Maize South seniors look for a perfect third-straight playoff berth in three years of eligibility

The Mavericks have made it to the playoffs in each of their first two seasons of eligibility.  After the first winning regular season in the team’s young history, Maize South will look to keep making improvements and picking up milestones.

MAIZE SOUTH

Coach:  Brent Pfeifer (4th year head coach at Maize South, 10-17 record)

2011 Recap:  5-5 Overall, 2-3 in the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Division IV, 2-1 in District.

Pfeifer and the Mavericks continue to build the Maize South program from the ground up.  After qualifying for the playoffs in the first year of eligibility in 2010, the Mavericks followed up the momentum by earning the first winning regular season in school history at 5-4, and qualified for the playoffs for the second straight year.  Maize South lost to Mulvane in the first round.

Returning Starters:  Offensive 4, Defensive 5

2012 District:  at El Dorado, Hesston, at Circle

2012 Schedule

2012 Outlook:

Offense:

The Mavericks will have a strong base of returning skill players to rely on for offensive production.  Seniors Wes Phillips and Ridge McDonald provide threats on the outside at receiver.  Last season Phillips led the team in both receptions and receiving yards.  As a junior, he averaged 62.3 receiving yards per game and led the team with 9 touchdowns.  McDonald had 3 receptions last season for 29 yards.

In the backfield, Maize South is loaded with seniors as well.  Jesse Rogers and Alex Orth are both compact running backs who pack big punches.  Standing at 5-foot-8, Rogers isn’t the tallest back in the state, but doesn’t lack in power.  Last season he was the team’s second leading rusher in an offense that spread the carries around with 428 yards on 7.1 yards per carry, and scored 5 total touchdowns.  Orth carried his share of the ground-game load last season, picking up 229 yards and scoring 3 touchdowns.  DeSean Washington is a junior who picked up 167 yards on just 13 carries last season, and Garrett Koehn is a senior who can make an impact at the position as well.

One of the challenges Maize South will face is finding a replacement for graduated quarterback Drake Dukes.  Last season Dukes led the team in rushing yards with 579 and got more than twice the carries of Rogers.  Dukes was also a threat to throw the ball with 1128 passing yards and 13 touchdowns to his 5 interceptions.

Maize South will also be looking for players to step up on the line of scrimmage.  The Mavericks graduated a bunch of talent up front and will be looking for inexperienced players to come through and prove they are ready for varsity competition.

Having a reliable place kicker is an asset that often gets overlooked and many high school teams don’t have the luxury of sending out the kick team.  But last season as a freshman, Andy Galliher got his opportunity for Maize South and converted 25 PATs.  Look for Galliher to only get better in his sophomore season.

Defense:

The Mavericks will have strength and senior leadership in their linebackers.  With Nevada Harlan and Jesse Rogers, Maize South brings back two senior linebackers who were the team’s top two tacklers from last season.  Harlan led the team with 97 tackles and Rogers was second with 62.  Garrett Koehn gives the Mavericks a third senior to add to the unit. 

There will also be plenty of proven talent in the secondary for Maize South.  In coverage last season, Wes Phillips led the team with 5 interceptions.  DeSean Washington and Mac Evans both contributed as sophomores and are bringing back the experience for their junior seasons.  As a defensive back, Washington picked up 44 tackles for the Mavericks and got 2 interceptions.  Evans will hope to see continued success from his 38 tackles last year.

Like on offense, Maize South will be looking for players to step into varsity roles on the line of scrimmage.

Odds and Ends:

Since it opened its doors, Maize South has continued to build its football program.  The opportunity to begin a new set of traditions with a brand new team is rare.  And for this year’s crop of seniors, the new Maize South tradition is one they are especially proud of.  The members of this year’s senior class were freshmen in the school’s first year and are the last of the original players to take the field for the Mavericks.  They will be looking to make one last impression on the school’s history, one that will set the tone for years to come.

This season Maize South is going into a new division.  An AVCTL Div. IV team in their first two seasons as a postseason eligible team, this year the Mavericks will skip Div. III, and jump all the way up to Div. II.  Facing the 5A competition in the league may provide some headaches for Maize South, but playing the bigger schools could also better prepare the Mavericks for the 4A postseason.