By Stan Veitch/Sports Correspondent
With most of the skill position players returning, Hokes Bluff High coach Mike Robertson is mainly looking for linemen on the offensive side of the ball.
Sophomore quarterback Landon Johnson, junior running back Cam Dowdy, senior running back/receiver Bradley Pruitt, senior fullback Trey Hutchins and junior receiver Fisher Simmons will be back.
That veteran presence provdes Robertson some optimism for the upcoming season.
Last season, Johnson threw for 538 yards and seven touchdowns, Dowdy rushed for 593 yards and seven scores, Hutchins caught 18 passes for 173 yards and Simmons had 42 tackles.
Junior Adam Patterson, senior Levi Nunnally and senior tight end/defensive lineman Drake Naney return on the line.
“To stay healthy is key for us,” Robertson said. “Last year, we started 2-1 before injuries hit hard. But I was proud of last year’s team. It’s hard to play the kind of teams we do with your second team.”
The 2014 Eagles finished 3-7 in a region that contained Cleburne County, Sardis, Crossville, White Plains, Cherokee County, Jacksonville and Saks.
Cleburne County won the region last season, and Robertson said that could easily happen again. He said that every team in the region should be improved over last year.
Hokes Bluff’s non-region schedule is also brutal with Southside, Glencoe and Locust Fork, which went 8-2 last year. Glencoe lost in the Class 3A state semifinals and Southside finished 8-3 in a Class 6A region.
“You can’t make excuses – you just have to line up and play,” Robertson said. “We’ve been kind of thin up front for the last couple of years, so it’s nothing new.”
Jeff Noah, Jake Ball, Brian Sexton and Taylor Morgan make up the rest of the coaching staff.
Robertson noted that all of his assistants except Noah played on the 2001 Class 3A state championship team and said that they’re all as good of coa-ches as they were players.