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Coaching staff favors spring game results heading into offseason
BY JIM DONOVAN
Austin Baker received a handoff from Nick Jones. He broke left, ran into a pair of would-be tacklers, spun around them, and blasted 37 yards down field to give The Colony Black team a 28-12 lead.
Doesn't that sound like something one might hear in the heat of the football season? Joking aside (it was about 96 degrees at game time), the Cougars played their annual spring game Thursday at The Colony's Five-Star Athletic Complex.
More than 130 soon-to-be seniors, juniors, and sophomores were split into two teams, Black and White, for what was the cap on the Cougars' spring football season.
Why is there so much hope?
For one, The Colony will be participating in a district that more closely fits its enrollment size in the fall. That alone would get any 0-10 Class 5A team excited about moving on.
What really has the juices flowing of all involved with the Cougar football program was the success seen on the field Thursday.
The teams were split into essentially two even-talented squads. The game ran much like any regular-season game, only it pitted teammates against teammates.
After nearly 100 plays, more than 40 points, six touchdowns, and a few missed extra points, head coach Dan Burk and his coaching staff liked what they saw on the field.
"Last year our weakness was our weakness," Burk said. "Now we can hope our strength will be our strength."
A year's worth of conditioning and strength-training in the Burk regime has the Cougars bigger, stronger, and faster than ever. Those aspects were highlighted in the spring game.
Baker struggled to maneuver around bigger defenders in much of The Colony's 0-10 season (he also suffered an injury just under halfway into the season), but he had one of the offenses' best individual performances Thursday. In addition to his another scoring run, he made what was the play of the game with a 37-yard run.
Aside from Baker, The Colony may have one of the deepest offensive backfields in the newly formed District 9-4A. The Cougars boast Tasheem Dickson and three other varsity hopefuls in the backfield, each of whom possesses blazing speed.
Jones played well at the No. 1 quarterback spot, but he could see competition for the starting job over the summer and into the fall. One of his best throws came early in the opening session when he hit a receiver with a pass in stride for nearly 40 yards.
While The Colony will undoubtedly have a higher level of play at the skill positions, Burk feels that the offensive and defensive linemen have benefited most from the off-season, in addition to having a full season under their belts.
Starting offensive lineman and probable captain Joey Johnston played very well in the trenches. He, like a majority of his linemates, continued to show improvement throughout the spring. And, to Burk, improving is what it is all about.
"We made a lot of significant strides this spring," Burk said.
In 2005 the Cougar defense was quick, but was neither strong nor fast enough to contain big plays. Aside from a few exceptions from plays against the first-team offense, the defense showed a drastic improvement.
"Defensively, guys were swarming to the ball really well," Burk said.
Anthony Wise, who has the inside track to becoming a starter in the defensive backfield, made several pass deflections and played well, according to Burk.
The spring game marked the official end of all spring work. Most of the Cougars will have the next couple of weeks off, but the yet-to-be-named 7-on-7 team will get its season under way with a tournament in Granbury Saturday.
All of The Colony's athletes will then begin summer strength and conditioning workouts at the high school June 5.
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