Countdown to kickoff: Joshua determined to end football drought
Joshua
District 9-5A
Last season: 0-10 (0-7 District 8-5A)
Key players: QB Josh Kelso (6-0, 160); RB Hayden Chittum (5-10, 160); TE Brandon Parrish (6-1, 220); WR Jeremiah Biggs (5-11, 180); LB Ryan Dumas (6-4, 190); DL Cayse Chambers (5-11, 200); DE Zane Hairston (5-11, 180); OL Holt Honeycutt (5-10, 260); DL Ricardo Moreno (5-7, 160); RB Jermaine Deary (5-9, 150); RB Josh Emberton (5-7, 180); OL Kendal Maples (6-4, 290)
The big picture: Joshua’s offense, led by quarterback Josh Kelso and running back Hayden Chittum, is the key to the Owls snapping a 17-game losing streak. The Owls played as many as 16 sophomores at one point last season. Now there’s a year of experience under their belts. And the offense generated 2,165 yards (1,799 on the ground). After the Owls played a basic slot-T scheme a year ago, expect to see them spread the field and use more of Kelso’s arm strength. On defense, Joshua will switch from a four-man front and stack the line of scrimmage , with Ryan Dumas anchoring the linebackers. Coach Mike Burt said he expects the defense to be more aggressive this year. Some old-school mat drills incorporated during the off-season should allow the team to improve after giving up 433.2 yards per game last season.
Quotable: “Especially with Aledo on the schedule last season, there were times we played what amounted to a JV team against some pretty big boys. But you could see as the season wore on that a light kind of went on for them and over the spring and summer there was a lot more aggression than we’ve seen here in a long time.” — Coach Mike Burt
“All of us were young last season and had a chance to be around the few seniors we had and the kind of person it takes to be a leader. Hopefully, we’re more mature and experienced and that will translate to something on the field. We’ve got a great group of receivers and guys that have been waiting for a chance to shine and grind. I personally wanted to improve on passing selection, and now that I’ll have more of a chance to do that, it’s something to prove.” — Quarterback Josh Kelso
“Obviously, there’s a lot of criticism from last season, but there’s no place to go but up. This is my fourth year in the program and this is by far the most potential we’ve had to really do some amazing things. In the past, we’ve lacked commitment, but we all made huge jumps this past off-season. We had a lot of sophomores last season, but it’s really been positive, and I kind of sit back and wish I’d been that driven when I was a sophomore. Looking at the film now, we can fix mistakes that we didn’t in the past.” — Linebacker Ryan Dumas
Notable: Joshua’s last winning season was 1996, when the Owls went 7-5 and lost to eventual state champion Kilgore in the area round.
This story was originally published August 14, 2016 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Countdown to kickoff: Joshua determined to end football drought."