Bob Jones wraps up spring football, Rose looking for starters
Bob Jones’ football team wrapped up spring practice with a spring game against Austin at Ogle Stadium in Decatur on Thursday night. There were plenty of new faces for the Patriots who finished 10-2 last season but will lose a boatload of talent on both sides of the ball for the upcoming season.
When the unprecedented graduation losses are totaled, only three starters return on each side of the ball. Many of those graduating were three year starters who now are going on to play college football.
“These guys have to grow up and understand that the torch has been passed to them and it is time to get in there and play,” said Bob Jones head football coach Kevin Rose.
“I definitely think it is going to be a challenging year for us. When you lose nine starters on each side of the ball in 6A football that is hard to overcome. With the school switch we lost some kids there but we got 90 kids and we’re going to do a good job coaching them up,” Rose added.
One of the few returning starters is running back Kevin Wright who got the game’s first score on a 4 yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Bob Jones new kicker, Mitchell Holden missed the extra point. Austin answered with two long touchdown drives as the Black Bears gashed Bob Jones’ defense with long runs by Josh Walker. Walker was over 100 yards by halftime.
Bob Jones fans got their first look at one of the most promising players to transfer to the school in years and who will play in 2012, speedster Ben Washington who sat out last season after transferring fromNorth Carolina. He wasted no time impressing the coaches as he made big plays every time he touched the ball against a surprised Austin team. He had one long kickoff return called back due to a penalty and later he took a kickoff the distance for a touchdown to tie the score at 14 in the second quarter.
“He is very athletic probably the most athletic kid we got,” Rose said. “The kickoff return was a great example of that and we’re looking for good things from him. We will have to find a way to get him the ball in the passing game and some running plays. We are going to have to develop a game plan to get him 8 to 10 touches every game.”
After Washington’s touchdown run, Austin kicked short squib kicks to prevent any more Washington runbacks.
Austin added a field goal to make it 17-14 at the half and a touchdown in the third quarter to make the varsity final 24-14. The junior varsity teams for both schools took over to play the fourth quarter.
One position getting a lot of attention this spring is quarterback. The competition is wide open and three players took turns quarterbacking the varsity. Tre Bates is the one with the most experience. Tyler Whalen and Seth Parker are also in the mix and both played.
“We have not decided on a quarterback yet,” Rose said. “They all have done some positive things this spring.”
Rose will also have to find replacements for Andrew Dunn who was both the punter and kicker last season.
The off season work that starts June 4 for the Patriots will go a long ways to determine who the starting quarterback will be. Bob Jones will practice for and play in two seven-on-seven tournaments this summer, one of which they will host on June 21st and 22nd.
“One of them will emerge and if we don’t have a clear number one we will play more than one. They are good kids and gives us a chance to win so I am not opposed to swap them there like you can at any position,” Rose said.
“We came out of here healthy,” Rose said of the varsity’s performance. “I didn’t play any of our number one skill guys in the second half. I felt at halftime it was a pretty evenly played game and I didn’t want to risk bringing them out here in a spring game.”
