CHMS football opens tonight

Staff

Published Thursday, August 31, 2000

Sports Editor

Charles Henderson Middle School will open their season tonight against D.A. Smith of Ozark.

"Our kids are ready to play," said CHMS head coach Forrest Lee. "I think they're tired of hitting each other and are ready to face an opponent. We're real excited about opening with a quality program like D.A. Smith."

Lee said both the CHMS offensive and defensive units are looking solid this season.

"On offense we've got a couple of players who've been nursing some nagging injuries, but they should be ready come game time," he said. "We've worked on our offense all summer long so we should be good there."

Like many coaches, Lee said he believed in "establishing the running game first."

"We've got to be able to run the football," he said. "With passing, obviously it's not going to be something as complicated as the high school level, but we'll throw some passes just to keep the defense off balance."

Pete VanHorn, last season's starting quarterback, is now a member of the Charles Henderson High School Trojans, but Lee feels he's found a good replacement in eighth-grader Martesi Carlisle.

"Martesi's quick and elusive," he said.

Lee said he would "spot play" different players on both offense and defense.

"Our defense is going to be determined by our depth," said Lee. "We're going to interchange some players on both sides of the ball."

Lee said he believes the team which makes the least mistakes is the one that usually wins the ball game.

"We've just got to be fundamentally sound in all areas," he said.

Game time tonight in Troy is 6 p.m., with the seventh-grade team playing at 5:30. Admission is $3 adults and $2 students.

"We hope to have a good crowd," said Lee, "and we want the community to come out and support us tonight."

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