By BOBBY SUMMERS
CNHI
Rockwall County —
This is the final week of two-a-day workouts before the 2010 high school football season begins for the Royse City Bulldogs. This Friday night the Bulldogs will travel to Little Elm to take on the Lobos in a controlled scrimmage. The freshmen and junior varsity Bulldogs will begin at 5:30 followed by the varsity at about 7:00.
This is a time for the Bulldogs to take out those heated frustrations of banging heads with your own teammates for two weeks. This is the time they can not only bang heads with a stranger, but also see if what they have been working on for the past year is going to work on an unsuspecting opponent.
Heated frustration may be an understatement as the Bulldogs have been suffering through one of the hottest summer pre-season workouts ever. The afternoon temps have been consistently over 100 degrees since the last week of July and heat records have been falling at a record clip as well. In speaking with Royse City Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Greg Strahm, the Bulldog coaching staff have scheduled team water breaks every twenty minutes and making sure that all of the athletes are hydrating as much as possible. Even with those precautionary measures, some players are still falling victims to the extreme temperatures. With the hope for a break in the heat wave, the coaching staff is also very optimistic that the team has been getting some quality practice sessions in to prepare them for their only scrimmage this Friday night.
Speaking of Little Elm, the Lobos will be a very formidable opponent to practice against. Little Elm is a District 4-4A representative. They are in the same district with highly regarded teams such as Denton Ryan, Lake Dallas, Wichita Falls Rider, Wichita Falls, The Colony and Denton High. Some prognosticators predict that Little Elm will be one of the 2010 playoff representatives in that illustrious district.
With that being said, those supporting the Bulldogs with their presence this Friday night might want to take notice of some Little Elm talent. First of all, you can take notice of their new football stadium as the Lobos will be celebrating their fourth year in their new venue. Also new is the Lobos head football coach, Donald Stowers. Coach Stowers is beginning his second season at Little Elm. His first season, he surprised many folks as he led Little Elm to the 4A Division II playoffs. Last season’s playoff team got there by just good old fashion, slug it out, ground it out, hold them out, football. In other words the Lobos ran the ball, a lot, behind a sophomore quarterback that started 11 games and held their opponents out of the end zone with a defense that was one of the best in the area.
That quarterback is Brandon Dudley and he is now a junior. Dudley is expected to be the kingpin in running the option for the Lobos. Last season the Lobos ground game was led by a plethora of sophomore running backs. Juniors Xavier Williams, Darrell Demesme and sophomore to be Devante Pullum all return to tote the mail for Little Elm. The Lobo offensive line should be one of their strengths this year. Not overly big, but strong and experienced.
Defensively the Lobos took a hit by graduation, but there is plenty of talent there to simply reload and not rebuild, especially when you have a first team All-District 6’6” free safety as in senior Sean Breard returning.
Little Elm’s enrollment numbers, 1487, are a bit larger but similar to Royse City’s 1121. They rank as the fifth largest school in the district while Royse City is listed as the smallest school in District 13-4A.
But size does not matter when you’re comparing our eleven to their eleven. That is why I would expect to see the Bulldogs do very well against the Lobos. Experience wise, both teams match up well. Both teams were very young in 2009 and played several sophomores. From a ‘homer’s’ point of view, Royse City’s schedule and district last season was probably stronger. Because of last season’s schedule and the Bulldog’s sophomore talent last season, several fans and opposing teams will see a surprisingly much stronger Royse City football team in 2010.
This is a good time to keep a watch on the Bulldogs defensive line and linebacker crew. Normally teams in scrimmages do not allow their players to wear their normal game numbers. For the obvious reason that it would give away tactical information about their team before the season starts. But underneath whatever number they may be wearing you should see a very strong Bulldog defense this season.
Ryan Perry, Ryon Phillips, J.R. Arredondo and Brody Johnston are all team leading tacklers that return this season for Royse City. These are the young men that go from Mr. Nice Guy on the street to the meanest animal on two legs during those Friday night football matchups. These are the difference makers.
Offensively, the Bulldog’s skill position players are very much improved as well. Quarterback Taylor Corbin returns as a junior with a stronger arm, stronger legs and experience under his helmet that will lead to strong, smart decisions. In 2009, as a sophomore, Corbin completed 177 passes for 2100 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also rushed for 326 yards and three touchdowns.
Corbin will have some very talented targets as well this season in Oscar Crosby and Kris Smith. A healthy Jonathan Burns, gives the Bulldogs a very talented 200 pound running back to give Royse City a balanced attack.
So it all begins this Friday with a sneak peak at Lobo Stadium in Little Elm. Also a commonly asked question is, “What is a Lobo”? A Lobo is a wolf. Some refer to them as the Grey Wolf while others say they are a Timber Wolf, however the term Lobo is Spanish for wolf.
And with that being said, ‘Adios until next week’, when the Bulldogs will kick off the real season by hosting the Mesquite Poteet Pirates at Royse City ISD Stadium on Friday, Aug. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
