McLEANSBORO —
Hamilton County varsity football coach Jeff Rush, entering his seventh season at the helm of the Fighting Foxes, lost 12 players from the 2009 squad.
The 2010 edition returns 10 seniors. Key returning seniors include two All-Black Diamond Conference selections on defense last season, 6-foot, 4-inch, 230-pound Steven “Diesel” Lemmons and 5-11, 205-pound Clint Hopfinger.
“We have a pretty good group of seniors,” Rush said. “They have been working pretty well together ... It’s not quite the size of class when they first started, but they have picked up a few more guys this year, and a couple of them are going to help us out.”
“We lost some very good players from last season,” the coach continued. “We are going to be a very inexperienced group. We’re just going to have to do a good job with what we have. Only having two players back on defense is tough.”
On the offensive side of the ball for the Foxes, four players with starting experience return.
Despite sitting out three games because of an injury, all-conference senior quarterback Adam Irvin (5-10, 180) still managed to be right in the thick of things in the passing department in Southern Illinois. He finished the season in second place among quarterbacks with more than 1,100 yards through the air.
Lemmons returns at fullback, and also returning are senior center Cameron Shelton (5-8, 180) and senior left guard Jedd Holloman (5-7, 180).
“We’re strong up the middle right now, and I think we will be OK,” Rush said.
“We just need some experience,” he said. “When you lose eight really good players, these other guys are going to have to step up and fill the void. Actually, we lost 16 positions because those boys were going both ways.”
The Foxes will continue to run the spread offense, Rush said.
“It’s not a surprise to any of the teams we play nowadays,” he added.
Besides the 10 seniors, Rush has 10 juniors and 14 sophomores on the varsity roster.
The numbers are a little low at the freshman level this season, with only 16 players out for their first season of football.
Rush does have some size on his roster, with more than 11 players weighing in at more than 200 pounds, the biggest at 250 pounds.
“Our main goal is to win the Black Diamond Conference,” Rush said. “The big trick is to get everyone to believe it.
“We have some very tough teams in the conference, and Fairfield comes back with a big team,” he said.
“Carterville has left the conference, but Chester is replacing them, and Chester is good. I started coaching at Chester, so I am very familiar with them. They really rode high last year, and they haven’t dropped off much.
“I think every team in the conference has improved. We had a much better summer than we have had in the last couple of summers. It was a lot of fun to see the kids out there, and they had some success out of it. You can’t tell a whole lot about seven on seven, but it was good to see the kids out and participating.”
Last season, the Foxes finished 4-5 and just missed making the playoffs.
“We’re going to keep grinding like we always do and try and get physical with the other teams and play the best we can and see what happens,” Rush said.
The Fighting Foxes open the season Aug. 27 at home, hosting the Vienna-Goreville Eagles at 7 p.m.
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Related Photos
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Members of the 2010 Hamilton County Foxes football team are, from left, front: manager Jaden Irvin, Aaron Cravens, Daniel Jamerson, Clint Gwaltney, Tim Crow, Zack Hart, Jedd Holloman, Cameron Shelton, Aaron Allen, Gavin Files, Brandon Davis, Tyler Ragan, Justin Scott, Jonathan Stover, Kyle Summerville, David Potter and David Busler; back row: head coach Jeff Rush, assistant coaches Nick Walls and Curt Reed, Clint Hopfinger, Shane Williams, Adam Irvin, CJ Lemmons, Tyler Warren, Logan Smith, Lucas Johnson, Jacob Strumpher, Steven Lemmons, Tyler Scrivner, Chad Flannigan, Phillip Rexing, Austin Hybbert, Justin York, Levi Lueke, Terry Thompson, Dyllon McCarley, Roger Taylor, River Steele, and assistant coaches Robert Crow, Brian Blades, Eric White and Keith Welch. Charles Pendell/Times-Leader
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