Jones a good building block for Reynolds

By Nathan Summers
Herald Sports Writer

Sometimes, trying to find the positive coming off a 1-9 season can be difficult for a football team. Any such team looking for advice in that regard should drop by Reynolds High sometime this week.

The Raiders, whose lone win of the '99 season occurred at the expense of an up-and-down Mercer team, don't appear to be looking for that type of positive reinforcement in preparing for the 2000 season -- it seems to have found them. Head coach Roger Shoaff's team lacks one major thing: The attitude of a 1-9 team. It has plenty of experience -- good and bad -- and one of the valley's best running backs.

Junior tailback Deacon Jones, who charged for 1,033 yards on the ground last season, should be a solid base on which to build the Raiders' offense. Jones, Shoaff admitted, wasn't a known commodity on his own team until last season already was underway. But in the Raiders' third game of the season, he broke loose for a 70-yard touchdown against Hickory, part of a 98-yard outing, and would add three more TDs on the season.

And in keeping with the theme of youth on the 2000 Raiders, Jones will be flanked by classmate Tom McEntire at quarterback.

"The key words for Tommy are maturity and confidence," Shoaff said. "He knew he was going to be in that job, so he's had time to prepare mentally and physically. So far in camp, he's displaying that."

McEntire showed signs of flair last season. As a sophomore, he zipped touchdown strikes of 44, 38, and 18 yards on the season, all three to then-senior Steve Peters, a valuable set of hands Reynolds is without this year.

Helping to boost the Reynolds running game will be fullback Willie Allison, versatile Jon Spencer and hard-nosed Joel Davis.

With plenty of enemy emphasis being placed on Jones, Shoaff said his concern was teaching the team to take advantage of its other offensive strengths.

"Our emphasis this summer was to find other ways to attack defenses," he said. "And the best other way is to throw the ball. I still believe good high school football teams run the ball well, but when you throw the ball you have a balanced attack. And Tom McEntire does have a good year under his belt."

Shoaff also said that Spencer and Davis won't necessarily be lined up in the backfield. They also will serve as secondary and primary receivers. That will help bolster the Raiders' throwing attack, which may be anchored by 215-pound tight end Steve Weary, who was a valuable target last year.

The Raiders' young offensive line is something of a concern for Shoaff, but he is glad to have one veteran on board.

"Dan Palyo is a returning 3-year starter who's the only real experienced guy on that line," Shoaff said. "He just tying to hold it together with the rest of the guys."

Defensively, inside linebacker Allison, the only returning starter, will serve as the anchor of the Reynolds line. Shoaff also noted good summer work from Weary and George Schuffert on the line. Spencer returns to his familiar post at safety.

"The secondary will be young other than (Spencer)," Shoaff said. "He's running that for us."

Whether the mix of talent and youth will pay off for the Raiders is anything but a certainty.

"We just don't know," Shoaff said in looking ahead at the coming season. "What I know is that we've taken a step in the right direction. The kids seem to want to make things happen," he said. "But when you're coming from where we came from, you're working toward the next level, one level at a time. We're going to be better than we were last year.

"The guys that are on this team, that keep coming back every year, that keep coming back and making themselves better, they've shown a lot of character in a lot of stressful situations and they deserve a lot of credit," Shoaff, the fourth-year coach, summarized.