By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
The Collinsville Panthers’ offensive line takes pride in a lot of things.
Last football season, the team had a 1,400-yard passer in Mason McAteer and a 1,000-yard rusher in Quintavious Rogers, numbers in which helped Collinsville claim an 8-3 record.
But perhaps the number the offensive line is most proud of is one. That’s the number of sacks the unit allowed on McAteer last season. That lone sack came in their first-round playoff loss at Southeastern.
Behind a starting offensive line that features four seniors and a junior, in addition to numerous playmakers including McAteer (now a sophomore) and Rogers (a junior), Collinsville is expecting to have an even better 2024 season.
“We do have some pretty talented skill players. Most of them are still 10th graders and they started as eighth and ninth graders, but these (offensive line) guys right here are the reason they’ve got somewhere to run,” Collinsville head coach Ernie Willingham said. “We played 10 regular-season games and (McAteer) never got dirty. These guys really do their job. They take pride in taking care of those running backs. We’re proud of them.”
Those veteran guys in the trenches Willingham alludes to is senior right guard Shaun Stewart, senior center Justin Pruitt, senior nose guard Fredy Rivera, senior right tackle Caleb Cromer, and junior left tackle Sam Stewart. They had the honor of accompanying Willingham to the DeKalb County Football Media Day at the Tom Bevill Enrichment Center in Rainsville back on July 26.
“I really appreciate my coach bragging on us (at media day) like that,” Rivera said. “We want to have a very dominant offensive line and dominate every defensive lineman we come across.”
“Hearing Coach talk good about us really makes me feel like he’s seen us working hard,” Pruitt said. “He really trusts us to block for the running backs. Allowing no sacks makes us feel good.”
With their head coach’s praise comes some higher expectations.
“Obviously our goal is to win state and protect everyone we can,” Sam Stewart said. I feel like we’re going to be the best we’ve ever been. We’ve been playing together since seventh grade. We have chemistry, every single one of us. We push ourselves to the fullest.”
“We just want to hold each other accountable,” Cromer said. “Only having one sack last year, we don’t want any this year. Mason is pretty young, so we’re going to keep him protected. That’s our job – opening holes and keeping him protected, give him time to pass the ball.”
“I don’t want to give up a sack this year,” Shaun Stewart added. “I want our running backs to feel they have a line that will block for them this year like last year,” Shaun Stewart said.
In all, Collinsville returns eight starters on offense. Sophomore receiver Gavin Lang, who led the Panthers in receptions last season (26 passes for 519 yards and six touchdowns), along with fellow sophomore running back Kyler Beene, joins McAteer and Rogers as the Panther offensive playmakers. Freshman Landen Lozano and sophomore Luis Soto are expected to bolster the Panther offensive line.
The Panther defense has 10 starters returning in Rivera and Cromer on the defensive line, Lang at safety, Rogers and sophomore Sylas Adams at the corners, Beene, Shaun Stewart, sophomore Jeremiah Killian and junior Travis Ledford as linebackers, and senior Rajuess Rooks at defensive end.
Willingham also expects senior defensive back Malachi Jelks, sophomore linebackers Derrick Orr and Chase Godshall, and senior defensive lineman Raymundo Soto to see playing time.
On special teams, senior Aaron Herrera returns at kicker, Pruitt at snapper and Adams as holder.
“I think we’re really, really talented at a lot of positions,” Willingham said. “We’re not very deep, but we’re going to have 36 players and 11 seniors. If a player goes down we may have to move two more to get them worked up to what we need to do. Being injury free is going to be a real key for us.”
If the Panthers’ championship goals are to be met, they’ll have to do it in a new classification. For just the second time in school history, Collinsville moves up to Class 3A in the new Region 8.
Familiar foes Fyffe, Sylvania and Geraldine join Holly Pond, Asbury, Brindlee Mountain and Whitesburg Christian in the region.
Following a jamboree at Appalachian on Aug. 16, the Panthers open the 2024 season at Cedar Bluff on Aug. 30. They also host Sand Rock on Sept. 27 and end the regular season at home against Valley Head on Nov. 1.
“Moving up to 3A in a super-tough region is going to be a challenge,” Willingham notes. “Fyffe, Sylvania and Geraldine all have very impressive programs, but everybody on our schedule is very good. Cedar Bluff is looking to have their best team in years, and Sand Rock is going to be much improved. Valley Head had a bunch of young skill guys and is always tough for us.
“We’ve been close (to playing for a state title before). We think we’ll be close again. We think we’ve grown up and are really close enough to get there. We’ll see if we can get over the hump.”
2024 Collinsville Football Schedule
Aug. 30 at Cedar Bluff
Sept. 6 Fyffe
Sept. 13 Whitesburg Christian
Sept. 20 at Asbury
Sept. 27 Sand Rock
Oct. 4 at Geraldine
Oct. 11 at Sylvania
Oct. 18 Brindlee Mountain
Oct. 25 at Holly Pond
Nov. 1 Valley Head