The Cougars will have a young team in Sam Sellers first full year at the helm. |
Sam Sellers looks to calm the waters with a young team in his first full year of coaching at Salina South.
Coach: Sam Sellers (5-3 entering first full season as head coach. 10th season on Salina South coaching staff)
2009 Recap: After opening the season 1-2, new head coach Dave Dunham left the team, leaving Sellers to jump in and fill the void. The Cougars went on to win four of their next five games including victories over Salina Central and Topeka West in district play to reach the playoffs. South defeated Kapaun Mt. Carmel 31-14 in regionals before falling to eventual state champion Hutchinson in the quarterfinals.
Returning Starters: Offense 3, Defense 3 (Derek Baxa, Jr., OL/DL; Cody Busby, So., RB/DB; Trent Forrester, Sr., TE/LB; Tim McGaha, Sr., TE/DE; Darius Peterson, Jr., OL/DL; Drew Pilgrim, Sr., OL/DL)
Returning Lettermen: 19
2010 Outlook:
Offense: The Cougars will look to the ground game this season with sophomore Cody Busby returning to the backfield. As a freshman, Busby ran for more than 1,000 yards and earned 2nd team all-league honors. Tight end Trent Forrester returns as the main receiving threat for South this season along with team leader and senior wide receiver Cody Neuburger. Christian Linenberger, a junior who saw limited action last year behind starting signal caller Jason Seibel, will lead the Cougars multiple formation offense this year. Junior Darius Peterson (6-6, 259) and senior Drew Pilgrim (5-10, 254) return to hold down the offensive line.
Defense: South’s defensive line will be anchored by senior defensive end Tim McGaha. In his junior campaign McGaha received 2nd team all-league honors. The line will be the Cougars strong point this season with juniors Derek Baxa and Cooper Brown lining up next to McGaha in South’s 4-4 defense. Forrester returns to the linebacker spot and up-and-comer Justin Davis will look to lock down the corners this year. With a small senior class, the Cougars will turn to several underclassmen to make an impact as four sophomores are in position to start on the defensive side of the ball this year.
Odds and Ends: Sellers, in his 10th season coaching at Salina South, started with the Cougars when he was just 19-years-old. He will be the Cougars third head coach in just four years.
“Despite the constant change at head coach the past four years, our program hasn’t seen much fundamental change,” said Sellers. “We have a core group of staff here that has been here a long time and that group is kind of the back bone of our program.”
In his first full season as head coach, Sellers hopes to right the ship of a program with an extremely young team.
“I feel it is my job going into my first full season to kind of calm the waters a bit and stabilize things so that our program can get back to competing for state championships every year.”
Along with a dedicated coaching staff that has several veteran members, Sellers also turns to athletic director and former head coach Ken Stonebraker for advice.
“Being able to pop my head into the office of a guy that has won two state titles and a guy that I played for and coached under is an unbelievable resource.”
Sellers also served as an assistant coach for the West in this year’s Shrine Bowl.
