn’t have a lot of size, he is very physical and a sure tackler. Colby Larson has also moved to a linebacker position and he has accepted that and done very well with it. We have some good athletes there and we feel pretty comfortable there. Mason Mounce gives us some depth there and we feel like if we have to take one of our starters off the field and put Mason in there, we don’t really lose anything.� Secondary The secondary has some holes to fill with Larson and Burkeybile moving up to linebackers. Austin Taul returns as a starter at cornerback and Chanse Houghton has
experience at the position as well. Seth Acton is battling for time at cornerback as well and will most likely see the field as the secondary rotates to keep fresh legs on the field at all times. Dillon Triplet will move into Burkeybile’s strong safety position and Lane Beverlin is the front runner for the free safety spot “We just have a lot of kids who as sophomores last year weren’t physically ready yet,� Croy said. “They are juniors now and they are starting to step in and fill some roles for those seniors who departed after last season. That is just kind of the process you go through, especially in a school our size. We feel like those kids who are juniors now are really taking up the slack and doing their part to help us be successful.� Special Teams Acton, the hero of Homecoming last season, will once again handle kicking duties for the Bulldogs and gives them a very reliable kicker to lean on in tough spots. Acton will also punt this season after Brennon
Vandevender graduated last May. The return game will be headlined by Taul, Triplet and Beverlin. Nick Gass, Cree Mullenix and Mason Croy will handle the snapping duties. Season Outlook Despite having to replace a successful senior class, Trenton still has the same high expectations with which it goes into every season. The Bulldogs have played beyond 10 games in four of the past five seasons and expect to do so again in 2012. “Our goals are always high,� Croy said. “We want to win every football game and prepare every week to win. We expect to have winning seasons here and we expect to challenge for some post-season time. The way the district sets up now, it is a single-elimination tournament and we want to make sure we aren’t out in week 10. We want to play at least 11 games. The big thing for us is we want to get better every day and stay healthy.�
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