Last year was a great one for the Vidor Pirates who finished in a three-way tie for the district championship before being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. After not playing well in Week 1, Head Coach Jeff Mathews and the coaching staff did some re-evaluating with the players who responded positively. Mathews exclaimed, “It was a lot of fun. You preach every year district championship, and when you’re finally able to get one it validates everything you’ve been telling them.”
Coach Mathews said the Pirates will have a young offense when the 2017 season kicks off for Vidor. Hogan Stogner is back in the Pirates’ backfield. Stogner was all-district at fullback last year, but will move to half back this season. His replacement at fullback will be Kelby Odom who played some games last year. Grant Johnson will return at tight end for the Pirates.
William Fawcett played free safety for Vidor in 2016 and has been moved to the quarterback position for 2017. The coach expects big things from him, calling Fawcett a good football player and a great leader. “It’s going to go where he goes. If he takes us where he can we’re going to be just as good as we were last year,” Mathews believes.
The Pirates maybe young on offense, but they will be experienced on defense starting with two familiar faces according to Mathews. The Ciccio twins will be the anchors of the Vidor defense. Joey Ciccio was first team all-district last year at middle linebacker. Brother Tony was also a standout at defensive end. Both outside linebackers Noah Emfinger and Gavin Otey are back for the Pirates. Playing in the defensive secondary at a cornerback will be Bridger Quirante, and he should be pretty good.
Defense is going to have to be a force in the early going for Vidor. The Pirates have eight or nine starters back on defense so they will have to keep the games close while the young Vidor offense gains experience. Mathews admits, “Until they can mature our defense is going to have to keep us in ball games, and we think they will.”
There are some young Pirates that Coach Mathews believes will contribute for Vidor this season. Devin Nixon and Adonte Woodard will both be seeing time at offensive guards. Zach Dahlenburg and Brad Nunez have been very good at running back in the first two weeks of practice.
Dylan Caldwell has moved in from Silsbee and should start at a defensive end. Ian Wooten and Joseph Harris are both coming up from the junior varsity last year and have played well on defense. “They’ve been really, really impressive so far.” Mathews exclaimed.
A share of the district championship in 2016 is a tough act to follow for this year’s Vidor Pirates. Mathews thinks this season’s crew of Pirates could be in the hunt for more district gold in the always tough District 22-5A war. The coach concedes there are some really good ball clubs in the district. Memorial is as an athletic team as any. Port Neches is tremendous with Roschon Johnson. Ozen and Central are always going to be good. Lumberton’s going to be pretty good. Nederland is always tough.
Vidor will need to play their best each week according to Coach Mathews or the Pirates will wake up Saturday morning trying to figure out what just happened. “Last year we were able to get up every game, if something bad happened we were able to put it behind us and bounce back. We’re going to have to do the same thing if we’ve got a chance at all.” Mathews concluded.
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