Sports
Collins Hill Must Replace 12 Starters
The Eagles will have to replace QB Taylor Heinicke, who had the second-best single-season passing mark in Georgia history, to compete for a return trip to the AAAAA playoffs.
This is the third in a series previewing the 2011 football season for Suwanee high school teams.
Collins Hill of Suwanee returns only 10 starters from a team that went 10-4 last year and made it all the way to the Class AAAAA state semifinals before losing to Region 7 rival Brookwood.
The No. 1 question for the Eagles is how do you replace a quarterback like Taylor Heinicke, who passed for 3,900 yards in 2010, the second-best single-season total in Georgia high school football history.
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Head Coach Kevin Reach knows that won't be easy. But, he says, "there won't be as big a dropoff as we expected."
Heading into the off-season, the candidates to replace Heinicke were Bradley Johnson and Brett Sheehan. Reach said the two had a spirited competition and that Johnson is a little ahead at this point and will likely be the starter heading into the season opener against Roswell.
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Replacing the other 11 starters won't be quite so difficult. For one thing, 19 of this year's starters will be seniors. The Eagles have been so successful the last few years that most of last year's reserves got plenty of game action and will be battle tested when they hit the field as starters.
On offense, the Eagles will welcome back five seniors, including Andrew Everrett and Conner Boston at wide receiver, Shawn Stachler at tight end, Jermichael Bailey at running back and offensive lineman Sam Batiste.
Defensively, Everrett is one of three returning linebackers along with Jordan Parker and Iain Risk. Lineman Alan Hinderleider and safety Nick England also return. All are seniors who will form the nucleus of a solid defensive unit.
Reach said Collins Hill had a productive off season and was able to fill many of the team's needs. "The kids did everything we asked of them," he said. "We could tell this bunch is hungry to get back to the state playoffs."
It's a tall order when you play in Region 7-AAAAA.
"We play in a very tough region," Reach said. "We open with Roswell then play Brookwood, MLK, North Gwinnett, which will be ranked No. 1 or 2 in the state. Then there's Peachtree Ridge and Norcross. But these guys know what's expected of them and I feel good with where we are right now."
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Collins Hill plays at Roswell on Friday, Aug. 26 to open the season. For the complete 2011 schedule, click here.
