Kicking off a new season

Brian Cendejas, Sports Editor|August 29, 2016

Brian Cendejas

Coach David Potts huddles his team around after practice as he discuss his plans for tomorrows game vs. Rustburg

Entering in his second season as head coach of the Trojans, David Potts has only one goal in mind: improving from last year. Potts, who took over the reigns from former head coach Buddy Brown, lead the Trojans to an atrocious 2-8 record last year with both wins coming from Martinsville and Patrick County.

“Last year was very difficult,” said Potts. “We were thin on talent and we were besieged by injuries, so our team got thinner and it showed in the fourth quarter in most of our ballgames. We have been trying to improve our quality of depth and our conditioning so the fourth quarter is an advantage not a disadvantage.”

Last season also saw tired players who were frequently substituted through the majority of the game. Potts said that this was something he needed to change quickly in order to be successful.

“We tried to do more circuit training to get their heart rates up,” said Potts “We’re working on the cardio while we’re doing the strength training and the agility training,” Potts added

Potts also mentioned that the turnout for conditioning has been the best in recent years in terms of numbers. Overall, 17 players had graduated from last years squad, eight of them being starters on offense and defense. Their key losses include Josh Wilson and DaMarcus Wimbush, who both will further their playing career at Bluefield College. David Dean, Will Ashworth, and TeAun Carter were also a few key players that left, but Potts, nevertheless, is optimistic about this year

“We’re younger and inexperienced, but I believe that we have gotten faster and hopefully a little hungrier. I hope we can get more guys on the field that can do the job that needs to be done,” said Potts.

Starting quarterback Luke Buckner hands off the ball to running back Michael Pyrtle.
Brian Cendejas
Starting quarterback Luke Buckner hands off the ball to running back Michael Pyrtle.
Luke Buckner will return as the starting quarterback for a second straight year. Malik Irvin, Tyler Webster and Johnathan Tyler will all see playing time in the slot at different times. Their offensive line will feature Dakota Mills, Sage McBride, and Matt Fulcher as they lead a new group of linemen.  The Trojans will showcase an almost new defense for this year. Two of the defensive returners is Clay Hardy and Trevor Lovelace, who will play in the backfield as well as other positions. Chase Poe will return to safety as Fletcher Hardy will move from a defensive end to  a linebacker. First year senior Ben Donahue will start at the split.
For special teams, Reagan Dillon will move up from junior varsity as he will be taking over the kicking duties.
Kicker Reagan Dillon practices his field goal kicks as Miles Pyrtle holds the ball in place
Brian Cendejas
Kicker Reagan Dillon practices his field goal kicks as Miles Pyrtle holds the ball in place.
“He has a huge leg,” said Potts. “Hopefully the kicking game will take a step forward and I’m hoping we are better on special teams as far as coverage and returns. We weren’t any good [last year] in any phases of the game in special teams.”
“We got a little more speed on varsity this year and we’re trying to hit the edges a little more,” said Potts. “Hopefully our passing game can take a big step forward. We had a good 7 on 7 season and in our first scrimmage game, we threw for more yards than we ran and that is the first time that it happened in a while.”
Tunstall will face Gretna and Dan River in the next two weeks of the season, in which they did not have great success with last season. Tunstall fell to Rustburg last Friday night in a 49-14 blowout.
Tunstall will face Gretna in their first home game of the season on September 2 at 7 p.m.