In his first days and weeks on the job, first-year Gentry coach Paul Ernest had to identify his personnel before he could ever settle on what kind of offense to run.
Hired in late February, Ernest arrived full-time in Gentry in May and since then it's been a busy summer of balancing the move of a family with the responsibility of getting a football team ready for its upcoming season.
Ernest inherits a Pioneers program that went 3-8 in 2014 and 28-55 in eight seasons under Brian Little, who's now the district's full-time athletic director.
Ernest, a former head coach at Horatio and assistant at Nashville under Billy Dawson, has a background in Wing T and spread, and he recognizes the need to be successful at both running and passing. But don't expect him to force the issue one way or the other at Gentry.
"I really believe you can make too much of an effort to be balanced," Ernest said, "and then you end up getting beat because you're committed to being balanced instead of committed to being effective. So we just want to be effective."
With that in mind, the Pioneers will operate out of a two-back, spread offense -- sort of a blend of the two offenses that Ernest has dealt with most.
"After checking our personnel out and seeing our quarterback position, I felt like staying in the spread was the best thing for us," Ernest said.
Finding a quarterback in the spring was a priority, and when the dust settled, it was sophomore Jon Faulkenberry that emerged as the Pioneers' signal caller. Faulkenberry took nearly every snap in 7-on-7 competition and throughout the summer.
"He had a great summer and offseason," Ernest said of Faulkenberry. "He's a smart kid. He's got all the physical tools. ... He's having to learn a new system and also develop as a player and mature into the high school game."
Senior Zac Adkins was also in the quarterback race along with sophomore Tanner Christie -- both of whom will have roles in other positions on the field.
Faulkenberry's top target may be older brother Jake Faulkenberry, who will be a senior wide receiver for the Pioneers.
"Younger brother throwing to older brother a lot," Ernest said. "Jake Faulkenberry, he had a great summer for us."
Senior Bryan Harris showed a lot of promise over the summer, Ernest said. Senior Dillon Matthews, who also plays baseball, bowling and golf, joined the team in the offseason. Senior Wyatt Clark has shown promise at wideout, though Ernest said "he's as raw at they come."
Senior wrestler and power-lifter James Fell also could help the Pioneers at wideout.
Adkins will get some reps at wide receiver as will junior Gavin Martin, coach's son junior Jake Ernest and junior Colton Little.
Sophomore Jared Lawrence is a sophomore coming off a broken collarbone. Garrett Matthews is another sophomore wide receiver that will fight for playing time, Ernest said.
"My philosophy is to play as many kids as possible," he said. "We're not in a position to two-platoon, and so I try to find every kid an opportunity. Almost all these kids will play some as far as skill kids."
When the Pioneers go to a two-tight end set, Adkins will play their Bombers "S", and anyone of the Pioneers' running backs could play "S" when Gentry goes to its Jets package.
The Pioneers have five players working at running back, and considering their two-back set, it's likely that most of them will see action at some point.
"We have a pretty good group to choose from," Ernest said.
Junior Cole Cripps ran 58 times for 209 yards last season.
"He had a productive year there last year," Ernest said. "I think they motioned him out of the backfield a lot with some jet sweeps."
Sophomores Seth Franzen missed last year with a broken leg, "but I think he has all the tools we need to play running back," Ernest said.
Sophomore Myles McFerrin, who ended up leading the 5-5 junior high team in rushing, is also playing running back as is Christie.
The long-shot of the bunch, Ernest said, is senior Hudson Paczowski, a baseball player who came out for football for his senior year.
"Visited with him in the spring and got him to come out," Ernest said. "He played wide receiver in the summer. He's a tough, hard-nosed kid. He's got the mentality that you want. Just trying to find a place for a kid who's a senior."
The Pioneers have more depth on the offensive line than they thought they would have. The catch is, most of the players there are young.
"I feel pretty good about what I've seen and what our coaches are doing with them," Ernest said. "We kinda feel like going in that wasn't going to be a strength, but after the first week of practice we feel like that could possibly be a strength for us.
"We know there's going to be a learning curve and possibly be some lumps, but we feel like we're going to get there."
The leader of the offensive line is senior center Kaven Flesner, Ernest said.
"I put a lot on our center," Ernest said, "and he's a 4.0 student, loves the game of football, loves to study it. I don't know that he's missed a call since day two of spring practice. It all starts with him up front."
Flesner's brother Kruz Flesner also will help on the offensive line.
Senior Dylan Murphy has been a skill player for most of his high school career. Ernest said he's worked hard in the weight room and has developed more of a lineman's body. He's getting looks at offensive guard and tackle.
Junior Ashton Lockhart played some as sophomore and could win a lineman job up front. The Pioneers are excited about juniors Billy Stewart and Mason Clark.
Another lineman they have high hopes for is sophomore Chance Cooper, who is their biggest body at 6-foot-2, 270. Sophomore Konner Hodges is getting some work at center and looks at the other positions on the line.
Sophomores Tomas Gomez and J.T. Crosby are fighting for playing time on the offensive line as is Dawson Smith, a move-in from Siloam Springs.
On defense, the Pioneers will operate out of a 3-4 scheme, according to defensive coordinator Daniel Ramsey.
A lot of the same faces playing on offense double up on defense.
"Making it through the second half is going to be a big thing for us," Ramsey said. "Kind of the same scenario as last year, we played well early in a lot of games and then just couldn't go (in the second half). We're really trying to force ourselves to find more players on the field and spell them a little bit."
McFerrin and Murphy man the nose-guard position, while Cooper and senior Dillon Stanley will play the defensive tackle positions.
Adkins, Lockhart, Gomez, Clark and Crosby will also provide help along the defensive line.
"We've got to have two for each one of those defensive line spots," Ramsey said.
The Pioneers' biggest question marks are at outside linebacker, Ramsey said.
Harris is moving from cornerback to outside linebacker, while Fell and Paczowski have also gotten looks at outside backer. Gentry will sneak their outside backers up to the line and stunt off the edge from time to time as well, Ramsey said.
Kaven Flesner will man a strong-side linebacker position on the inside, while Franzen is a weak-side backer. McFerrin and Murphy will also get reps at inside linebacker if they're not playing nose guard.
"Flesner's been a good ball player for us," Ramsey said. "He's the voice of the defense. He gets everybody lined up. He's smart. He doesn't mind being in charge."
Cripps started some last year at defensive back for the Pioneers, and Christie and Jake Ernest are each vying for playing time at the cornerback position.
Jake Faulkenberry, another returning starter on defense, will man the strong safety spot.
"He'll actually roll down into the box quite a bit with our stunt packages," Ramsey said.
The Pioneers have moved Dillon Matthews from weak-side backer to free safety.
"He had a really good summer in 7-on-7 back there," Ramsey said.
Little, Martin and Clark also will see time in the secondary.
Lawrence, when he recovers from his broken collar bone, will see action in the secondary.
Sports on 08/26/2015