VALRICO - Newsome coach Floyd Graham said the good news about his team this season is it has 22 starters back. But, in their second season, the Wolves have a tough schedule.
The Wolves use a Wing-T formation an mostly run. Newsome used a lot of sweeps, dives up the middle and modified options last season and plans to repeat.
In its inaugural season the team was 1-9. This year Graham says he will be happy if Newsome continues to grow, improve and play consistent football.
"We are using a fairly safe offense for this point in our program by working hard on a ground game and building up the defense," Graham said. "We finished last year's schedule as a pretty competitive team. Now we need to get better."
Another plus for the team is the large number of seniors. The Wolves have 28 and they have played before their Wolves debut last season.
Newsome will play its final season as an independent. Next year it will be in a district.
THROUGH THE AIR: Tim Maguire won the quarterback job last season as a sophomore and still is demonstrating the leadership qualities that earned him a spot on the starting unit, Graham said.
The 6-foot-1, 160-pound junior doesn't pass much, but when he does the Wolves have a solid offensive line to protect him.
Junior strongside guard Joel Scott, junior strongside tackle Gary Beemer and sophomore weakside tackle Chaz Hine lead the offensive line.
Graham said they work well together and are all smart, tough and savvy.
ON THE GROUND: Three seniors are skilled at working with Maguire and, with a seasoned offensive line, could make a lot of yardage.
Against Durant in the spring jamboree, Mike Ivey, Will Pullie and Seth Telyndel combined to rush for 141 yards.
Ivey is the hard-nosed fullback who runs straight ahead, into, through or over anyone in his path. Pullie is elusive. The halfback is fast enough to get outside and can break away for long yardage. Telyndel is the wingback, primary a blocker. Graham says he is unselfish, because though he knows the other backs will get the ball the most, he still makes a block on every play.
"Our offense is about three yards and a cloud of dust," Graham said. "If we play with consistency, hold on to the ball and control the clock, we should win some games this year."
DEFENSE: Kenneth Hiscock came from Durant this year as coordinator. He has been working on plans and lining up some players since he arrived and Graham has high hopes of a solid defense.
The Wolves mostly run a 4-3 or 4-4 defense similar to Durant, but will adjust to the talent.
Graham is especially pleased with the linebacker corps. Kyle Burdine, Austin Burdick and Adrian Vallenilla are the starters. They work well together, are hard tacklers and complement each other.
Burdick is on the strongside and has a nose for the ball. From the weakside, Vallenilla aggressively attacks ballcarriers. From the middle, Burdine reads well and calls the defense. He is fast and aggressive. Graham says his other sport is boxing.
