Young Maroons hit the field

By Bruce Sayler of The Montana Standard - 08/24/2008

Butte Central’s Gene Taylor grabs a pass during the Maroon and White scrimmage Saturday morning at Torger Oaas Field. Jason Johnston defends. Walter Hinick/The Montana Standard

The tested Butte Central football coaching staff will be trying to guide potential through the dangers of inexperience this fall and Saturday’s scrimmage looked promising.

The public unveiling was held on the Torger Oaas Maroon Field located next to the Maroon Activities Center.

“I liked our effort,” said head coach Don Peoples Jr., entering his 20th year in charge of the program. “The kids played hard. We had a lot of inexperienced kids out there that gave good efforts, but we have a long way to go.”

The Maroons will open the season on Friday at neighborhood rival Anaconda in a non-conference tilt set for 7 p.m. on the Mitchell Stadium grass.

The turnout of 34 players includes only four seniors — linemen Eric DiGiovine and D.J. Lewis, and running back/receivers Casey Norbeck and Gene Taylor. Norbeck has also been a starter at linebacker on defense, and Taylor in the secondary.

Sophomore Andy Ritter succeeds his older brother, Matt, who has gone on to Carroll College, as the starting quarterback. Sophomores will play key roles in BC’s fortunes. Jonathon Richards, another good sophomore, is a lethal weapon in Butte Central’s offense at receiver and running back, and also plays on defense and backs Ritter at the QB spot.

The offense looks to have big-play explosiveness as Ritter broke off three long touchdown runs in the scrimmage and passed to Taylor, Norbeck and Richards for three others. Also, Richards and Taylor scored on runs.

“Andy has a lot of potential,” Peoples said. “It is not a simple thing we expect him to do, but he’s coming along. A really good thing about these sophomore kids is they have a lot of upside.”

Taylor missed half his junior

See MAROONS, Page B5

season with a knee injury. He showed good speed Saturday and ran tough, too, finishing off against tacklers.

“He has a lot of speed and just came off a great training camp,” Peoples commented.

Some changing up in the offense looked to be that several players will have ball-carrying and pass-catching responsibilities.

“We hope to utilize a lot of kids,” Peoples said. “We have a lot kids who we think allow us to do that.”

The coach emphasized that much work needs to be done this week before the kickoff in Anaconda.

“We have to definitely get in better shape,” he said. “The mistakes we had late in the scrimmage were, I think, due to fatigue.

“Overall, it was a good effort. Always, there are things identified that need to be worked on. We’ll hit the ground running on Monday and get ready for a real tough opener.”

Butte Central schedule:

August

29 — at Anaconda, 7 p.m.

September

5 — at Whitefish, 7 p.m. 13 — vs. Columbia Falls, 7 p.m. 20 — at Billings Central, 7 p.m. (Bishop’s Bowl). 26 — at Havre, 7 p.m.

October

11 — vs. Browning, 7 p.m. (homecoming). 17 — at Lewistown, 7 p.m. 24 — vs. Livingston, 7 p.m. (Senior Parents’ Night).

November

1 — State Class A Playoffs, first round, TBA. 8 — State Class A Playoffs, quarterfinals, TBA. 15 — State Class A Playoffs, semifinals, TBA. 22 — State Class A Championship Game, TBA.