Marshfield Preview: Lots going on

There's lots going on at Marshfield!!!!

New turf, no more road trips for home games, going to a no huddle offense, new junior quarterback, two new assistant coaches, an odd D front.....

What a gorgeous day on the bay! Friends try and convert me to the beauty of the Yachats area, but there's nothing better than Coos Bay and the beaches on a summer day.

Head coach Justin Ainsworth and the Pirates will be playing their home games at Susick Stadium. The turf is awesome, both in looks and performance. The Pirates should have an extra spring in their step now that they are back at home in arguably one of the best high school football venues in Oregon.

I sat down with coach Ainsworth and some of his staff and gathered the following info:

Turnout: 74 players as of Tuesday, frosh thru seniors. Of interest is that this years group of frosh are the first class to enter Marshfield who have participated in a three year old south coast youth tackle program. Next year's incoming frosh group is projected to have 30 or more players and will have another year of the youth tackle program under their belts.

Returning starters. Marshfield lost a ton of seniors last year, including a first team all league back and six all league defenders. All league tight end Dalton Milburn returns as well as strong safety Ty Cutting. Both Milburn and Cutting will be three year starters. Chase Messerle returns at safety. Parker Forte returns and will be the Pirate center. Brad Beaudry and Frank Montenegro also return on the line.

GH is Gary Haliski
JA is head coach Justin Ainsworth

GH: No MWL team returns their quarterback. All the coaches have to be concerned. Who is fighting for your starting QB spot?
JA: Jason Sweet, a junior, is our QB. He was the JV starter last year. We'll probably be much more balanced this year between running and passing with Jason as QB.

GH: You lost a first team running back to graduation. Who is going to try and fill those shoes?
JA: We're deep at running back, but not experienced. Seniors Ty Cutting and Chase Messerle figure to be our main ball carriers with sophomore Alex Brown getting playing time. Again, we're deep, we have a lot of potential tailbacks behind those guys.

GH: What about your receivers? Obviously you have 6' 7" Dalton Milburn back at tight end.
JA: Yes, MIlburn's obviously our tight end. 6' 2" junior Jacob McAvoy will be our wide receiver.

GH: You mentioned Beaudry, Forte and Montenegro on the line. That doesn't fill all of the holes the graduating seniors left. Any others own starting spots so far?
JA: Looks like sophomore Bill Fields will be a guard for us, and we're going to be using Dalton two ways. You'll see him as a defensive end a lot more this year.

GH: McAvay, Cutting and Messerle can cover the pass. Who's going to be joining them as a DB?
JA: We're expecting Cody Roark to step up and play well right alongside those guys.

GH: You were up and down last year at game time. A big loss to Springfield, a solid win over Willamette, an upset over Eagle Point, a loss to North Bend?
JA: We've got to get more consistent. We talk to the players about it, but they are the ones who have to do it.

GH: Turnovers cost you last year, what....
JA: They KILLED us! We've just got to emphasize it!

GH: The Coos Bay school district is going to a four day week for the kids. Do you anticipate any problems or opportunities?
JA: I'm concerned about a couple of things. Our class day starts at 7:40 AM and goes to 3:30. Add in practice and homework and that's a long day. We're going to have to help the kids manage that. The other issue I am concerned about is what the kids will do on Friday's when they don't have school. They've got to make good choices and be ready to play Friday night. The coaches will have in-service day's on a lot of Friday's, so we'll have to rely on the team to manage themselves.

GH: This is your third year as head coach. Did you make many changes when you took over, and if you did, have the players bought into the changes?
JA: One of the reasons I took this job is that coach Wigle had a blueprint for success and I didn't need to make a lot of changes. He also left me with a great staff. But this year we're making lots of changes - some due to the type of personnel we have on the field and some other changes we had planned on. We're going no huddle. We're really pleased with the way the guys are picking it up. Hopefully, we'll be doing more spread offense. We're putting in on odd line on D, we've got a new young quarterback, we're planning on being more balanced on offense and we've got two new coaches. Mark Wheeling will be coaching our frosh. Wheeling was a stud QB for Reedsport's state championship team. And we're fortunate to get recent Marshfield grad, Colin Cooper, on the staff. We lost some really good coaches, but coach Chad Scriven returns and will handle the D-line.

GH:  Looking at last year's roster, either you have the shortest team in the league or have the most honest height and weight roster listings in the league.  Which is it?  (Coaches in the coaches room laugh)
JA:  Neither, we stretched every 1'4 inch we could last year.


GH: Thanks for the visor.
JA: You're welcome.