The Vidor Pirates slumped last season, but they look to set sail again in 2015 and plunder their district opponents in 22-5A. Coach Jeff Mathews returns his top two rushers. Blake Rowe at fullback was all-district rushing for a thousand yards, Tailback Haylon Leckelt carried the ball for 1200 yards, and Mathews is glad to have them both back on the offensive side of the ball.
Coach Mathews also has two of his top Pirates back on defense. Mathews is excited to have Andy Laughlin a two-year starter back at middle linebacker. Zach Hester is also a two-year starter at defensive end. Big things are expected from both of them.
Vidor will want to run the football again this season, but who will Mathews have to run the Pirates’ offense? Mathews feels lucky that the Pirates have three potential starters at quarterback this year. Dakota Dewitt played some last year, but may be moved to defense. Kolby Humble has stepped in and is directing the offense well. Trevor Duff played at halfback last year and could see some time at quarterback for Vidor. The Pirates return players that rushed for over 3,000 yards last year which made Vidor second in total offense in the district. With nine out of eleven starters back the Pirates are hoping to be first this year.
The Pirates look to be stronger on defense this year, and Coach Mathews is counting on a number of key starters returning. Mathews has eight starters back on defense. Laughlin at middle linebacker will be the quarterback of the defense for the Pirates. Mason Mathews has recovered from his hip injury of last season and is ready to be a factor at cornerback. Joining him in the secondary are Humble and Dewitt. Brock Vincent is back on defense as well.
If the early summer workouts are any indication the Pirates are ready to start hitting somebody in a different colored jersey according to Mathews. With so many returning starters Mathews and the coaches do not have to re-teach a lot of the defense. The coach says the first day of contact the kids were ready to do some hitting and there were a lot of pads popping.
The Vidor Pirates stumbled last year and did not make the playoffs. Coach Jeff Mathews believes the problem was mostly self-inflicted, but Mathews and the coaches are looking to correct that this season. Mathews points out that 80 percent of the Vidor drives that did not result in scores were foiled by mental mistakes by the Pirates. The coaches are imposing punishments on the players during practices when they make mistakes to help cut down on some mental busts when the season starts.
The Pirates have had a history of players that liked to hit and hit hard. That is still the case at Vidor, however, technique is still important which is what Coach Mathews will have his staff work on with the players in the weeks prior to the start of the regular season. Mathews admits the Pirates were a poor tackling team last year and hopes to improve their tackling techniques leading up to the first game. Mathews believes the Pirates will be bigger this year in the defensive line, and Vidor should be better overall on defense.
A year of missing the playoffs has the Pirates hungry to make it back to the postseason. Coach Mathews previews the District 22-5A battles for Vidor. Mathews still thinks the district championship will have to go to mid-Jefferson County to be won. He sees the Nederland Bulldogs as the favorite with Port Neches Groves and the Beaumont schools also loaded with talent. Mathews’ son Mason is a senior and his classmates played under the coach since little league for eight years of bonding and learning the system and are all like family to him. The coach is looking forward to making it fun this year.
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