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2013 Putnam County Football Preview: Eagles bulking up to prepare for weight of heavy expectations
The South Putnam football team returns the bulk of a roster that finished the 2012 regular season 7-2, including Putnam County's second-highest rated passer (senior Sawyer Arnold) and its leading rusher (junior Lucas Lorian).
The team will also drop from 2A to the smaller-school 1A playoffs where they'll be one of the biggest and most successful schools in the tournament. The Eagles know all this and they're sensing the high expectations.
"It's when you don't have any expectations that you don't have any pressure," South Putnam head coach Troy Burgess said. "If there's pressure it's because you feel like you've got an opportunity to maybe do some things. Pressure isn't all bad, really."
Ever since last season ended, and especially since the new sectional groupings were released in the spring, the Eagles have known there would be higher expectations this year, and they've used that to help motivate them.
Led by Lorian, the team hit the weight room hard over the summer. Lorian finished last season with 1,566 yards and 21 touchdowns, then he spent the offseason bulking up and seems even quicker. With an extra 20 pounds of muscle and another year of maturity he has looked unstoppable in practice.
He's also not the only Eagle with a significant change.
"Our senior class is just; they've been phenomenal," Burgess said. "They've had a great offseason in the weight room. They've gotten bigger and stronger. They've worked these younger guys."
The younger guys, Burgess said, include Zane Yon, the team's kicker the past two seasons, who will begin the year as starting tight end and could play a significant role as an outside linebacker on defense; senior Rudy Harris, who spent the summer toughening up at basic training; and sophomore Grady McHugh, the team's backup quarterback who added 40 pounds to his frame since last year.
Burgess said he'd be comfortable starting McHugh, but that shouldn't be necessary as the Eagles have the only returning starting quarterback in the county, senior Sawyer Arnold.
"He's matured. He's a year older. He's got a better handle on what we're trying to do," Burgess said.
Arnold ran for more than 400 yards last season and threw for 650 more. The Eagles are a running team and they'll rely heavily on Lorian, but with a senior quarterback at the helm Burgess said he is hoping they can open things up a little more this year.
"There's no secrets. We're pretty one-dimensional: we're going to run the football," he said. "The more we can throw the football and the more comfortable he feels throwing the football, the more success we have, it just makes us that much tougher to defend.
"It's not just him. You've still got to be able to pass block. You've got to be able to catch the football. If we can put that together and be able to have a little better passing attack it's just going to make us that much harder to defend."
Even with the extra size and experience, carrying the extra pressure all season will still be a lot to bear. The Eagles will, at times, need to lean on each other for support.
That eventual outcome fits the squad perfectly.
"Our team chemistry is probably as good as it's been since I've been here. These guys like each other," Burgess said. "They either like each other or they're really fooling me because I think they like each other. You just see them hanging out together and it's not just the juniors or the seniors.
"They're all together, and that starts with the senior class."
South Putnam has its work cut out for itself and tough regular season schedule starts at 4A Owen Valley in week one. Of course they're taking things one game at a time, but the Eagles are also peaking at their week five opponent -- the team that shall not be named.
"The team just north of us here is going to be loaded for bear again this year," Burgess said. "Their coach does a great job and they're going to be good. We've got a lot of really good teams on the schedule along the way, but our expectations are (high)."