2011

honors in 20 I0 and is a three– timeAll-Conference selection. "Rob averaged in excess of 42 yards per punt, which is a great average at any level," Ander– son said. "His average will probably soar since he will only be punting and not play– mg other posittons hke he dtd •n h gh school ., l.:.>t :.eason and rece1\ed hon– orablemention honors m2009. "Dylan had 48 touchbacks last season. \\hich was a remark– ahle a..:complishment,'' said Anderson. "Ofcourse he'll be ktckmg offtrom the 30 yard line in college (instead of the 40), so we don't expect90 per- tnd zone. But ne\ertheles. he- has a great foot and \\til be tremendou, asset for our spe- cial teams, 85 V.lll Rob." Members ofCoach Anderson' staffinclude Blake Franer. do- fensi ve coordmator; Dere~ Pouncey, defensJ\e hne; Ke"tl' Houston, defensJ\ e bac1. s Houston, TX: Lavadius Lyles (5 -8, 180) and Cameron Stowers (6-2. 194), both of Forest; KeiVondreWatford (6- 4, 220) of Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Central Hlgh School; and Brock Hall (6-3, 200) of Paul W. Bryant High School in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Tin~mons, wllo ~Rt out the 20 I0 campaign, was rated the top receiver m Texas m 2009. The same year he \\as named to the ParadeAll-Ameri· can. U.S. All-American and Texas All-State squads. In ad– dition, he recetvedA11-State and All-District honors for 2007, 2008 and 2009.

players mentioned, Ander-•on said other ~tandouts include ends LaKenneth Weidman ( 6- 5, 23 3) of South Leake and Vondrick 1 UCIOUS ( 6-6, 270)of Tuscaloosa County; tackle Kalvin Smith (6-1, 302) of Newton County; linebackers Ricky C.avanaugh(6-2, 215) of LBJ High School in Austin. TX Darius Wren 5-l 0 20 1

nidAnderson. Anderson said this year's spe ctal teams wiJJ be much im proved with the addition o punter RobMoffitt ofWinsto1 Academy and kicker Dyla1 Alford ofLeake Academy. ''We' ve not had 1 punter hke Rob or a kicker I ik< Dylan since r,e been here,' ,; td Ande n. ~The e tv.c

"Statistically, we have been very competitive on both sides of the ball," said Anderson, referring to the suc– cess ofthe 20 I 0 squad, whtch finished fourth in total offense and second in total defense in the MACJC and placed in the top 20 in both categoric5 na– tionall). UB::t there ar~ three– phases to a football game - of– fense, defense and spectal teams - and we have not been consistent with our special teams." Offensively, Ander– son expects success to con– rnue in pilmg up chunks of yardage, even though a frrst– year quarterback will once agam be at the helm. The Warrior offense was led last year by freshman Blake Maiheme, who completed 122 of226 passes for 1,652 yards and nme scores m ::!010. He a\– emged IS2 ..! yards per contest. btheme, product of Belle Ch.sse High ~chool mNev. Or– eans., tS continwng hls career t Mai) Hardin Baylor in Texas. Taking the reins for this year's squad is freshman Mitch \1anley, a product of Pinsburg tTX) High School. Manley( 6-5, 216) receJ\ edAU– DJstrict honors for three con– secutt\ e years and was a pre– seasonAll-State selecnon his senior season. "Mnch has the tal– ent and leadership ability to successfulJy lead the offense," saidAnderson. ''Mitch is very cerebral....he understands situ– afums._and can !ll.anl!&e ose situations mto successful out– comes. He is very good at read– ing defenses and making the necessary adjustments to ex– ecute a play. We are looking for great things fromMitch and the offense this season." Anderson satd Manley will have a talented ;orps ofreceivers from w.l'iirh

said Anderson. "He is a very sharp kid and can do multiple things. We are excited to have him in our offense.'· Stowers was also a key mem– ber of the state champion Bearcat squad and earned All– State honors. Watford pte\"iousry Signed \\1th the Hall t:. a t\\ o--ume recipient of most \aluable player honors. Anderson 1s also pleased v.ith the offensive line. "Up front offensively we are huge.. bigger than what we have been," he said. "Bigger does not always mean better, however.... but we do have great size." Top returnees on the offensive line include Tate Rogers (6- 1, 280) ofLouiS\ ill e. who ''i ll start at cent~r; and tackle Andre Lucious(6-l. 315) of Tuscaloosa County (Ala.) High School. They were part ofan offensive line that helped the squad average 176.7 rush– ing yards per contest. Anderson said he is "most ex– ctted'' about the defense, \\hich last }ear was ranked second O\erall mthe MACJC,allo\\– ing 219.2) ard~ per contest. -\\e ha\ e some huge guys up front ..and \\e don't expect them to get pushed around.'' he S3ld Some of the "huge guys" on defense include Darnell Hughe~ (6·6, 350) of Forest, Bradley Dorsey (6·6, 385) ofMorton, and recent ad– dition, Semisi Tupou (6-5, 419) ofOrange High School in Long Beach, Calif. ''We've not had play– ers ofthat size and statue since I've been here," saidAnderson. In addition to the defensive players mentioned. Anderson aid other standouts include mg corps.

ends LaKenneth Weidman (6- 5. 233) of South Leake and Vondrick Luciolli (6-6, 270) of Tuscaloosa County ; tack! Kalvin Smith (6-1, 302) o Newton County; linebacker Ricky Cavanaugh (6-2, 215) of LBJ High School in Austin, TX, Darius Wren (5-10, 208) ofWestLauderdale and honor– able mention All-American Chris Ficklin ofScott Central; and secondary members Den– nis Thames (6', 188) ofLouis– ville, a transfer from Missis– sippi State Univer~ity; Jonathan Scott (6-5, 190) of Seabreeze High School i Daytona Beach, FL. former!~ with the University of West Virginia; and Ben Brooks (5-9, 175) ofNortheast Lauderdale. Weidmanwas named to thefirst

JDchoose, mcludingtopmum– ~ Reggte Hall {5-9. I -o). a

N...-.1llc Htgh School La lUld orey ';/ntofhJsktckstolandmthe Collter ( 6 _ 3 _ :!OS) of

Tuscaloosa (Ala) County High

School.

Hall is the top re-

tumee with 29 receptions for 355 yards and one touchdown. He is considered one of the fastest receivers in theMACJC and is also a dangerous return

specialist. He was ranked in the K ) le Watson, offen..tve line. top 25 nationally in kickoffand and first-year assistan puntreturns.Hallmayalsobe Antwone Courington. wider~ called on to play a role on the ccivers. Anderson also serve'. Warrior defensive unit. as offensive coordinator.

Collier is a bigger tar– get at 6-3 and is considered one ofthe stronger players on the team. He has a good combina– tion of speed to go with his

Lyles helped lead the Bearcats to a perfect 20 I 0 sea– son capped by the State 3A Championship. An All-State and AIJ-Distnct ~election, Lyles was also named the most valuable offensJve player in 3i\ his senior season and was se– lected Class 2A Player ofthe Year as ajunior. Anderson also considers Lyles the top running back as pre– season workouts get under way. "Lavadius is a little further along (at running back) than anyone else right now," said Anderson. "He is a very sharp kid and can do multiple things. We are excited to have him in our offense." Stowers v.-as also a key mem– ber of the state challlPion-