Williams likes young Hornets

Robbie Robertson/Publisher
The Newton Record

NEWTON May 21, 2008 11:11 am

— Jason Williams got his first spring football practice under his belt as the school’s new head football coach.
The Hornets concluded spring drills last week when they held a Green and White scrimmage at the school.
For Williams, it was a chance to see how far his young team had come in the spring.
“Our highest number was 55 and we ended up with only three quitting and only had three hurt for the spring game,” Williams said. “I didn’t figure our numbers to be that high. We made a lot of progress in some areas and we’ve still got a lot of improvement to make in all areas.”
The Hornets are basically starting from scratch on offense after losing all of their experience from last year. Gone is leading rusher Demario Combs and second-leading rusher Jeremy Johnson and quarterback David Murray. Coming back in the backfield with some playing time is Maurice Williams, Jimmy Ickom while Jason Cooksey will see some playing time at fullback.
“I thought we made a lot of improvement in the backfield and on our offensive line,” Williams said. “I thought our line blocked well, considering their size. We are just young and there is just no other excuse to make. We’re just going to be young and I see a lot of this year’s freshman playing next year.”
Williams said he was impressed with the improvement in the backfield and at split end.
“We have changed our offense up some and we didn’t read our blocks like we should have,” Williams said. “But from the first day of spring until the last, the backs have made the biggest improvement. I was also impressed with the way our split ends were stalk blocking down field. I though the young kids played well and bowed up against some of the other guys. I’ve really being impressed with our older guys, they have really encouraged the younger kids. And hey, our kicker made five out of six PATs so that’s a big improvement.”
Williams said the team will a week or two off after school is out and then begin the summer weight program.
“The kids are looking forward to the summer so they can get stronger,” Williams said. “We are going to lift three days a week all summer long. The quarterback and receivers will get together and do some passing drills and we’ll go to a camp. We need to work on our passing game and the summer is a good time to do that.”

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