COMING HOME
Fentress eyes strong return for Eagles
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

Steven Williams

After 15 years in the coaching business, Steve Fentress decided it was time to come home.

He did just that when he accepted the head coaching position with the Woodville Eagles football program.

"The coming home part of this job is great," Fentress said. "Hopefully, in a couple of years from now, they will still be happy to have me here."

Fentress came to the Eagles from Corrigan-Camden where he was defensive coordinator for the past five seasons.

He said the decision to come to Woodville was easy since he has called the town his home for the past five years.

"It's a great place to live and this gave me an opportunity to be closer to my family," Fentress said. "I've been looking forward to being here for a while. I've been waiting for a couple of months to get on the practice field.

"We played Woodville for the past five years so I'm familiar with some of the players here," Fentress said.

Fentress took over the program in May and had to work hard to get to know his coaches and players in the short time left during last year.

Paul Price

"It was rough because I only had three weeks with the kids," Fentress said. "Most of that time was spent putting in a new offense."

As a new coach in the program, Fentress has had to introduce himself and his style of coaching to his players and the community.

"My players have learned that discipline is number one," Fentress said. "We are going to act right in the classroom, on the field and we are all going to look the same on the field.

"There are several rules they have to abide by and the number one rule is you are going to look presentable," Fentress said. "When we travel we will act on our best behavior."

Fentress said during practice and during games, the tempo of the game will speed up under his leadership.

"There is no walking on the field and there are no helmets off on the field," Fentress said. "When we

break the huddle, we are going to snap the ball within 3.5 seconds."

Fentress said he is impressed with the shape his players came to early practices in.

"We are in much better shape than I thought we would be in," Fentress said. "Our linemen came into camp in a lot better shape than our skilled kids and that is good for us."

Fentress is providing a stiff challenge to his core of Eagles coming back as new offensive and defensive systems are being implemented.

"We are also practicing different with a lot of individual work and a lot of moving around with a lot of technique work," Fentress said. "It's different than it was and they like because you not standing around doing nothing."

Fentress will take over a program that finished 4-6 overall but 1-4 in District 23- 2A last year. But 14 returning starters give the Woodville faithful that an Eagle uprising might in the works this year.

"Most of our key players will be seniors this year," Fentress said. "We have some underclassmen that will be playing a lot but we have a big senior class and that's a good thing for us."

Key offensive returning players include quarterback Steven Williams, who passed for 663 yards and nine touchdowns last year. Running back Paul Price also returns after rushing for 442 yards and five touchdowns.

Add in All-District offensive guard Landra Lee and you have the makings of a strong offensive squad.

Fentress said the team would feature a Wing-T look but with more power sweep action.

"We are going to come right at you," Fentress said. "We will be under the center 99.9 percent of the time and that's something different here.

"Our goal is have 10-12 play drives and run off eight minutes of the clock and be up 7-0," Fentress said. "Our best offense will be our best defense."

The Eagles return eight defensive starters from a year ago include defensive back Adam Rigsby and defensive end Cory Knight.

"If our seniors step up and be leaders, then it will be real good for us," Fentress said. "If they don't, then we will be real young this year."

Fentress pointed out that just because the team returns 15 starters from last year, it doesn't particularly mean they will start this year.

"There's a new person in town and they have to prove to me that they are worthy of it," Fentress said. "Just because they started last year, doesn't mean they will start this year."

Fentress is quite familiar with the play in District 23- 2A and knows the teams very well. From Newton, Corrigan-Camden, San Augustine, Shelbyville and Woodville, the district is stout from top to bottom.

"Those teams can all play," Fentress said. "It's a district that you can't take a week off."

He said in this 2A district, no coach should look ahead and pinpoint a game as the key to the season.

"If you look ahead at Newton, you will find yourself getting beat and then that game won't count as much," Fentress said. "You have to play it one week at a time. Whoever gets through this district and stays healthy, has a chance to go a pretty good ways and that played out last year like that as well."

Woodville opens up the pre-district season with a match-up with Coldspring. The next week doesn't get any easier when the Eagles travel to Splendora to take on the District 22-3A defending champion Wildcats.

Woodville's third straight road contest to start the season comes Sept. 14 when Woodville travels to take on Warren. The Eagles finally open their home season Sept. 21 against Shepherd. A final road contest in Tarkington to take on the Longhorns rounds out the pre-district schedule.

"It's going to take a while for us to get on track," Fentress said. "We're not going to go into our first game and if something doesn't go right, then we're going to change it.

"We know it's going to be district before we get to where we need to be," Fentress said. "Our pre-dis- -trict is going to give us the opportunity to play the bigger schools and that will make us better."

Even though Fentress had no planning in this year's schedule, he said future schedules would include tough opponents that will test his squad early.

"We want to play tough teams that will make us better," Fentress said. "If you playing a bunch of teams that aren't as good and you beat them, well, that's good for your confidence but once you lose that confidence, you start getting hit in the teeth.

"You might get beat playing the tough teams but you will get better," Fentress said. "It all starts in district and that's what counts. You might be 1-4 but you have gotten better every single week because we played teams better and stronger than us."