For Baptist Prep, it's kind of like hitting the reset button, Coach Morgan Cruce said on the heels of an 0-10 season last fall at the west Little Rock Class 4A private school.
Cruce's second team features only 23 players, but the bulk are sophomores who tasted some success last season in junior high.
Eagles at a glance
COACH Morgan Cruce
CONFERENCE 2-4A
2016 RECORD 0-10, 0-7 2-4A
KEY RETURNERS OL/DL Tyler Holmes (Sr., 5-9, 210); OL/DL Seth Lybrand (Jr., 6-0, 240); FB/LB Jadyn Howard (Jr., 5-9, 170)
SCHEDULE
Today;McGehee^
Sept. 8;at Rison
Sept. 15;at Joe T. Robinson
Sept. 22;at Helena-West Helena*
Sept. 29;at Lonoke*
Oct. 6;Stuttgart*
Oct. 13;Heber Springs*
Oct. 20;at Riverview*
Oct. 27;at Central Ark. Christian*
Nov. 3;S. Batesville*
^At War Memorial Stadium, LR
*2-4A Conference game
"With us losing a lot of seniors, it's a totally different vibe about the program," said Cruce, whose Eagles open their season today against McGehee at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. "We've got 13 sophomores, so those guys bring in kind of ... a new feel. It's not necessarily a start-over. It's more of actually we've taken a step in our program."
Baptist Prep, which returns seven starters from a team that lost two games by six points, had been a pass-happy Spread program before Cruce's arrival in early 2016 from Gibson County High School in Dyer, Tenn.
Cruce implemented a switch to a run-heavy Flexbone or Double-Slot scheme.
Instead of "trips right" or "trips left" -- staples of the Spread vocabulary -- "triple option" is a buzzword at Baptist Prep, which averaged 222.5 rushing yards per game last fall.
"It was a huge change, even so much as I had parents cheering when we just threw a 15-yard incompletion, just because we threw the ball," Cruce said.
Cruce said the Eagles were "pretty effective" from "20 to 20" last fall, but were often derailed by mistakes in the "red zone."
Becoming more disciplined was stressed to players in the offseason.
"We've really harped on paying attention to the details," Cruce said.
Cruce said one sophomore he will lean heavily on is quarterback Jax Coleman, who helped the junior high team win three games last fall.
Cruce calls the 5-9, 135-pounder "a natural born leader."
"In junior high, I saw him last year just find ways to get things done," Cruce said.
Cruce said he doesn't believe the Eagles will have a 1,300-yard rusher like fullback Luke Vaden (now a freshman wide receiver at Ouachita Baptist), but figure to have multiple players with more than 500 yards this fall.
The offensive line is headed by Tyler Holmes, 5-9, 210, one of four seniors, and junior Seth Lybrand, 6-0, 240.
Defensively, Baptist Prep is switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3 because of a dearth of linebackers, Cruce said.
Cruce also experienced an 0-10 season in 2012, his first as coach at Gibson County. By 2015, it was knocking on the playoff door with four victories.
"I told my wife how ironically similar the whole situation has been, year 1 and 2 at both places," Cruce said. "They'll be some improvement from the standpoint of we will be in several ballgames. I think these kids have got what it takes to squeak out some games that we shouldn't win."
Sports on 08/28/2017