Wildcats will have six returning starters on defense, four on offense in 6:45 p.m. scrimmage here against potent Henderson

Posted on Aug 17, 2012 in Behind the Scenes, Sports, Wildcat Sports by Charles Richards

By CHARLES RICHARDS

eParisExtra

I dropped by the Paris High School field house this morning and found defensive coordinator Terry Anderson at work.

Because of tonight’s 6:45 p.m. scrimmage with Henderson at Wildcat Stadium, everybody else (except for athletic department secretary Nancy Morgan) had the morning off.

Head coach Barry Bowman’s Wildcats have six returning starters on offense and four returning starters on offense from last year’s squad, which went 9-1 through the regular season before falling in bi-district, 55-17, to Henderson, which advanced to the Class 3A state semifinals before bowing out.

“Coach Bowman, as soon as that playoff game got over with last year, he wanted to scrimmage Henderson, because he knew they weren’t 55-17 better than us. We played badly,” Anderson said.

“Henderson is supposed to be better than they were last year, so it’s going to be a heck of a scrimmage,” Anderson said.

So the Wildcats are jumping right into the flames with their first scrimmage of the season, following two weeks of two-a-days.

“If you want to be a good team, you’ve got to beat good people,” Anderson said.

There’s a different feel this season from a year ago, which was Bowman’s first season with the Wildcats after three seasons at Daingerfield, where he led that team to three straight state championships.

“You look back at where the offense was at this time last year,” Anderson said. “The offense and defense was all new to both the coaches and the kids, and this year we’re so much farther along.”

“Plus, we’ve done practice different. We’ve completely platooned. There’s one, maybe two kids going both ways. Keandre Robinson is the only true crossover we have right now,” he said.

MaxPreps’ Power Ranking has Paris High School at No. 23 among Texas’ Class 3A teams, with a power ranking of 33.3.

The rankings of the other teams in the Wildcats’ district are Atlanta at No. 33 (power ranking of 28.0); Pittsburg at No. 39 (power ranking of 26.5), Liberty-Eylau at No. 45 (power ranking of 25.4), Pleasant Grove at No. 101 (power ranking of 8.0), and North Lamar at No. 103 (power ranking of 7.8).

MaxPreps ranks Henderson at No. 6 among the state’s 3A teams with a power ranking of 49.9. Two of the Wildcats’ non-conference opponents also are ranked high in 3A – Melissa No. 8 with a power ranking of 47.7 and Argyle No. 12 with a power ranking of 42.7.

The Wildcats’ varsity coaching staff has two new faces this season – Rayce (RAY’-cee) Guess and Herb Smith.

They replace Dallas Robertson, who has gone to Athens High School as head baseball coach there, and Rick Porter, now at S&S Consolidated.

Guess comes to Paris High School from Denison, with previous coaching experience at Leonard and Bells. He also was an assistant coach with the Wildcats back in the 90s. Smith was a coach last year at Bogata Rivercrest.

Bowman is coaching the quarterbacks, offensive coordinator Martin Bryant the offensive line, Ryan Hood and Jeremy Beshirs the receivers, and Lonnie Norton the tight ends.

On the defensive side of the ball, Anderson, Smith and Tony Grosso are coaching the linebackers, Augie Berend the defensive line, and Michael Johnson and Guess the secondary.

There are 35 seniors, 12 juniors and 2 sophomores on the 49-member Wildcat varsity for the Henderson scrimmage.

The two sophomores are wide receiver Kadarius Scott and linebacker Jordan Williams.

Gone are the Wildcats’ two leading playmakers from a year ago – quarterback Corban Taylor and wide receiver Tavairus Williams. But the two leading running backs, seniors Quay Scott and Khalid Williams, are back. So are senior receivers Keandre Robinson and Corbin Cary and junior receiver Kenny Mason.

Led by senior linebacker Jamal Black. senior defensive end Sed Ellis, and senior linebacker Raheem Palmore, the Wildcats’ defense can be expected to shine this fall.

Listed at quarterback are seniors Dakota Smith, who is also the team’s punter, and Dakota Flippen, who was at Chisum last season.

Andrew Dunn, a starter at offensive tackle last season, is on offense this season, at tight end.

