“Everybody will get to play Friday night,” Lee Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Rick Johnston said this week.
The Colts will play Bayou Academy Friday evening at the District 1-AAA Jamboree at North Delta School in Batesville. Lee will also meet Magnolia Heights in a 7:30 contest. The games will be 20 minutes each with a running clock.
The head coach said his players have worked hard all summer long on weight training and individual assignments and “every player is capable of doing well at his position.”
Johnston, in his second season as the head coach, says his offense is ahead of his defense at this stage of the preseason.
“I can’t name a starting defensive unit now,” he says honestly. “We’ll come out in a basic 4-4-3 to start with on defense. We’ll see how it goes.”
Offensively, junior Brett Wilson will start at quarterback and hopefully pick up where he left off a year ago. He was throwing the ball well and making sound decisions as the back-up signal caller behind departed starter Jacob Branch.
“He’s been throwing the ball well since practice began,” Johnston points out.
Junior Phillip Brownlee and sophomore Nickos Nolan will be the wide outs Wilson will be throwing to initially along with slots Evan Watts and Seth Campbell. Watts is a senior while Campbell is a junior.
Alternating at running back will be senior Hayes Clegg and junior Gage Murphy.
One of the questions bugging Johnston and his staff this season is where’s the beef?
“We do not have the big guys to anchor our offensive and defensive lines,” Johnston notes. “We only have two guys who weigh over two hundred pounds so we will have to move around a lot and execute shifts and keep the opponents guessing.”
Offensively, junior Rutledge Agostinelli will get plays underway at center surrounded by junior Shane Griffin and senior Owen Williamson at guards. The tackles will be senior Crawford Allen and sophomore Andrew Williamson.
The Colts will open the regular season Friday Aug. 17 in Holly Springs against Marshall Academy in at 7 p.m.
