Bulldogs prepare for upcoming season
By Steve Diffey
Director of Sports Information
Holmes Community College
Lots of new faces will take the field for the 2011 Holmes Community College Bulldogs this fall including new players, head coach and coaching staff.
Jeff Koonz begins his first season as head coach of the Bulldogs. His coordinators are Mike McCarty on the offensive side of the ball, Terry Ursin on the defensive side of the ball and Floyd White on special teams. Assistant coaches include: Kyle Koets, offensive line; Carlos Andrews, wide receivers; and Jesse Ward, running backs.
With all things new, it's been an adjustment for everyone. "The players are working really hard learning new schemes," Koonz said. "It's a new scheme on both sides of the ball. Being as young as we are going to be, it's going to take a little time for things to jell.
"Their attitude has been very good," he added. "We made it through the dog days. The heat was challenging, and it's been a tough camp. The players have hung in there. I've seen some good competition on both sides of the ball.
"We are trying to put them in as many game-like situations to see how they respond," he added. "There have been some good flashes of execution on both sides of the ball but not as consistent as we need to be. We have been identifying what we can and can't do. We are narrowing down and working on the things to help us be successful on game day."
Koonz said offensively the style of play will be the team's strength. "It's going to be up-tempo, fast paced. We are going to have to play well as a unit. I like our balance. We have several guys that we can put the ball in their hands and let them do something with. What I like is that we don't just have to go to just one or two guys."
Defensively, the Bulldogs will swarm to the ball. "We need to put 11 guys with the bad case of the 'wants' on the field," Koonz said. "We emphasize swarming the ball. We don't have the dominating big athletes so we'll have to attack from different areas. We will move the front a good bit and the blitz will be big for us. The secondary will also have a lot of different coverages."
Overall, Bulldog fans can see, "a bunch of young men who want to compete and represent the school on/off the field the right way," Koonz said. "Our main concentration is building a foundation that leads to success consistently."
Offense
Matt Hamner (6-4, 195, Maplesville, Ala.) is currently holding down the starting position at quarterback for the Bulldogs. Other quarterbacks are Nolan Genovese (5-11, 195, Corinth) and Dennis Robertson (6-3, 225, Gulfport).
Running backs include Ladarius Redditt (5-10, 205, Grenada, Grenada High), John Kern (5-11, 220, Kosciusko, Kosciusko High), Jacorie Ousley (5-9, 185, Canton, Canton High), Anthony Green (5-8, 175, Canton, Velma Jackson) and Cortez Frizzell (5-9, 190, Durant, Durant High School).
Slot receivers include Marco Taylor (5-8, 175, Flora, Madison Central), Jamal Bass (5-6, 185, Ridgeland, Ridgeland High), Damarious Randall (5-10, 180, Pensacola, Fla.), Xavier Griffen (5-7, 170, Flora, Madison Central) and Ledrick Patterson (6, 175, Maben, East Webster).
Wide receivers are Jamel Johnson (6-3, 205, Montgomery, Ala., transfer from Troy University), Jon Rumph (6-5, 200, Cayce, S.C.) Elvin Crisp (6-1, 175, Ridgeland, Ridgeland High), David Millsap (6-2, 180, Canton, Canton High) and Kamry Owens (6-4, 207, Ridgeland, Madison-Ridgeland Academy).
The current starting five along the front includes: Shawn Pee (6-5, 280, Ethel, Winona Christian), left tackle; Jamarcus Robinson (6-2, 320, Canton, Canton High), left guard; Steven Ratcliff (6, 300, Canton, Canton High), center; Jamar Caldwell (6-3, 305, Canton, Canton High), right guard; and Davis Johnson (6-6, 300, Madison, Madison Central), right tackle. Others battling for playing time are Addarious Willis (6-6, 385, Grenada, Grenada High), guard; Deon Hemphill (6-3, 350, Kilmichael, Montgomery County), guard; Dudley Moore (6, 285, Goodman, McAdams), guard; and Will Sigh (6, 275, Madison, Madison Central), center.
Brett Warren (6, 230, Canton, Canton Academy) returns at tight end with David Carter (6-1, 235, Winona, Winona High) battling him for playing time.
Mitch Huff (5-9, 170, Canton, Madison Central) is holding down both the placekicking and punting duties while Eddie Duncan (5-10, 180, Kosciusko, Kosciusko High) is pushing him at punter. David Carter will be the long snapper.
Defense
Along the front, Bobby Hill (6-2, 230, Eupora, Eupora High) is a defensive end along with Justin Brown (6-1, 230, Pearl), Kelby Reed (6-2, 315, Flora) is at defensive tackle while Terrence Miller (5-10, 295, Weir, Weir High) is at nose guard. Jaylon Winfrey (5-11, 240, Baton Rouge, La.) and Tyler Wiltshire (5-10, 200, Vaiden, Winona High) are battling for time at defensive end while Alex Poole (6-2, 255, Grenada, Grenada High) is at defensive tackle.
First team linebackers include Jewell Ratliff (6-1, 230, New Orleans, transfer from the University of Kentucky); Reggie Brown (5-9, 190, Tillatoba, Coffeeville); and Marcus Edget (6-1, 195, Grenada, Grenada High). Other linebackers are Robert Lowe (5-9, 200, Durant, Durant High), Bronterious Jakes (6, 225, Pheonix City, Ala.) and Wiltshire.
At cornerback are Josten Day (6-1, 175, Byram, Terry High) and Terry Mitchell (5-10, 175, Canton, Canton High). Wesley Jackson (5-8, 180, Ridgeland, Madison Central) and Cedric Tillman (5-10, 180, Greanda, Grenada High) are also cornerbacks.
Dahendrick Thompson (5-11, 195, Flora, Madison Central) is the number one strong safety and is being pushed by Dalvin Taylor (6-1, 180, Holcomb, Grenada High). At free safety will be Taj Letman (6-2, 185, Elberton, Ga.) and Miguel Graham (6-1, 185, Maben, East Webster).
The Bulldogs open the season on Sept. 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Southwest Mississippi Community College. The home schedule begins on Sept. 8 at 7 p.m.