He ’ s definitely going to be able to run it for us .”
Replacing Pettigrew as the team ’ s top running back will be Mills Moorman . Moorman had 31 carries for 98 yards for the Valiants last season . Moorman will split time with 6-foot , 185-pound back Triston White and junior Dallas Hatfield in the backfield .
Senior wide out and two-year starter Eli Pay is back for the Valiants . Though he only caught six passes for 60 yards as a junior , Henderson expects Pay to be a threat with an increased workload .
Outside of Pay , senior Hayes Perry has had a great summer by Henderson ’ s own admission . Offensively , the Valiants expect a lot from senior tight end Worth Kimbro .
Henderson calls Kimbro “ the team ’ s go-to guy in space .” Kimbro caught seven passes for 76 yards last season , though he spent much of his time at defensive end .
“ He ’ s come on the last two years unbelievably ,” Henderson said of Kimbro . “ I thought we were gonna have to turn him into a guard about three years ago and
then , all of a sudden , he started playing pretty good . He will be a two-way guy . He ’ ll be our best defensive end as well as our tight end .
“ We ’ ve got pieces in place . We ’ ve got a lot to clean up obviously as everybody does in late July . That OTA we had recently was good for us . We got a lot of good film . We kind of got smacked in the mouth early and we responded well . Now the challenge is , ‘ OK guys , let ’ s get back to starting fast ,’ whether it ’ s an OTA , whether it ’ s a 7-on-7 or whether it ’ s Friday . We were better than our record last year , but it seemed like at the start of the game we ’ d be down 14 , 21 points in the blink of an eye . Then , we ’ d hang in there the rest of the time but you ’ re fighting an uphill battle after that . I feel like we ’ ve got pieces in place and I think we ’ re ahead of the game right now .”
Defensively , the Valiants struggled mightily much of the season . The team allowed 33.6 points per game – giving up 40 points or more in five games , losing all five of them .
As a defensive-minded head coach , Henderson felt his team ’ s combination of youth and lack of depth really put it behind the proverbial 8-ball much of the season .
Going into preseason camp , Henderson is much more confident in his group defensively ; especially at linebacker . Kimbro ( 42 tackles , nine tackles for loss ) returns as the Valiants ’ leading tackler from a season ago along with Pay , Moorman , Perry and Scott Giddens .
“ Us being young up front the last couple of years and us being really thin as far as numbers up front , we were really having to load the box against some spread teams , which is dangerous , just to stop the run so that put a lot of pressure on our secondary ,” Henderson said . “ I think our box is gonna be a lot better and that ’ s gonna really help us out to be able to bump those linebackers out in space and help us in the passing game and still be able to hold our own in the run game .
“ Defensively , we ’ ve got three good candidates for my two inside linebackers and that ’ s a plus also . Those guys are the quarterbacks of the defense and they ’ ve got to know what to do and how to get lined up . We ’ re still working some stuff out in the secondary on defense . Camp will help us out a lot .”
Following the team ’ s season opener at home against St . Andrews , the Valiants will face a stiff road test right out of the gate as they travel to St . Simons Island to face the Frederica Knights Sept . 2 .
The following week , the Valiants welcome Georgia Christian , Robert Toombs Christian to town before getting back on the road to face North Florida Christian Sept . 23 and Tiftarea Sept . 30 .
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