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FPHS football looking ahead to next season
The faces on the field might have changed, but the desire to be a winning football program remains the main priority for the Franklin Parish Patriots. Head coach Barry Sebren and his coaching staff have tweaked the starting positions after the loss of 12 seniors off a 2009 squad that went 3-7 and narrowly missed the playoffs. The offensive scheme will even have a new look this year that Sebren says will be a better fit for the players the Patriots have on offense.
"We made some strides this spring," Sebren said. "We got some personnel issues taken care of. We are looking at doing some things on offense differently. We will have more of a triple option attack versus the wing-t we have used in the past."
Sophomore quarterback Steve Williams will be at the helm of the offense after having a solid year under center of the freshman squad in 2009.
"Williams got experience at the quarterback position as a freshman," Sebren said. "He is a guy that we can have in there at that role for three years."
As would be expected, having a sophomore as the starting quarterback naturally raises concerns about the Patriot depth chart.
"Depth is always a big concern," Sebren said. "When you are starting a sophomore and he gets hurt, who are you going to turn to? So that is something we have to deal with. We are O.K. at the starting positions and we have a fairly large junior and sophomore class and a lot of freshman."
With that youth comes a lot of inexperience at the varsity level for the Patriots in 2010.
The Patriots will again be fighting an uphill battle in a district that includes Class 4A state champion Neville and Bastrop who has been in the thick of the Class 4A championship race for the past five seasons.
Even with all the inexperienced starters on the field, Sebren sees the program reaching a cross roads that could potentially lead to success.
"Our team has a chance to have a break out year," Sebren said. " We are either going to respond to the challenge and win or we crumble again. I think we are better off now than we were a year ago. I am not going to put up with us losing to teams we are supposed to beat anymore."
FPHS lost to Class 1A foes Delhi Charter and Oak Grove in the 2009 season.
One returning senior that the Patriots think will be a real asset to the team as a leader on and off the field is running back Ken Hoard.
"He is a leader," Sebren said. "He can really play anywhere that we need him to play."
Sebren is not just focusing on the varsity crew when attempting to put a resurgence in the FPHS football program.
Last year, Sebren spear-headed an effort to begin a pee-wee football league in Franklin Parish that played last year with 170 kids and 12 teams across three divisions.
Sebren expects that to league to continue to grow along with the area's awarness that football is vital to the growth of the parish.
"Its big," Sebren said. "It's important to change people's attitude and bringing the importance of the game back to the Franklin Parish community is important for us."
The Patriots will report back to school for fall camp in August and will have their first official scrimmage on Aug. 20 versus the Caldwell Parish Spartans.
The 2010 jamboree will be held Aug. 27 at Mangham High School. |
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