[catscards]

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Spring ball has Jackets focused on improving for 2012
by JAY COMPTON
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Sports Editor The Middlesboro Daily News

The Middlesboro Yellow Jackets started on-field work this week, hoping to lay the groundwork for a big step forward in the 2012 season. The Jackets went 4-7 last year with a roster composed of mostly sophomores and freshmen. Coach Randy Frazier has the team going through spring practice for the first time and is excited about what he’s seen so far.
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“We started spring ball this year. You look around and it’s growing every day. We started last week and we’ve got 30 kids dressed for spring football — baseball and tennis are going on and we’ve got kids on those teams that can’t be out here,” the coach said. “I’m very pleased with how we’ve started out.
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“The great thing about it is that this is probably one of the strongest teams I’ve been a part of. They’ve been in the weight room and as a whole team we’re going to be so much stronger than we were last year. We’re still going to be young, we’ve got about three seniors, but those young kids have been getting after it in the weight room.”
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Middlesboro is replacing a few key seniors from last year’s team, most notably record-setting quarterback Chase Roark and offensive line anchor Denny Buis.
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“We’re going to miss those guys like Chase Roark, Danny Buis, DeShawn Harris, all of those seniors we had,” Frazier said. “They were good football players, but we feel like we’ve got a lot of kids that can step up and do a lot of the things we’re going to need them to.”
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Rising sophomore Major Edwards is in line to take over at quarterback, and the Jackets will be turning to a more balanced offense in 2012.
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“We’re putting in a relatively new offensive system. It’s not completely new, we’re still going to spread it out and throw the ball with Zack Riddle, Austin Poindexter and those receivers we have,” Frazier added. “All of our running backs are a year older, the linemen are a year older and we want to be able to take advantage of what our strengths are.”
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Rising senior Tanner Mike leads a deep group of running backs that includes sophomores Jake Barton, Parker Uhl and Jake Brock. In addition to the spread look, Middlesboro will also be lining up in a wishbone formation and the wing t to take advantage of that depth. There’s also a package utilizing Mike as a “Wildcat” quarterback.
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“They’ve got me a wildcat package, they’ve got me at running back, they’ve got me playing the slot and at the receiver position,” said Mike. I’m feeling good about the changes we’re making and feel like I should have my yards and everything.”
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He added that the new offense helps the entire team to be more physical.
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“We’ve got those linemen thinking I get to pull, I get to do whatever. It makes the team more furious,” Mike said. “(Thursday) was just our second practice so we’re still trying to get to know everybody. We’re going to throw it less and we’re going to have more backs on the field. It’s going to be different, but it’s going to help us because we don’t have the quarterback we had before.”
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The receivers are also on board as rising senior Zack Riddle and rising junior Austin Poindexter have been busy most of this week passing along their knowledge of the position to younger players.
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“Being a senior, we’re helping these younger guys to get better. It’s been great,” Riddle said of the spring practices. “The first day we made good progress, it’s a chance to teach the younger guys what we can. We’re learning a new offense as best as we can. I like the changes, it’s what’s best for the team.”
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“I’m getting my technique down, catching some balls and getting my hands ready for this year,” added Poindexter. “We want to make a big change this year in football. We’re coming together pretty good right now, we’ve got some young people but we can work around it. I feel like we’re going to be alright.”
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Edwards has also been spending time at the football practices before joining the baseball team. He’s been getting throws in to his receiving corps as they work on getting their timing down.
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“Major was our JV quarterback last year and he’s going to step into that spot. He’s excited about it,” Frazier said. “And Tanner Mike, we’re going to have a package for him at quarterback as well. Tanner can play anywhere you put him.”
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Rising junior Tyler Prater, also involved with the baseball team right now, came on strong last year as force on both the offensive and defensive lines. He’s been coming out before baseball practice and games to work with the younger linemen. As Frazier prepares for his third season as the Jacket head coach, he feels like most of the team are now “his guys.” Prater is a prime example of a junior taking on a leadership role after working with Frazier the last two seasons.
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“That’s what we said when we came in: our next year’s juniors are all our players and you can see that with how they’re working with the younger guys,” the coach said. “Prater has been doing a great job and we feel good about our offensive line. We’ve got kids that can step in that are as strong or stronger than what we’ve had. We’ve just got to teach them that techniques and that’s what spring ball is all about.”
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Among that group are three sophomores hoping to earn starting positions in Matthew Schneider, Jason Huddleston and Cameron Stephney. Schneider and Huddleston saw the most playing time a year ago, while Stephney says he learned he has to work harder.
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“I’ve never done spring practice before and since football has been out, I’ve been kind of lazy,” Stephney said. “It’s a chance to work on my conditioning and my stance. I’m going to work a little bit harder so I can start. This is showing me all the people that I’ve got to work harder than to show the coaches that I’m ready to be a starter.”
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“I love it and things are going great,” Huddleston said of spring practice. “We’re learning the basics and trying to teach the younger kids things like getting into their stances and spacing.”
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Schneider saw the most playing time of the group and says the spring drills are a big help.
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“It’s a great thing to get everyone out here and see where they’re at. It’s always good to be playing football,” he said. “We’re pretty much just working on a lot of form so we won’t have to spend time working on that before the regular season. We’re getting a lot stronger and that was probably our weakness last year.”
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Frazier is glad to have good participation in the spring and says it shows the kids are maturing and focused on being a winning team in the fall.
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“You hear a lot of people in the community talking about what kind of discipline are we going to have. I’m here to tell them right now that the discipline is right back were it should be” he said. “Our kids are focused on spring ball and the weight room and that’s the way it carries over into the fall. We’re just excited about getting started.”
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[KYcoach]

thecoachtracker.com says that as of 4/20 Middlesboro needs a new head football coach. I hadn't seen anything about it anywhere else. Is this an error or is there truth to it?

[Intimidator]

False and CC you really should post a link to the story for copyright purposes.