After graduating 25 seniors from last year’s team and with only three returning starters on offense, Northside High School head coach Paul Cates said his team will have to rely heavily on the leadership of starting quarterback Jalen Lacy and an experienced defense if the Patriots are to be competitive this year in one of the state’s toughest regions, Region 1-AAAA.
“We’ve got to replace a lot of guys from last year,” Cates said. “We’ve got to replace four out of five offensive linemen. That’s always one of the toughest things you have to do. Fortunately, we’ve got our quarterback from last year and that helps in that regard.
“He’s got a lot of the physical tools. Big arm, he’s 6-4, 215 pounds, runs well. We’re going to feature him in a lot of the things we do.”
Lacy enters his second year as starting quarterback after what he described as a disappointing season in 2010. The senior said he’ll be given a little more opportunity to throw the ball down field in order to spread out the defense.
“We have the ability to mix it up and change it up on the defense,” Lacy said. “We can either run it or we could throw it at any time.”
Cates said Northside will imitate a spread formation similar to what Auburn and Florida have run in the past few years, but the emphasis will remain on the run game.
“In the past, we’ve been a triple-option team so we’ve always had a running quarterback,” he said. “We’ve added a little more of a throwing aspect, but we’re not doing that much different than what we’ve done in the past.”
Cates said the Patriots defense will have to help the offense as seven starters return from last year. All 11 of this year’s starters have playing experience.
“It’s a more experienced defense,” senior defensive tackle Jalen Durham said. “We didn’t have that chemistry (last year) … but this year, we’ve got the same people coming back who have been with each other since last season.”
Durham said the Patriots defense has high goals this year, starting with setting the tone in their first game against Jordan High School.
“We’re trying to have a shutout the first game of the year,” he said. “We don’t even want them to move the ball.”
Outside of Lacy and the defense, Cates said there are a lot of question marks on the team, the biggest one being depth.
“Our best athletes are going to have to play both sides … it’s not something we’ve had to do in the past, but with our depth situation, we’re going to have to,” Cates said.
Northside also graduated senior place-kicker Tyler McKay, who was voted as a Ledger-Enquirer All-Bi-City kicker in 2010.
“Replacing him has proven to be pretty challenging,” Cates said. “Until (your kickers) do it live on the field on Friday night, you don’t know exactly what you’re going to get.”
More than extra points and field goals, punts and kickoffs concern Cates.
“To me, those are the two most important single plays that occur during the game and they’re the quickest ways to get beat,” he said. “When you’re not sure how that ball is going to come off their foot and where it’s going to go, it makes it tough. But they’re getting better.”
