Hide Article Text (OCR)
positions for the college game. With a year under his belt, the 6-1, 262 pound monster says he'll be a completely different line backer this year. “I was a little bit shy as a freshman — I was soft,” Blue said. “I'm doing way better com pared to last year.” Blue and Smith lead the Mat adors defense, which also includes highly touted free safety Zeonie Sherman, who turned down several Division 1 offers to return to AWC, and strong safety Chris Chaney. Defensive end Mitchell Johnson is the lone starter who hasn’t been with the Matadors since at least spring. “We've had a whole year to bond,” Smith said. “Which is what you need, especially on defense.” On the offensive end, fullback Sed Clark and running back Hurtis Chinn are Blue and Smith's equivalents. In the Matadors intricate option system, perhaps no other position benefits from a second season more than the backs, O’Mera said. O'Mera's backs not only have to run, but they all, including the pure tailbacks, have to block. “If you just had to carry the football, experience wouldn't matter as much,” O'Mera said. “But we demand complete backs.” Clark and China are the yin and yang of the Matadors offense. They block for each other and run behind each oth er. They even finish each other’s sentences. According to Clark, it took until the fourth game last year before the bunch of young Mata dors fully adjusted to the college game. And after a year of working together under O’Mera’s system, both Hurtis, the speedster, and Clark, the bruiser, have set high expectations for this year. Not that they had poor freshman campaigns. Clark ran for 389 yards and scored five touchdowns while Chin was second on the team with 418 ground yards and four scores. “Last year we didn’t know what to expect,” Clark said. “This year, we know how to work together.’ “The speed of the game is much faster — you can’t hesitate in the college game,” Clark chimed in. Quarterback Foster Brodus, UWC’s leading rusher from a year ago, is the most important back not to return for 2002. John Grier will open the sea son behind the center, but O’Mera said nothing's set in stone. Grier, a 6-foot, 190 pounder with a solid arm and great speed, wasn’t recruited as an option quarterback. But after productive spring practices and an impressive fall, O’Mera said Grier’s quickly learned the system. “He’s a complete package,” Grier said. “The only thing we don't know is how he'll play on Saturday — that's completely different.” Ben Sylvan can be reached at bsylvan@yumasun.com or at 539-6883,” HOTO BY CHARLES WHITEHOUSE/THE SUN MATADORS’ TODD TOLLIVER (left) attempts to evade the tackle of teammate Hershell Toney during the team’s scrimmage Wednesday.
Newspaper Details
Yuma Sun
Yuma, Arizona, US
Sat, Sep 07, 2002
Page 16
Full Page
Clipped by
Hershell T.
