Oftentimes change is met the with gnashing of teeth. At Huntsville High School, the Hornets are meeting change with a showing of teeth.
Ask running back Joseph Maxey about the team’s new West Virginia-style offense and the senior grins from ear to ear. He can’t wipe off that smile as long as he’s talking about the Hornets’ new game plan.
“The offense we’re running now is more of a speed offense. It’s kind of perfect for the players we have here in Huntsville. It’s a lot of fun,” Maxey explained after practice Tuesday night. “Speed is something we aren’t lacking. We also have the ability to catch the ball.
“Once we made the change, we immediately liked it.”
Huntsville’s new offensive coordinator, Kane Harris, briefly introduced the Hornets to the new offense back in the spring. On Monday, they began to really dissect the offense, which is not a lot different from what the Hornets have done in recent years.
Gone are the power-running formations. Those have been replaced by option plays and sprintout throws, which have been handled well in practice by quarterbacks Justin Gilbert and Daniel Hazlewood.
“We’re going to try and be balanced — 50 percent run and 50 percent pass,” Harris said. “We’re going to take what the defense gives us. We can huddle up and send plays in and we can be no-huddle. We’ll be able to change the pace with our offense.”
Harris said Maxey and Huntsville’s other running backs will get plenty of chances to make plays.
“We’re going to utilize our running game. We’re not the air-raid offense that Texas Tech runs. That’s not us,” Harris said. “We’re going to run a speed option and sprintout passes. That’s kind of our bread and butter.
“We’re going to spread the ball around and try to give our skills guys an opportunity to do some things.”
Center Jimmy Spivey said the changes affect him and his teammates on the offensive line. Huntsville’s big boys are going to have to hustle a bit more, but that’s fine with Spivey and the other two returning linemen, Forbes Baggett and Jamael Lenoir.
“We’ve got to be moving,” Spivey said. “We’ve got to be more agile and more athletic. Our footwork needs to be more crisp. We just have to be a lot quicker.
“We’ve been doing really well the first couple of days of practice. We’re getting everything down. It’s going to be tiring, but the way our offense is set up now, I don’t see anybody in our district that can stay with us.”
Harris said he’ll have to wait — a few months, maybe — before he can declare the offense a complete success. He thinks Huntsville has the personnel, the dedication and the work ethic to thrive in the uptempo offense, though.
“I see a lot of hard-working kids and I see kids with great attitudes,” said Harris. “The changes are going to come to them because they’re going to work at it.
“We’re having pre-practice meetings with individual coaches. We’re doing a lot of drawing on the board, showing the kids how to execute the scheme. We’re hitting them double. There are visual learners and kinesthetic learners. I sure like what I’ve seen so far.”
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