NO.	PLAYER	CLASS	POSITION
1	Smith, Dakota	Senior	P, QB
2	Robinson, Keandre	Senior	WR
3	Mason, Kenny	Junior	WR
4	Henderson, Quay	Senior	WR
5	Johnson, Roger	Senior	DB
6	Bills, Donte	Senior	DB
7	Gaines, Traveon	Senior	DB
8	King, Zay	Junior	DB
9	Blackmon, Warren	Senior	WR
10	Robinson, Nigel	Senior	DB
11	Palmore, Raheem	Senior	OLB
12	Flippen, Dakota	Senior	QB
13	Wallace, Joe	Junior	WR
14	Gaines, Daveon	Senior	LB
15	Sanders, Dominick	Senior	DB
16	Sanders, Jordan	Junior	WR
17	Scott, Kadarius	Sophomore	WR
18	Guxman, Victor	Junior	K
19	Reeves, Jackson	Junior	WR
21	Williamson, Daron	Senior	DE
22	Ellis, Sed	Senior	DE
23	Williams, Khalid	Senior	RB
24	Garvin, Jailon	Senior	DB
25	Pitts, Samuel	Senior	WR
27	Johnson, Davarie	Senior	WR
29	Corprew, Kidarius	Senior	WR
30	Bailey, Clemetra	Senior	LB
31	Coulter, Devonte	Senior	OLB
32	Reed, Bricky	Junior	LB
33	Scott, Quay	Senior	RB
35	Cary, Corwin	Senior	DE
40	Garnes, Jordan	Senior	DT
42	Sims, J.T.	Senior	DT
44	Williams, Jordan	Sophomore	LB
45	Reynolds, Josh	Junior	DE
50	Cobb, Felix	Senior	DT
51	Chadwick, Cannon	Senior	DL
54	Kraft, Jack	Junior	OL
55	Black, Jamal	Senior	LB
56	Smith, Jermekus	Junior	OL
62	Edwards, Fred	Senior	OL
65	Smith, Geoffrey	Junior	OL
66	Terrell, Daved	Senior	OL
70	Epperson, Isaiah	Senior	OL
71	Winter, Brice	Senior	OL
75	Harmon, D’tavius	Junior	OL
77	Gill, Marquis	Senior	OL
83	Sanders, Jay	Senior	WR
88	Dunn, Andrew	Senior	WR
	COACHES
	QB’s: Barry Bowman
	Receivers: Jeremy   Beshirs, Ryan Hood
	Off. Line: Offensive   Coordinator Martin Bryant
	Tight Ends: Lonnie Norton
	Def. Line: Augie Berend
	Inside LB: Defensive Coordinator Terry Anderson
	Linebackers: Tony Grosso
	Outside LB: Herb Smith
	Secondary: Michael   Johnson, Rayce Guess
NO.	PLAYER	CLASS	POSITION
30	Bailey, Clemetra	Senior	LB
6	Bills, Donte	Senior	DB
55	Black, Jamal	Senior	LB
9	Blackmon, Warren	Senior	WR
35	Cary, Corwin	Senior	DE
51	Chadwick, Cannon	Senior	DL
50	Cobb, Felix	Senior	DT
29	Corprew, Kidarius	Senior	WR
31	Coulter, Devonte	Senior	OLB
88	Dunn, Andrew	Senior	WR
62	Edwards, Fred	Senior	OL
22	Ellis, Sed	Senior	DE
70	Epperson, Isaiah	Senior	OL
12	Flippen, Dakota	Senior	QB
14	Gaines, Daveon	Senior	LB
7	Gaines, Traveon	Senior	DB
40	Garnes, Jordan	Senior	DT
24	Garvin, Jailon	Senior	DB
77	Gill, Marquis	Senior	OL
18	Guxman, Victor	Junior	K
75	Harmon, D’tavius	Junior	OL
4	Henderson, Quay	Senior	WR
27	Johnson, Davarie	Senior	WR
5	Johnson, Roger	Senior	DB
8	King, Zay	Junior	DB
54	Kraft, Jack	Junior	OL
3	Mason, Kenny	Junior	WR
11	Palmore, Raheem	Senior	OLB
25	Pitts, Samuel	Senior	WR
32	Reed, Bricky	Junior	LB
19	Reeves, Jackson	Junior	WR
45	Reynolds, Josh	Junior	DE
2	Robinson, Keandre	Senior	WR
10	Robinson, Nigel	Senior	DB
15	Sanders, Dominick	Senior	D B
83	Sanders, Jay	Senior	WR
16	Sanders, Jordan	Junior	WR
17	Scott, Kadarius	Sophomore	WR
33	Scott, Quay	Senior	RB
42	Sims, J.T.	Senior	DT
1	Smith, Dakota	Senior	QB
65	Smith, Geoffrey	Junior	OL
56	Smith, Jermekus	Junior	OL
66	Terrell, Daved	Senior	OL
13	Wallace, Joe	Junior	WR
44	Williams, Jordan	Sophomore	LB
23	Williams, Khalid	Senior	RB
21	Williamson, Daron	Senior	DE
71	Winter, Brice	Senior	OL