By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
COLLINSVILLE – Collinsville football coach Ernie Willingham considers all of his Panther players his grandkids. There’s plenty of reasons for that.
Willingham is beginning his 25th season as a head football coach. It’s his 18th at Collinsville.
While he’s coached a lot of great teams during in that span, this year’s Panther squad has the potential to be one of Willingham’s best.
That’s because the Panthers bring back every starter from last year’s 8-3 team.
“I was out of coaching for a little while, and when I came back, these (senior) guys had moved up from sixth grade to seventh grade. They’ve been with me all along,” Willingham said. “All of them are my grandkids, even the underclassmen. I’m everybody’s granddaddy now.”
Back during the DeKalb County Football Media Day in Rainsville in late July, Willingham joked he hired defensive/strength and conditioning coordinator Skylar Ray a season ago to be “the bad guy” just so he could keep his grandfather status with the kids intact.
“I still yell at them and jump up and down, all that kind of stuff, but he’s at a whole different level in our weight room and our meeting rooms,” Willingham said of Ray. “We’re taking care of the grandpa issues by letting somebody else handle some of the rest of it.”
The Panthers have done a pretty good job handling their part on the field.
Senior quarterback Mason McAteer, who is actually Willingham’s grandson by blood, threw for over 2,900 yards and 30 touchdowns last season. He also ran for 933 yards and 13 scores and had four games in which he accounted for five or more touchdowns.
McAteer’s top two receivers also return in seniors Gavin Lang and Sylas Adams. Lang caught 55 passes for 1,221 yards and 16 touchdowns. Adams added 57 catches for 995 yards and three scores.
Seniors Kyler Beene and Jeremiah Killian, as well as junior Noah Johnson, provide the Panthers plenty of veteran options in the backfield.
Juniors Bronnor Jones and Landen Lozano, sophomores Grant Griggs and Christian Soto, and freshman Owen Pettis return along the offensive line.
“Our entire line is returning,” Willingham noted. “We didn’t have a senior on the line last year. They’ve been working and improving. We know what we have struggled with and are moving in a positive direction there.”
Jones and senior Luis Soto will help anchor the defensive front. Johnson returns as the Panthers’ leading tackler at linebacker after registering 120 stops (12 for loss) with an interception and a fumble recovery. Adams and Lang are returning in the Panther secondary.
Even though the Panthers return so many veterans on both sides of the ball, Willingham said some of the younger guys are “pushing for their turn at more action.”
“Competition at some positions has been intense,” Willingham said. “If we can avoid injuries and make it to Friday nights healthy and full speed, we should be fun to watch.”
As Willingham alluded, injuries were one thing that hampered the Panthers last season.
“I feel like all of us staying healthy is the most important part,” McAteer said. “If we’re all healthy, we’ve got a good shot at winning it all.”
If Collinsville has a shot at winning it all, it will be doing it in Class 2A. The Panthers moved down from 3A when the Alabama High School Athletic Association announced its two-year realignment back in January.
But the move down doesn’t mean an easier path for the Panthers. They’ll compete in Region 8 along with Fyffe, Pisgah, North Sand Mountain, Sand Rock, Section, Ider and Brindlee Mountain.
Collinsville hosts Appalachian in a jamboree on Friday before opening the season at Sylvania on Aug. 21. The Panthers open region play at home against Brindlee Mountain on Sept. 4. They’ll travel to Ider on Sept. 11 then host Sand Rock on Sept. 18. Collinsville steps out of region play on Sept. 25 when it hosts Class 5A Douglas.
The Panthers travel to Section on Oct. 2 then host North Sand Mountain on Oct. 9. Collinsville closes out region play at Fyffe on Oct. 16 and by hosting Pisgah on Oct. 23.
The Panthers travel to rival Valley Head in their regular-season finale.
“Moving from 3A down to 2A, everybody says ‘Oh that’s going to be easy.’ No, it’s not,” Willingham said. “We play six of the same people (from last year). You throw in there Pisgah, North Sand Mountain, Douglas, Ider and Section, and some of them think they’re going to have the best team they’ve had in the history of their school. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.