CL Hawks Offense will Need to be Offensive
Hawks on Offense this Season
The ReSporter will start a 3-part series on this upcoming Hawk Football team as they prepare for another year.
One thing to take note is having less teams in this year’s new edition for district play.
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The loss of Bandera and Liberty Hill is a good and bad happening, in how CL struggled against Liberty Hill and had never lost to Bandera.
CL’s district did add Austin East-Memorial and this school will be playing up this season as in year’s past this team has been playing schools that would not be considered stellar.
So with just five schools, the district slate will be reduced one game and after the last contest in November, the district race will have one fewer team deleted. from the playoffs.
Having 4 schools out of 5 qualifying for the playoffs will help in getting the Hawks qualifying for one of those goals as they partake in this year’s schedule.
Offense is one of those parts of a team that fans will put their collective thoughts into the good and bad of how their school might be doing.
Looking at the Slot-T offense you can compare with other teams that run the same offense and looking through stats, The ReSporter, found an interesting tidbit with Navarro’s team last season.
Hawk Football
The Panthers raised their passing stats by 100 yards per game last season, which was not something to brush over in studying similar schools like the Hawks.
Navarro had just 3 yards of passing offense in their first ever game with CL several years ago giving you an idea of how this school has dominated with their running game.
This Panther team had success in putting the ball in the air as a weapon and The ReSporter talked with Scot Kibbe, a beat writer for Navarro, on how and why they would start using the passing play more.
“Goad (Navarro’s Head Coach), was very determined to establish the passing game but it was hard to keep the starters out there in a lot of the games,” Kibbe reported. “Our defense was phenomenal, so some of the games were just too lopsided but he (Coach Goad) tried to stick with the offense for the first half regardless of the score.”
So, the Panther’s offense was poised to increase their passing but with games out of reach early cut into some of those throwing stats, which could have led to more passing yardage.
“He could not keep throwing the ball up at 42-0 and 49-0 scores.” Kibbe said. “Bottom line is that we did not get a real test of the passing game last season.”
Go Hawks
Navarro did finish their regular season undefeated and had a very potent team so you can deduce the Panthers might have finished without a loss by the pass or run.
“Just the threat to pass it and provide more looks than before, I think, would have made it a very different game with Cuero,” Kibbe said while reliving their loss in the 3rd round of playoffs last season. “The rain fell hard the entire game and neither team could pass and they just used their superior size to run over us.”
So, Navarro’s thinking of having a passing game with Cuero might have helped if it had not rained on their parade or passing game.
Kibbe closed, “Goad started mixing in some spread last year as he had his most talented team ever and he thought offering more looks would help them get over the hump in the playoffs.”
What this has to do with Canyon Lake is simple as the Hawks start their 4th year with a Slot-T offense and seeing how one of the best team’s that run the same offense (Navarro) had changed their style in order to give them a better advantage might be important, offensively.
“We now have kids that can spread the field,” Head Hawks Coach Charlie Drum said. “We will diversify this year as we have the athletes to do that.”
Canyon Lake is now in the process of inserting more of those Mountain Valley classes these past 3 seasons that have been on the winning side for multiple years.
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In fact, the Hawks, won their District 14-4A Title with the Freshman and Junior Varsity last year and that feat happened with many of those students already being transplanted on the Varsity these past two seasons.
Canyon Lake also had a Gold team that was undefeated as a sub-varsity crew giving the average Hawk fan some good vibes for future games.
Junior Jacob Foster will be starting his 3rd year in the trenches without being on a Sub-Varsity Roster as he continues to improve each time stepping on the field.
The Hawks just lost Robert Woods in the backfield and the Hawks will have all their other backs ready to go another year.
“We are going to count on guys from varsity for this year,” Coach Drum said. “There is no position that is lock-up.”
Speaking of how Navarro improved with the passing game is a question for CL as they will see if they too might be able to improve that part of their game.
“Our passing game has to be effective and become a weapon for us,” Drum said in response to what would be his definition for offensive success. “Being able to diversify and giving other teams more to think about and being able to have that extra little wrinkle.”
Hawk Proud
Canyon Lake did have a youth movement these past couple of years with another Freshman class loaded with District Banners after middle school competition.
“There is a saying for every sophomore you start is a loss,” Coach Drum said in response to the Hawks youth movement. “We will make less mental mistakes and turnovers as these sophomores get older.”
Canyon Lake is between a rock and a hard place as they have players from winning teams making a splash while knowing that wins will only come as each game allows for more experience and a chance for more victories.
Getting offensive with the offense will be a Hawk goal this season as those ‘wrinkles’ Coach Drum mentioned earlier might translate in having an older team and wins that come with that experience.
Go Hawks!!
