Sports Texoma

SHERMAN — It's been a busy month of May for Gary Kinne as he fills out his Sherman High School coaching staff and leads his football team through spring practices.

Entering his second season as head coach and athletic director, Kinne has been pleased with how things have been going in drills, and is looking forward to Thursday's closing intrasquad scrimmage.

"We've had a good spring," Kinne said. "Everyone is working hard, and getting ready for next year. We're trying to find where everybody's going to fit, and what kind of a football team we're going to have."

The start of the drainage project at Bearcat Stadium has been pushed back because of paperwork delays to next week, which means the stadium will be available for Thursday's scrimmage after all. The junior varsity will go first at 6 p.m., with the varsity to follow.

"We kept waiting and we had to make alternate plans," said Kinne, who had booked Austin College for the scrimmage. "But there's no reason to have it at Austin College if we can have it at our place. They were gracious enough to help us out."

Kinne said the delay in construction should not be a problem in the fall, since the first home game is not until Sept. 10 against Highland Park.

The recent turnover in the coaching staff Kinne inherited from predecessor Drew Young has left the team temporarily shorthanded. But Kinne has been busy interviewing replacement assistants, and the coaches that remain are pulling double duty on offense and defense -- what Kinne calls a "throwback situation."

"We felt like the benefits of having spring ball outweighed the fact that we didn't have as many coaches out," Kinne said. "Obviously it's a lot easier when you have a full staff, but we've made do and these guys have done a great job."

The Bearcats, who did not participate in spring ball a year ago, have been busy using the 18 allotted practice sessions to evaluate players for the fall.

"We'd like to have all our starters set by the time spring's over, but kids work hard over the summer, and they change," Kinne said. "There will always be some position battles that linger over into fall, and they'll be battling right up until the first game."

Offensively, all eyes will be on senior Thor Long, who assumes the reins at quarterback.

Long returned to Sherman last summer after spending two years at Callisburg. As a sophomore, Long passed for 3,000 yards, leading the Wildcats three rounds deep into the playoffs. Last fall, he backed up incumbent starter Madison Carter and saw significant mop-up duty, passing for 400 yards.

"He did a great job last year being a team player," Kinne said. "It was a hard situation for him. He was a starter where he was before, and we had Madison coming back, who was a two-year starter. They were both really good football players. Coming into this year, we feel like Thor's really grown. He's learned our system, and everything we want to do. He got here late, and those were some of the things that hindered him last year."

Junior Gus Daniel, who quarterbacked the JV last year, and senior Josh Parks are battling behind Long for the backup role.

The Bearcats will also be counting on running back Zac Whitfield and wide receiver/cornerback Nathan James in the fall. Kinne said there's a likelihood both seniors will play on offense and defense.

"These are guys we're counting on not only to be starters, but leaders," Kinne said. "We're hoping they can take the next step. We know they're going to play a lot of football for us. We don't have a lot of returning starters back, but the ones we do are still there and doing a good job."

Even though it's a rarity in Class 4A for a lot of players to go two ways, defensive coordinator Brent Graham said players will have the opportunity to do so.

"Our kids' mindset is they want to play on both sides of the ball," Graham said, "and it's hard as a coach to try to specialize with kids. You want them to do as much as they're willing to do. By no means are we going to limit them."

The offensive line was all-new a year ago, and will be all-new once again with the exception of junior tackle Diego Mingura, an all-district first-teamer as a sophomore who will move to left tackle.

"Diego's definitely a tremendous player," Kinne said. "We're looking for big things from him this year. It's like him being a senior because he's got a year under his belt. We'll have four new faces at the other spots -- guys who are working hard. There are six or seven guys battling for those four spots. That's definitely one area where it'll go into two-a-days to see who those guys will be."

On defense, the only all-district returnee is senior cornerback Tory Minor, who is expected to return to that position. Senior Kyle Crick returns at defensive tackle, and A.J. Swindell and Robert Gay played in several games because of injuries.

"On the defensive side of the ball we graduated a lot of guys," Graham said. "Tory's still filling his role there so far in the spring, but the rest of them are up for grabs. A lot of guys who played backup roles or had some spot time last year are definitely factoring in, but we have a lot of kids that played on the JV last year that are starting to shine."

Linebackers are key in the 3-4 defense Sherman runs, and replacing four starters there is a priority for Graham.

"Our linebackers were the heart and soul of our defense last year, and we have big shoes to fill," Graham said. "But we definitely have guys here that we feel confident in that can take over and not lose a step along the way. We're excited about the youth here."