[Lone Oak Shocker]

Although the western part of the state isn't talked about a whole lot on these boards, I felt like making a bit of an analysis here for my school. Hopefully somebody will be interested. :biggrin:

Lone Oak next year appears to be a set of good news and bad news. The bad news is that we are losing a lot of starting seniors, including our QB, RB, MLB, and alot of both sides of the line. According to the Courier Journal All State teams, we had a single player each in first, second, and third teams, as well as three honorable mentions (I'll talk a little about this later.) Those guys will be missed.

So...the good news? From what I hear, we are actually supposed to be better this upcoming season. Its shocking to me, considering all of the talent that we are losing, but apparently we are going to be reloading very, very well. In fact, the team of 2010 was supposedly pegged as Lone Oak's best shot at a state title in its last few years before the 2009 season even started up. If this is true, then I am nothing short of ecstatic. Of course, you can never tell until it happens, but I'm crossing my fingers and holding my hopes high that my senior year at Lone Oak will end with the Flash finally grasping a state championship title.

So...

Key Losses:

Cameron Looper QB
Matt Starks RB/DB
Carson Beyer WR/LB
Clayton Isenburg WR
Jacob Porter OL
Austin Lambert OL
Jordon Ludovisse OL
Chayton Thacker LB
Chandler Thacker DL
Houston Hopper DL
Cody Cavanaugh DL

Key Returners:

Joe Starks RB/WR
Felix Colon WR/DB
Jared Hill WR/CB
Jack Coorts OL/K
Jay Cain OL
Davonte Wilson LB
Cameron Byrd DL
Clayton Cain DL
Blake Bickerstaff CB


So, as you can see, we are losing alot on both sides of the line. However, its probably not as bad as it seems. After all, the current sophomores have alot of talent to offer, and the freshman class may even have some talent to pick from.

First order of business is replacing our quarterback. Cameron Looper will admittedly be a tough act to follow: he passed for over 3400 yards this season with only one interception, as well as accumulating well over 600 yards rushing. However, we have a quarterback by the name of Tyler Presnell, who will be a Junior, who I’ve heard is actually supposed to have a better arm than Looper! Unfortunately, I don't think that he can run with the ball as well, but from what I understand, our passing game will not suffer from the hands of an incompetent quarterback. If anything, it will only get better.

The next priority is one of my bigger worries. Usually when you think of LO, you think only of the passing offense, to the point where some people don't think that we even have a running game. The fact is, LO's running game this season, though not fantastic, was underrated and very, very dangerous. We got in 99 rushing yards against Boyle, which only two schools this year managed to top. By comparison, Bell County and their loaded backfield managed to get 79 yards rushing against Boyle.

Almost half of the rushing yards accumulated by the Flash this season were made by one player: RB Matt Starks. He ran for 1083 yards on 138 carries, which doesn't seem like much when compared to other 4A backs like Macshara, Davenport, and Raglin, but Starks nevertheless managed to plow through his share of defenses this year. And at 185 lbs, he could do it very well.

Sadly, though, we lose Matt Starks this year, and who will fill his space at RB is questionable. My top two guesses are Joe Starks; a will-be Junior who played RB this year but was far more of a reciever than a rusher; and Brice Wright, a will-be Sophomore RB who played in the second string this year. Both of these guys are supposed to be way faster than Matt, but neither has anywhere close to his power (Matt, from what I've heard, was benching about double his body weight at one point in the year), and their rushing stats don't impress me too much. Then again, Davenport's rushing stats looked hazy his freshman year, and well...you know. So, suffice it to say that LO's running game next year is up in the air after losing their running star. I hope and actually do believe that we will rebuild it, because our twin-headed offense was what made us so deadly this year, and I hope that they recreate it next year.

Anyway...

