Football: Generals still trying to fill void left by Stout
By Michael Petre (Daily Staff Writer)
QUICKSBURG — When an impact player departs a program — especially one as influential to his team's success as Wes Stout was to Stonewall Jackson — the coaching staff and remaining players don't try to replace him.
The goal is simply making everything fit together again, without that beacon of consistency.
"You can't replace him," Stonewall junior running back Richard Long said. "Moving on, that's going to be the key thing."
After emerging as the offensive line's centerpiece, Stout graduated, leaving Quicksburg for the Coast Guard Academy. His exit left coach Dick Krol hoping to piece together the line to solidify an otherwise strong offensive unit.
"The only thing we can possibly do is have all of them come together as a group," Krol said. "Wes was just so outstanding. We did everything behind Wes."
That's hardly an understatement. Krol and offensive coordinator Jason Lutz estimated the Generals ran 80 percent of their offense to Stout's side of the line.
"Maybe more," Lutz said.
A handful of players are looking to fill the hole left by Stout, including 10 returning letter-winners who have experience on the line. But piecing them together to create a manageable unit has been difficult, and many of those decisions remain up in the air, Krol said.
"We've got some older guys that have seen some action," Lutz said. "And we've got some younger guys that have seen a lot of action."
While the line is key to any offense's success, its success is vital in Krol's run-heavy Power I formation. In Long and senior Carlos Delgado, Krol returns a pair of runners capable of breaking the big play. Without consistency along the line, though, little is guaranteed.
"As far as experience on the varsity level, yes, some of them might not have the playing time," Long said. "But as far as playing with each other, we all know how each other feels on the field."
Senior quarterback Patrick Smoot, a close friend of Stout's since the two became teammates on the junior varsity, said practice seems different without his hulking buddy performing in front of him.
"It's kind of weird not seeing him," Smoot said. "I'm always like, 'I wonder when Wes is coming back.' And then I remember, 'He's at Coast Guard. He's not coming back.'"
There are a few benefits hidden behind Stout's departure, ones that Stonewall's talented backfield might be able to take advantage of. No longer will it be blatantly obvious that the play is going in Stout's direction, letting the Generals' ground game become a little more versatile.
"That's what's going to help us a lot," Smoot said. "Since he's not there this year, it kinds of evens up the line. I'm not saying both sides are weak, but we're about equal strength."
It also makes Long just that much more dangerous. Krol hinted at splitting Long out wide as an attempt to draw the defensive focus toward him and away from the line of scrimmage. Using Long as a decoy will not become a staple of the game plan, but opening up the field for his teammates should become another talent Long is adept at.
"Last year, [opponents] would put two guys on him," Lutz said. "That takes two guys out of the way."
And that's two fewer players the offensive line has to worry about. Not that Long and Smoot are overly concerned with the unit's abilities.
"It looks good on paper, and in practice we're progressing," Long said. "I think we're going to be all right."
"It's different looking out here and [in the past] seeing a 6-4, 280-pounder instead of looking out and seeing a 5-8, 250-pounder," Smoot said.
"But it all works out. It will work out in the end."
