Pro sports leagues are finding success playing within a “bubble” of safety from the coronavirus.
But while players being paid millions to stay sheltered from the public is one thing, teenagers trying to stay healthy playing high school sports is quite another.
In his first year as head coach of the Hillsboro football team, Bill Sucharski is preparing the Hawks for what could be a season of tumult because of COVID-19 concerns. But he gets to do it with two of the premier players in the Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division.
Senior offensive lineman/defensive end Zach McNees and sophomore running back/linebacker Jaxin Patterson both were selected to the all-conference first team in 2019. McNees piled up 21 tackles for a loss and five sacks as the Hawks’ chief marauder on defense. Patterson concluded a monster breakout freshman campaign with 1,364 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns, both team highs.
“The kids aren’t going to live in a bubble,” Sucharski said. “They have friends outside of football. If a kid in one sport tests positive (for COVID-19), have they been around someone in another sport?
“We haven’t had any (coronavirus) cases (among the) football players. We had a couple players get tested and they were negative. They had seasonal allergies.”
Hillsboro has close to 90 athletes who’ve come out for football, from freshmen through seniors. One of the biggest responsibilities for the Hawk coaching staff is to keep all of those players separated. When they’re in the locker room, they have to wear masks. When watching film, they gather in smaller groups than usual.
“They have to watch film to see what they’re doing wrong,” Sucharski said. “We had 60 kids in our junior high camp. That’s about 150 kids (total) and with COVID it’s hard to socially distance everything.”
The Hawks have 13 seniors their roster. In 2017, when Hillsboro reached the Class 4 quarterfinals, it had 25 seniors. Since that class graduated, the Hawks have a record of 8-15, and more notably, they were a combined 2-8 in the last five games of 2018 and 2019. Cape Girardeau Central crushed Hillsboro 48-8 in the Class 4 District 1 semifinals last season.
Depending on how the Missouri State High School Activities Association classifies football teams for this season – the schools were still awaiting their class assignments this week – the Hawks could “play up” two classes in their season opener Friday at Northwest. The Lions competed in Class 6 last year. The two Jefferson County schools haven’t played each other in at least 20 years. Sucharski is a 1996 Hillsboro graduate and remembers regularly playing Northwest in the 1990s.
“It’s nice to get back together with an opponent you played a long time ago,” Sucharski said.
Patterson rushed the ball 36 or more times in four games last year. Sucharski said Patterson was never supposed to carry the ball that many times in a game, but injuries to other members of the backfield and Patterson’s sheer will and talent led to that surge in workload.
“He has really good vision and the unique ability to get through a very small hole,” Sucharski said. “He’s not afraid of contact. If you’re hesitant at all, that affects how you run the ball. He’ll tell you he can carry the ball 50 times (per game). He has that competitive drive. He had some things to learn, more so on defense.”
Sucharski said Patterson will have plenty of support in the backfield, although senior Dylan Dace apparently is out after re-injuring the same knee that kept him off the field in 2019. Dace wasn’t practicing with the Hawks when he suffered the injury this summer.
Austin Romaine was carving out his own special freshman season last year until he got injured against Festus. Romaine, then a fullback, had a 47-yard touchdown run against the Tigers in a 39-14 victory. He returned later in the season and finished in top form at linebacker.
Juniors Tyler Watson, Owen Tindall and Bryce Davidson and senior Cody Smith all will get a turn at running back, with juniors John Bennett and Mason White doing the lead blocking at fullback. Bennett churned out 474 yards last year. Sucharski said Watson is bigger and stronger this year.
“He’s grown into his body. He posted plenty of pictures to let us know he was working hard and he’s definitely a kid we know we can give the ball to,” Sucharski said. “I’ve told our backs that if one of you breaks off a long run, we have no problem bringing in someone who’s more fresh and giving them the ball.”
Throwing the football is an afterthought in Hillsboro’s option offense. Sophomore Griffin Ray and junior Junior Arnold are competing for the starting quarterback job. Ray finished fifth at 138 pounds at last season’s Class 3 state wrestling championships. Neither Ray nor Arnold took a snap under center last season.
“They’re good friends and are trying to separate themselves from each other,” Sucharksi said. “They’ve been battling it out in camp and practice and they’ll both get a shot to see who starts on Friday nights.
“We’ve got to throw the ball better and we’ve put more emphasis on getting the balls to our receivers. From the option standpoint, (the two QBs) are very similar; the separation will come from who throws the ball better.”
Seniors Tristan Jones, Max Hildebrand, Grant Johnson and Marcos Lopez will line up at wide receiver. Juniors Tyson White and Andrew Brody will play tight end. Brody also will kick.
Sucharski would like to keep McNees on the defensive side of the ball, but admits McNees probably will start on offense at guard or tackle early in the season. Seniors Elijah Rogers (center-guard) and Hunter Yaeger, juniors Jordan Jarvis (tackle), Tucker Vuylsteke (tackle-center), Greg Sanders (guard) and Wyatt Huskey (guard) and sophomore Ethan Prasuhn are all vying for starting jobs.
“We have a lot of returning snaps from our offensive line,” Sucharski said. “They do play with an edge and a chip on their shoulders.”
McNees, a state qualifier in wrestling at 182, sets one of the edges for the Hillsboro defense. His love of contact makes him the ideal defensive leader.
“He’s tough, he’s physical, he doesn’t complain,” Sucharski said. “He loves the grind and the contact. The more he gets to block or hit somebody, he gets a big smile on his face. When we go to a Power-I formation, he’s our hammer back. He likes to get a big run and block people. He’s definitely a difference-maker for us.”
The offensive linemen will see a rotation on the D-line with sophomore Alex Medina-Tabares playing up front on defense as well.
Joining Romaine and Patterson at linebacker are Bennett, Smith, White and Watson. Patrolling the defensive backfield are Jones, Hildebrand and juniors Cody Bishop and Cruz Valencia. Romaine also will handle the punting duties.
TOMORROW: Windsor