The Offensive Line was one of LO's biggest aids this year. We had an OUTSTANDING line this year that kept our QB in the pocket all day long against anybody. Sadly, three of those guys are gone: Jordan Loudovisse, Alex Lambert, and Jacob Porter (who made second-team on the Courier Jounal's All State Team list.) Fortunately, both of our guards are returning as Seniors: Jay Cain (265 lbs.) and Jack Coorts (235 lbs.) As well, we've got a bunch of lineman with decent size that can fill in the slots on either side of the line. Right off the top of my head as possibilities include (and I announce the grade they will be next year), senior Zane Smithson (240 lbs.), junior Connor English (245 lbs.), junior Wes Currin (275 lbs.), and Sophomore Darren Sullenger (255 lbs.) I'm not sure if all of these guys will be starting, or if they do, which side of the line they will be starting on, but I just don't think LO will have much trouble size-wise filling the gaps left behind.

Speaking of the line, I'll go over our DL while I'm at it. We lost most of our DL in Cody Cavanaugh, Houston Hopper, and Chandler Thacker (who was an honorable mention in the Courier Journal All State Team, but was injured and unable to play against Boyle County.) Fortunately, we keep juniors to-be Cameron Byrd (205 lbs.) at DE, and Clayton Cain (280 lbs.) at DT. However, as I said earlier, we should have the size and strength in our pool of players to compensate, though I'm not completely sure who will go where.

Next up is our DB's. Fortunately, we only lose on man in the Secondary, though he is a very good one: Matt Starks (the aformentioned RB). Matt Starks was on the Third Team All State as a Safety, so he will not only be missed for his offensive potential, but also for his defensive coverage as well. However, we do manage to keep both of our corners (Jared Hill and Blake Bickerstaff), as well as an amazing safety (Felix Colon). I think that our DB's should be covered for next year.

However, our LB corps aren't quite as lucky. We lost two this year, one of them being Carson Beyer, and the other one being Chayton Thacker. Chayton has lead LO in tackles since he was a sophomore, and was on the 1st Team All State according to the Courier Journal, right beside Lamar Dawson, John Dudley Hilton, and Tim Patterson. His speed and size shut down offenses throughout for the past few years, and his absence at MLB is my single biggest worry.

On the bright side, however, is that we maintain OLB Senior-to-be Davonte Wilson, who is a bit smaller, but is very strong and quick. I also believe that there are plenty of people in the upcoming Junior class who will make applicable LB's, so I'm holding my hopes up high that our LB corps will be ship-shape by next year.

Now, between the loss of our major RB and our major MLB, it seems like LO is making some big losses. However, we've got one more area to cover, and its the one area that we'll probably have NO problems in.

This year, our combined WR corps were perhaps some of the best in the state. We had about six people who consistently caught passes this season, and we only lose half of those guys to graduation. Our losses are Matt Starks (our major runner was also a big time Reciever), at 593 yards, Carson Beyer at 810 yards, and Clayton Isenburg at 191 yards. These were all assets to the team, but they will be easily replaced.

The other half of our Reciever corps were sophomores this year, and will most likely be doing even better going into their Junior year. All three of these guys started year round, and all started at state: Joe Starks at 799 yards, Felix Colon at 760 yards, and Jared Hill at 430 yards. Expect all three of these players to do even better next year.

So, even with just those three playing, LO's passing offense would probably surpass most of those in the state. However, we have so many good possible receiver to fill in the remaining spots that its baffling. Options include Senior to be Braydon Hopper, Junior to be Carson Isenburg, and Sophomores to be Joe-Shawn Starks and Derek Collier. In addition, if Brice Wright ends up starting as RB, he will have to be able to catch a pass as well as any reciever on the field.

Clearly, we have no problems at WR, and with a good passing QB, our offense should be every bit as explosive as it has been the past few years.

So, although we lose a lot, if we can get our positions at RB and MLB together, than we should be better than we were this year, and thus be a major contender for the 4A title in 2010. Of course, only time will tell how good we truly will be, and I know Bell County has got a heck of a team next year, but I'm warning you guys in the east: don't snicker and laugh at Lone Oak like you guys did this year, lest you regret it.