By Moses Leos III
Hays High senior Cade Powell made his presence known Saturday during the team’s intrasquad scrimmage at Shelton Stadium.
With a handful of strong runs, Powell, along with the Rebel football team, provided fans a glimpse of what they could see in 2016.
For Powell and the senior class, helping guide a relatively young Rebel program has been the focus during the first week of practices.
“It’s becoming a team,” Powell said. “Working together and having each other’s back. We have to work on that a little bit and pay attention to the plays and stay focused on the field.”
Hays head coach Neal LaHue said the team has worked hard and has come “in pretty good shape” during the initial week of practice.
“We still have to get in football shape,” LaHue said. “We’re dead legged right now, which is understandable with the number of practices we’ve thrown with them.”
Hays opted last May to forgo spring football in order to obtain an extra week of summer practice. LaHue said the extra week allowed the coaching staff to further implement offense, defense and special teams.
During the spring, LaHue said the team went thorough a “spring phase” without pads during the athletic period, with the team getting “a lot out of it.”
On offense, questions still remain on who will be named the starting quarterback for the season opener. LaHue said the team won’t know the starter until after the second scrimmage against Pflugerville Hendrickson.
Hays’ quarterback battle is a three-person race that includes senior Issac Castilleja, sophomore Gentry Brawith and junior Tyler Conley, who LaHue said has not yet been fully cleared to play.
“All three have gotten better every day,” LaHue said. “We’ll see. I like all of them right now.”
Powell returns as the team’s leading rusher from a year ago. LaHue said Powell is one year older and the team expects “a lot of big things out of him.” Behind Powell are sophomores Dahlen Roberts and Ty Mayberry.
“I feel it’s my year,” Powell said. “I’m the starting running back. I have to execute these plays and make these runs as a running back.”
While the Rebels will work with a relatively young wide receiving corps, Hays returns a vast amount of experience in the trenches. Peyton Steele, along with Seth Seale and Josh Lopez, joins a group of returning players who opened holes for Powell Saturday and paved the way for success.
“Our offensive line is doing better than last year,” Castilleja said. “I’ve got more time to throw the ball and get it on time to where I need to be.”
While the defense gave up “too many big plays” Saturday, LaHue said the group is currently “flying to the ball” during practices.
LaHue said the team’s strength is its defensive front, which is anchored by defensive lineman Manny Galvan. Linebackers Ryan Leal, along with Peyton Pearson and Cameron Johnson, bolsters a defense that will be tasked with stopping some of the most prolific offenses in the state in district play.
Focusing on their first scrimmage against San Antonio East Central is the goal for LaHue. He said the team plans to run some of their “simpelest stuff” in order to see how their players respond in front of a crowd.
“It’s a matter of putting them in front of a different color jersey they have seen, a person they’re not comfortable practicing against, and seeing how they react,” LaHue said.