1996

WEEK 0 F __

ECCC coaches feel this could be 'the year' for the Warriors

With the return of 19 lettermen from last year's 2·8 squad plus an excellent recruiting class, East Central Community College foot· ball coaches felt that 1996 could be "the year" to produce a winning campaign. Willie Coats, now is in his second year at the Warrior helm, said this group of student athletes is ready to meet the challenge of another tough schedule. 'We will be more competitive than last year, mainly because we have better and more expenenced athlete:>. Player attitudes are great and we were certainly pleased that most everyone reported in good physical shape. lf we can get off to a good start, our players will gam the confidence they need to believe that they can be successful. If that happens, we should be okay," Coats said. Last year the Warriors relied mainly on freshman players, as 19 of 22 starters were first-year sqaad members. This season East Central will start mostly sophomores, with eight on defense and nine on offense. Coats said top offensive returnees include quarterback Jake Kizziah (6·2, 205) of Tuscaloosa, Ala.; fullback Steve Bradford (6', 226) and tailback Derrell Reed (5·10, 205), both of Forest; wide receivers TimLivingston (5-10, 170) of Carthage and Calvin Williams (5-11, 185) of Walnut Grove; center Marcus Holmes (5-11, 256) of Louisville, quick tackle Ryan Stokley {6-1, 257) of Morton and qutck guard Russell McCann (5-11, 24-l) of Cone– hatta. On the defenstve side of the ptgskin top returnees include defens1vc end eal Keeton

(6-1, 245) and linebacker Jtmrny Kinc.11d (ft 204), both of Morton; hnebarker Kcmb, Bryant (6-1, 215) of Atlanta, G1.'0rgta; ant dt>fenstvc backs Ashanti Webb (5·11, 18::l) 0 1 Tampa. Fla., Mark Thomas (5·10, 185) anci Jeff Rowell (5-11, 205), both of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Xavier Thomas (5-11, 20:;) of llolt Ala. Coats sa1d the kicking game should be m good shape led by freshmen Shaun Walker (5-9, 163) of Morton and AI Hunt (5·10, 1%) of Honea, S.C. Hunt is also expected to s...~ plenty of acoon in the quarterback ~lot. East Central begins the 1996 campaign by travehng to Holmes Comrnuruty College on Thursday, Sept. 5. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. oh the Goodman campus. The Warriors' first home gaml' ts agilinst Northeast Miss. Community College \dth kickoff slated at 6:30 p.m. on Thur"day, Sept 12. Homecoming is scheduled Saturda}. Oct 12 agaimt Hinds Community College. Kick· off is set for 2:30p.m. in Warnor Stadium. A~~isting Coach Coats this year are Terry Underwood (defensive coordinator, line· backers), Tunmy. Coats (defenstve backs), Fredrick Lyons (defensive linemen), Jon Williams (offensive linemen) and Juan Beck– um (wide receivers and Hght ends). In addi· tion to serving as head coach, Co.1t~ will ~rve as offensive coordinator and coach quarterbacks and runrung back. For ~ason ticket information contact the ECCC Athlet1c Department. Decatur, M~ .39327 or phone 635·2111, ext 310

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