Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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28 UCW JUNE 7-13, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Erasing bad memories and finding a new quarterback were the main points of concern for Pine Forest dur- ing the recent spring football condi- tioning period. Elijah Robinson, who will be a senior offensive lineman for the Trojans this fall, best put things into perspective. "We want to put all the bad seasons behind and keep moving forward,'' he said. "We are growing as a team, and we want people to see that. We've got to start fresh and get right this year.'' The Trojans got off to a strong start in 2016 but limped home with a 7-5 record that included a first-round state 4-A playoff loss to West Johnston. Finding a quarterback will be a critical part of making any major improvement happen. Head coach Bill Sochovka is looking at two main candi- dates for the job, Lavonte Carter and D.J. Jones. But there's something else he's got to develop that may be even harder, and that's leadership. "We lost a good core of seniors that had good leadership qualities,'' he said. But as the Trojans assembled for their first spring practice, Sochovka was glad to see everyone he was expecting to be out was on the field and ready to start five minutes ahead of time. Aside from the quarterback position, the other major concern for the Trojans is the secondary, where graduation took everything, and Pine Forest will be starting from scratch. Elsewhere, things are looking up. "We have a good core in the offensive, and defensive lines and even our skill positions were young,'' Sochovka said. There's good news and bad news at running back, where the Trojans will be seeking some new faces. The good news is the Trojans should have some speed at the position, but the bad news is most of those players missed spring workouts because they were still involved in the state track competition. "We slowed our offense down last year,'' Sochovka said. "We want to be a faster tempo.'' Sochovka said another focus of the Pine Forest spring would be getting the team in actual playing shape. "There's nothing like actual football practice to get you in condition,'' he said. Sochovka said he prefers the option to have the full squad out for conditioning versus working with just 21 players a day for a number of reasons. He likes players who play multiple sports, so going with the later spring practice allows more of them to be able to take part. "I think it gets everybody focused,'' he said. "It puts a taste of football in their mouth, and for kids who worked hard in the weight room it shows it's paying off.'' Robinson said he hopes the Trojans become more of a family this season. "The more we come together as a team, the better the season is going to come out,'' he said. Going 2-9 and failing to qualify for the state football playoffs isn't part of the Gray's Creek tradition. "We've got a lot of room for improvement,'' said Bears' head coach David Lovette as his team went through this year's spring conditioning sessions. "We didn't have a typical Gray's Creek season last year. We want to get back to where we were in the past.'' Lovette doesn't make excuses for what went wrong, but if he did he'd certainly be able to point to one area that was beyond his and the team's control. The first two weeks of the 2016 season the Bears lost five offensive linemen. Four of them didn't return for the remainder of the season. "We couldn't move the football,'' he said. But there is reason for optimism this year. The Bears' junior varsity team was 8-2 last season, and some solid prospects from that team will be joining varsity this year. "We've gotten stronger and have another year of maturity,'' Lovette said. "We're going to try and show some of those things on the football field.'' One big change for the Bears this year will be a new quarterback as Nathan Scott moves up from being a backup wide receiver and junior varsity quarterback to take over on varsity. "I want to come up as a leader,'' Scott said. "I don't want to be the guy every- body doesn't want to come to. I want to be the first guy people come to.'' He saw action in one game as quarterback last year against Westover and doesn't feel he acquitted him- self well. "I'm working on losing weight,'' said Scott, who considers himself more of a passer than a runner. "I've gotten stronger, but I'm get- ting faster to fit into this run- oriented offense.'' Lovette was pleased with the early turnout for the Gray's Creek practice sessions. "Everybody is out here that's supposed to be here,'' he said. "We've got about 60 or 70 kids, and that's pretty good for us. "We're excited about it.'' Grays Creek Anxious for Return to Past by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Attention Students: Do you have a story or idea to share with High School Highlights? Email us at highschoolhighlights@upandcomingweekly.com Trojans Seek to Erase Bad Memories by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Elijah Robinson David Lovette Nathan Scott Bill Sochovka EARL VAUGHAN JR., Sports Editor. COM- MENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-987-5311 HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS