Line Klages’ No. 1 concern

By Andy Brown

Published: May 9, 2008

A year ago Eufaula head coach Dan Klages was searching for a quarterback.

This spring, the coach is looking for someone to protect his quarterback.

Eufaula opened spring practice Monday, and a primary focus for Klages and his staff is to fill the void left by the graduation of three starters on the offensive line.

“Our No. 1 goal is to find lineman,” Klages said. “We lost almost everyone off last year’s line, so it’s a wide-open competition. We need some guys to step up and fill those spots.”

Martez Mayo, 5-foot-11, 230-pound rising senior, is expected to anchor the line from his center position again this season. Britt Irvin, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound rising senior, is expected to start at left guard again this season. Beyond that, Klages is unsure of who will be charged with protecting his signal caller and opening holes for his backs.

Johnny Watkins, who has not played football since his freshman season, has impressed Klages with his play this spring.

“He’s been a little bit of a surprise,” Klages said.

“He’s a guy that was a pretty good player as a freshman, but hasn’t played in a couple of years. He’s done real well, and he could be a guy that steps in and fills one of those spots.”

Duryjuan Brafort is another player that has caught Klages’ eye and could slide into the tight end role.

“He’s a basketball guy,” Klages said. “He’s played some football in the past, but he didn’t play last year. He’s really done well this spring. He’s got good hands, and he does a good job of blocking.”

Klages is also searching for a backup quarterback to play behind Zack Brown, who won the job last fall and is expected to be the starter again this season.

The early candidates to fill that role are rising senior Bill Hamrick, rising junior Breland Jackson, and rising sophomore Demonte Jett.

“We’ve got a lot of depth at quarterback,” Klages said. “I feel like we have three guys we can win with right now, and when Demonte has a chance to mature a little, I think we will have four guys we can win with.”

According to Klages, if the Tigers opened the season today, Hamrick would be the No. 2 quarterback, due in part to Jackson recovering from leg surgery.
“Breland can’t go in pads right now, but he’s looked good throwing the ball,” Klages said.

“His arm strength is probably twice what it was last year. He’s really worked hard in the offseason. Bill looks good back there too. He’s a gifted athlete and can do a lot of things to help us win games. I feel good about having either one of those guys as our No. 2.”

The Tiger signal callers will be throwing to a talented receiver corps. While Eufaula has to replace starters Desmond Thomas and Kendrick Dennis, it does return Hamrick, Will McKee and Greg Hill, all of whom made impressive snags last season.

The Tigers have also added Lazabian Jackson to the mix, and Klages believes he can have an immediate impact.

“He’s fearless,” Klages said. “He isn’t afraid to go over the middle and catch a ball. He’s never really played football, so he’s still adjusting to the contact, but I think he has a chance to be real good and help us out at wide receiver.”

Eufaula also has to replace all-state kicker Clayton Slade.

That task will likely be shared by Hamrick and McKee.

“If we started playing today, Will would probably be our punter and Bill would be our kicker,” Klages said.

“That could change, though. Both of those guys are good enough to start at either spot anywhere in the state, so we have a good situation there.

“I’ve been around this long enough to know that you can’t get too excited too early, but I like the talent we have on the offensive side of the ball. We just need to find some lineman. If we can do that, I think we have a chance to be pretty good.”