Gibson puts winning 'spin' on Holtville

Gibson puts winning 'spin' on Holtville

By Josh Moon

Barry Gibson is doing a lot of teaching in his new gig as Holtville High's head coach.

On this year's syllabus: How to win, instill discipline, confidence, a new defensive philosophy and an entirely new offensive scheme.

Yeah, it's going to be a tough road.

"This is a team that's won three games in two years, so we know there's a lot to be taught here," Gibson said. "There's some talent, and we'll rely on that to start with. But our main focus right now is just getting these guys in the right frame of mind."

The biggest key to the Bulldogs' season will be the ability of the players to pick up Gibson's "Spin" offense, a variation of the triple option that uses a complex variety of misdirection and deception.

The "Spin" is Gibson's baby, so to speak.

He developed the style seven years ago and has taught it to numerous other coaches around the country. He currently has three DVDs being sold online and has taught the system to several coaches. He said there are currently around 300 schools across the nation using it.

"We'll run multiple formations out of it and line up a lot in the old single-wing formation," Gibson said. "I think, for the most part, the kids are excited about the new offense. They've worked very hard in practice, I'll say that. We couldn't ask for more out of them."

Junior quarterback Daniel Arant, who started as a sophomore for the Bulldogs last season, will lead the new offense. Also returning in the offensive backfield is junior running back Akevious McCall.

"We don't have a lot of experience returning," Gibson said. "This team went 2-8 last year and it wasn't because they were young. We lost a lot of seniors.

"This year will be about rebuilding and getting this team in position to do well in the future. Maybe we can surprise a few teams, too."

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Montgomery Advertiser
425 Molton St.
Montgomery, AL 36104
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Holtville High School
10425 Holtville Rd
Deatsville, AL 36022
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WAYNESBORO: An early start

By Robert Sisk

Published: August 21, 2008

Waynesboro coach Steve Isaacs hopes that the injury bug has had its fill for the season.

Before the first snap of the year the Little Giants are already banged up, not critically, but enough to cause problems. Most notably Waynesboro speedster, Terrell Thompson, who might sit out tonight’s game against Turner Ashby.

“I don’t think it’s any secret, but Terrell is a big part of this team and he coupled with Steven [Brown] that’s that thunder and lighting backfield. Right now we just have the thunder,” Isaacs said.

Last year Waynesboro was flooded with injuries during the second week of the season, which contributed to its 1-9 finish, but there still is a silver lining— Waynesboro’s roster is full. More than 35 players will wear the purple and gold tonight against Turner Ashby, allowing Isaacs to give his players a break and prevent even more injury.

“If we had this number of injuries going into a scrimmage I would have cancelled it,” Isaacs said. “We are one and two deep as far as quality. We’d hope to be able to have everyone going one way. I don’t think we will have more than a handful of guys going both ways.”

But Waynesboro does have another challenge. The Little Giants only had one scrimmage this season before playing the always-challenging Knights in Bridgewater.
“We’ve got fixing to do and the test to fix it will be TA, not another scrimmage,” Isaacs said.

Isaacs is well known for running a single wing offense, but starting this season he will be mixing in another element — the spread. The new feature will allow Waynesboro’s athleticism to shine and keep opponents off balance.
“I can’t say we will be 60/40 spread but the way we got it put in, we can go either way for a game or even whatever down and distance we need,” Isaacs said.

Waynesboro didn’t lose as many players as other teams in the Southern Valley, but did lose some key players like Will Walter and Tim Brown. Filling those spots will be the hardest challenge for the Little Giants.

“We lost key players and now we’ve got to replace them,” Isaacs said. “We got 10 seniors 11 juniors and 17 sophomores. The odds say that some replacements will have to be sophomores. They are quality, but they aren’t battle ready yet. I think we can, its just getting them ready.

After traveling to TA tonight, Waynesboro will host Western Albemarle on Week 2 and will travel to Covington — the only team the Little Giants beat last year — on Week 3. The Little Giants will open up their Southern Valley schedule on Week 4 at Stuarts Draft.


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Waynesboro News Virginian
1300 West Main St.
Waynesboro, Virginia 22980
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Waynesboro High School
1200 West Main Street
Waynesboro, Virginia 22980
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Dr. John Ward has assumed the offensive coordinators position at East Columbus

LAKE WACCAMAW — The Lakewood Leopard football team hits the pavement to Lake Waccamaw to face the East Columbus Gators in tonight’s endowment game. The Leopards are limited due to numbers this season and will be challenged to prevent injuries to create a problem in depth.

“The look good on tape,” shared Lakewood head football coach, James Lewis. “They are big. In last week’s scrimmage East Columbus defeated E. E. Smith and that is not good for us.”

Lewis expressed that he and his staff had some idea of the offense that the Gators will be running and have played against it before as Dr. John Ward has assumed the offensive coordinators position at East Columbus. “I expect to see the Single Wing,” said Lewis.

The Leopards experienced two injuries this week in practice with a lineman breaking a thumb and another player seeing the doctor today regarding a knee injury. The Leopard coach expressed that his team had to keep injuries to a bare minimum.

“Our hope is to keep it close and have a chance at the end. That is what we talked about at practice on Thursday and I hope we are able to do that,” concluded Lewis.

Lakewood and East Columbus hit the field at 7:30 p.m.

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The Sampson Independent

303 Elizabeth Street,

P O Box 89

Clinton NC 28329

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East Columbus High School.

32 Gator Lane

Lake Waccamaw, NC 28450

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Calvary opens tonight; numbers up for FC Colts

PREP FOOTBALL
Published: August 22, 2008
Fred Conley, T-H Sports Editor


The Calvary Eagles are already 2-0 for the season in eight-man football.


Tonight, the team will play their first game, when they take on Pleasant View in Nashville, Tenn.


The Eagles have been the recipients of two forfeit victories already. Little Rock’s Southwest Christian Academy and Hot Springs Crossgate Christian Academy each forfeited their games to the Eagles.


Those two forfeit wins already assure the Eagles of a better season than last year, their first in eight-man football, in which they failed to win a game.


“I think we are much better than last year,” said Calvary coach Greg Mills. “We have a few more bodies this time, and we returned some experienced players. Last year, everyone was basically learning the basics of the game. This year, they know the basics and we have been able to work on other areas of our game.”


Mills singled out the defensive unit, which basically played a vanilla defense a year ago.


“This season, we will use different looks, a 4-3-1 or a 4-2-2 and we will shoot the gaps and do a lot of shifting,” Mills added. “On offense, we will start Jeremy Barnett at quarterback and we will put Cody Jackson at tailback and Josh Jackson at wingback.”


The Eagles will run from the Single Wing offensive set this season.


“I think we can score a lot of points, I’m just not sure how good we’ll be at stopping our opponents.” Mills said. “If we can keep the scores in the 30s, instead of the 70s like last year, I like our chances. We will have a much better idea of where we stand after tonight’s game.”


The Forrest City seventh grade Colts had 32 players on the practice field Thursday, as the team continues to prepare for the season opener on Tuesday, Sept. 9.


The seventh grade football program was rerouted this year, moving practice from first period every day, to an after school practice.


The seventh and eighth grade teams will host Wynne for the opening game.


The Colts are being coached this season by Allen Perry, Jacky England and Phillip Campbell.

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Times-Herald of Forrest City, Arkansas
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