Coaches Corner with Canyon Lake’s Charles Drum

The ReSporter: Last year it was the special teams that resulted in some early season loses…what is the status of this squad this year?

Coach Drum: “We have spent more time on special teams in fact, our work out is during the middle of the day now and that is all we worked on today.”

“Ian Acosta will be our kick-off and extra point player this year and we also have Mike Thorp who plays soccer on the JV and he has a chance of moving up.”

“Nick Cahill will be our punter.”

The ReSporter: I would think that the pre/district games would be used as an audition for special teams starters.

Coach Drum: “Yes for the most part, last year we changed our special teams after the Somerset game and so by the second or third game we should know who will be playing what. Right now we have Josh DeVries and the Mendez boys (Isaac and Javier) on the kick-off returns and JJ Nance, Tommy Clark, and Shane Relkin on punt returns.”

The ReSporter: Is Relkin in their for speed?

Coach Drum: “Yes, he will give us some speed.”

The ReSporter: Talk about your scrimmage last week and how you thought your offense did overall compared to the Llano game.

Coach Drum: “We got better on offense with each of our squads…the Varsity, JV and Freshman teams all improved. We executed a lot more and our timing and play fakes were a lot crisper.”

The ReSporter: How was the passing game?

Coach Drum: “I think we only missed one pass and that also looked much better.”

The ReSporter: Share your thoughts on the defensive side of the ball.

Coach Drum: “We gave up one touchdown and we have gotten a lot healthier and hopefully the defense will be fresher in our games if our offense is taking up clock time. That will allow many of our players to be able to go both ways. (offense and defense)

The ReSporter: What are your thoughts on Blanco team?

Coach Drum: “They are young like us and they always give us a hard game. Their defense runs to the football and they will be the same.”

The ReSporter: Give us your overall thoughts as this season approaches.

Coach Drum: “We are excited and with the new offense we are improving every day. Our freshman got better in that last week and we are hoping that continues.”

“Getting better every week before district will be our goal and if we can accomplish that, then we will be rolling on.”

The ReSporter: Thanks Coach and we look forward to seeing your Freshman and JV tomorrow and your unveiling on Friday at Hawk Stadium.