Southside football coach Jeff Williams knew the Mavericks would have their work cut out once his senior class graduated.

That said, the veteran Mavericks’ coach is using his time this spring to plug in the 2020 offensive positions — not that everything will be a quick fix.

The Mavericks bid farewell to most of his offense with Thursday night’s graduation.

Quarterback Taye Gatewood, running back Ricardo Savoy and receivers Tyrese Solomon, Colton McBride, Jordayn Jackson and Erich Schwarz accounted for 44 of the team’s 51 offensive touchdowns last season.

Junior-to-be running back Johntarrius Washington caught two touchdowns last season and senior-to-be fullback Nathan Bogner caught two passes for 30 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown pass.

“Our biggest concern is running backs and receivers,” Williams said. “We lost a lot of guys, and a lot of key guys. Defensively, we have a lot of guys back, which is a positive. We have more experience on the defensive side than on offense.”

Replacing Gatewood will be hard. The senior quarterback threw for 2,386 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2018. He also ran for 704 yards and 11 scores.

Parker Wehunt (5-foot-11, 178 pounds) has been getting reps along with Blaine Stites (5-8, 155), Luke Wyatt (5-8, 135) and McCade Moody.

“They’re getting a lot of reps right now,” Williams said. “Team camp is going to be really important. Spring practice is kind of an individual time to get the kids better. They’ll get some reps in team camp, too. It’s been really good.


“It’s been one of the more productive springs we’ve had in a while.”

Williams and his staff have been able to use the spring to split up the teams, allowing players to play both ways.

“It’s been helpful,” he said. “We’ve been able to create some depth at a lot of positions.”

Williams plans to take the Mavericks to a pair of team camps, including one at Van Buren (June 10-11) and another at Fayetteville (June 18) before getting into 7-on-7 play in July.

“We’ll be able to get a good look at kids in team camp,” Williams said. “We’ll move some people around.”

One key advantage over the returning offensive players, or lack thereof, is the size of the team’s offensive and defensive lines.

Trey Moore (6-0, 315), Creed Nally (6-1, 280), Marlon Briggs (5-11, 330), Josh Waldrep (6-0, 250), Tristan Boley (5-11, 200) and Angel Mares (6-0, 215) are battling for starting jobs.

Defensively, junior-to-be Shawn Rogers had a breakout sophomore season at defensive end, complete with 48 stops and six TFLs (tackles for loss). Jack Hannan (6-0, 215) and senior-to-be Jeremiah Van Hook (6-2, 225) also played well last fall.

Blessed with 4.9 speed in the 40-yard dash, Van Hook was in on 27 stops in 2018.
