With a roster of just 30 players, Juneau-Douglas High School head football coach Kevin Hamrick wants his players to be as versatile as possible this season.<\/p>\n
In addition to implementing a new offense, Hamrick is using the beginning of the season to give players experience playing several different positions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so that slows down the learning process,\u201d Hamrick said. \u201cSome days, I don\u2019t have enough lineman, so I\u2019ll have to take a kid who\u2019s kind of a fullback type and say, \u2018Look, you have to learn this line position today.\u2019 So that\u2019s the problem, is our depth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Crimson Bears went 3-5 last season and did not make the playoffs. Only the top two teams from the Southeast Conference \u2014 which includes JDHS, Thunder Mountain, Ketchikan and North Pole \u2014 qualify each year for the postseason.<\/p>\n
Five-foot-eleven Bubba Stultz is likely to start at quarterback for Hamrick. Stultz has endured a rocky road over the past three seasons with JDHS. He was concussed his freshman and junior years. As a sophomore, he suffered a broken back.<\/p>\n
Reluctant at first to come back for his senior year, Stultz was eventually won over by the coaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to play because of injuries and my coaches we pushing me, saying how good our (offensive) line was, saying we were going to get protection,\u201d Stultz said.<\/p>\n
Along with Stultz, Lance Galletes-Fiagatusa, Donavin McCurley, Liam Van Sickle, Nathan Van Sickle and John Elisoff make up the core of the senior class.<\/p>\n
They will be called on to maintain positivity and keep the team playing as one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team was not unified last season,\u201d Hamrick said. \u201cIn football, you need to have team unity. You need to believe in each other, believe in the coach, and that\u2019s what\u2019s different this season. We have more of that inner-confidence, the brotherhood.\u201d<\/p>\n