RICHFIELD, Utah (AP)-Tuesday, with Mid-Utah Radio’s Robert Lovell serving as master of ceremonies and moderator, the first 2-A South football region media day seamlessly occurred.
With the Quality Inn’s Convention Center serving as the host, the head coaches of 2-A South football programs, North Sevier, Enterprise, Grand, Beaver and South Sevier, along with several key players from each squad took the stage. The event was broadcast on local10.tv as well as on midutahradiosports.com.
To start things off, North Sevier was the focal point as head coach Devin Lindley, quarterback Taylor Crane, receiver/defensive back Fernando Elmer, tailback Manny Perez, receiver Kody Christensen and offensive/defensive lineman Braydon Nelson took the stage.
Lindley, who is trying to build the Wolves from the aftermath of a 1-9 record last season, lauded the fact that all his players at the conference were underclassmen.
This includes Crane, a sophomore, who has worked hard to potentially become the team’s starting quarterback for the August 18 season opener against the Wayne Badgers at Salina.
Last year’s starting signal-caller, Stockton Andersen, is an uncertainty to return to the team and while Lindley said he is welcome to return, he said “Taylor [Crane] has earned this.”
Crane, when asked what he can do to assist the team, suggested “he can pick someone else up when they’re down and always make a play.”
Lindley’s praise for his team continued, saying “the guys have bought in,” speaking of their commitment to lift weights and the like during the summer season, which is always busy with activity in the community.
Lindley further stated “we’ve just got to be consistent. The coaching [in 2-A] is phenomenal.”
Lindley also revealed that under the direction of defensive coordinator Wyatt Mason, the base defense will be the 4-3 and “we’re putting more emphasis on the team.”
Lindley further stated that he believes the Mickelson brothers, Brooks and Burke will be “phenomenal and sensational” respectively as key athletes for the Wolves this season.
Nelson, who refers to himself as the “big bad wolf,” was lionized as one who “lives in the weight room” by Lindley as well.
Up next, the Enterprise Wolves, coached by former Juab football star Andy Messersmith, addressed the media.
Enterprise’s star players at the conference included middle linebacker Kasen Peterson, tackle/guard/defensive lineman Josh Lee, linebacker/safety hybrid AJ Anderson and receiver/defensive end Jay Gardner.
Messersmith stated that his goal in coaching at Enterprise is to “get the kids out of the hall and give them a positive experience.”
Gardner cited the Wolves’ togetherness, saying “we’re all together at Enterprise,” and proclaiming that the team practices teamwork both in classes as well as on the football field.
The Wolves have traditionally played a wide variety of teams, including those bigger than themselves. This caused Messersmith to say “we love being the little dog. We’re going to give you all we have.”
Up next were the Grand Red Devils who were represented at the conference by head coach Dennis Wells, strong safety/tailback Dakota Johnson, tailback/quarterback Josh Jones and tailback/outside linebacker Trent Elmore.
Wells optimistically looks toward 2017 as he stated “we only graduated 4 seniors and all of them were replaceable.” He also stated the Red Devils boast 15 seniors this season, including all three of the players on hand with him Tuesday.
Wells further proclaimed “we’re going to have a special team this season.”
Jones, who suffered a litany of injuries last season, including a July 2016 ATV accident and a broken collarbone just after he was cleared to play, proclaimed “my dad isn’t letting me ride 4-wheelers right now and I need to learn to fall better.”
Wells, who also has the distinguished designation as the longest-tenured coach in the region, also spoke of the difficulties of fielding a team in Moab. This is because of its tourist nature making it difficult for kids to come out for football.
Nevertheless, Wells proclaimed the Red Devils are ready to punch any team in the mouth and introduced Jones as a quarterback and tailback because Grand promises to use a litany of varied formations this season to keep defenses off-balance.
Next, the two-time defending 2-A South state champion Beaver Beavers were up to address the media. Featured figures at the conference included head coach Jon Marshall, the Beavers’ third coach in as many seasons, fullback/middle linebacker Tyce Raddon, quarterback/defensive back Porter Hollingshead, offensive/defensive lineman Austin Carter and tight end/defensive end Walter LeBaron.
Marshall, who has also been a long-time successful girls’ basketball coach at Beaver, stated the Beavers return 11 starters in 2017, including five on offense and six on defense.
Marshall, obviously knowing a lot about winning in his career, further proclaimed “winning breeds more winning” and said he expects about 75 kids to come out for football this season.
All told, the Beavers also return 20 seniors which consists of “lots of stability and consistency” for the legendary program which has won 11 state titles, the sixth most in Utah high school football history.
When LeBaron seemed uncertain about what the Beavers’ identity would be based on a question from Lovell, Marshall succinctly declared that it would consist of running the football and stopping the run on defense.
To further illuminate his point, Marshall proclaimed that the buck sweep would be a key component of Beaver’s offensive attack in 2017.
Beaver, who has vanquished South Summit two times in the past two seasons to win state championships, is a key opponent for the Beavers to beat in 2017 as well, Marshall stated.
Beyond this, Delta has been allowed to step down to 2-A football competition in 2017 and the Rabbits have the full attention of the Beavers, according to statements from Marshall, Raddon, Hollingshead, Carter and LeBaron.
Marshall said that with games against South Summit and Delta looming in the non-regino portion of the schedule that “we’ll know where we are pretty quickly. We like to be tested and we want to be tested. Delta is a team everyone will have to contend with.”
Finally, South Sevier finished the press conference with an appearance by head coach Weston Zabriskie, guard/defensive end Mason Schaugaard, slot, defensive back/linebacker Carter Anderson, receiver/defensive back Peydon Wood and defensive end/tailback Tucker Gayler, whom Zabriskie glowingly referred to as “a little gnat.”
Zabriskie also cited star tailback Tyson Chisholm, who is currently in Tonga assisting his dentist father with some teeth appointments among the natives, and called him a strong runner.
Ultimately, a key theme of Zabriskie’s comments was the fact he wants the Rams to play better every week as the season progresses.
Gayler, who was wearing a stylish cowboy hat, proved to be the star of the show as he elicited laughter with his comment “if you’re lazy, the team dislikes you.”
To counter this, Zabriskie replied that this may be how the team feels but he likes all of his players come what may.
Additionally, Zabriskie addressed Lovell’s question about Caleb Barton, last year’s promising quarterback who also excels on the hardwood as a key basketball star.
Zabriskie stated “we’re hoping Caleb Barton will decide to come out,” acknowledging the fact that he takes his basketball quite seriously.
Should Barton opt not to play, Zabriskie had high praise for potential replacement Tracen Winkel who, despite being only 145 pounds, is best known for being a lead blocker on a key running play last season.
Anderson echoed a theme that many other teams at the presser shared, saying the Rams “drive off of being the underdog.”
At the close of the presser, Lovell revealed the preseason expectations for all teams in the region.
The preliminary poll consists of Beaver in first place, San Juan in second, South Sevier in third place, Enterprise in fourth, Grand in fifth and North Sevier in sixth.
Please note that next week, the preseason press conferences continue as Tuesday August 1, the 2-A North region presser will be at Painter’s Motor, located at 1100 N. Main in Nephi. Wednesday August 2, the 3-A South region presser will occur, also at Painter’s with the start time for each event slated for noon.
