Here's how Claude football plans to break a decade-long playoff drought
It's year three under Brantlee Lemons for Claude football and everything continues to trend in the right direction.
The Mustang baseball team just made its deepest playoff run in years and that's after the football squad had it's most successful season in some time as well. After two wins in Lemons' first year, the Mustangs doubled that total to four in 2022. Now, they'll look to navigate through a daunting district and make the postseason for the first time since 2012.
"The vibe in camp so far has been good," Lemons said. "We've got a freshman and senior that just moved in and we've got eight seniors. Most of them have started four years so we have a ton of experience. The last two years we've really been building on getting better and better and now we're hoping that momentum will carry over."
Who all is back
Luke Knox (OL/LB), Braygon Conrad (RB/C), TJ Ivy (S) and Jayden Blandford (RB/LB) have all been starting since their freshmen seasons and will continue to carry the load this year. Raymond Milner (OL/DL) and Hunter Lovell (K/C) enter their third season of varsity action and will join with move-in Will Thompson to form a formidable senior class.
"Last year our starting running back broke his ankle so we moved Jayden up and he really carried us towards the end of the year with his size," Lemons said. "He's not slow for being a bigger kid. He really covered the ball well for us last year. We're going to change our offense up a little bit this year but with 26 kids coming out we'll have a pretty good stable of kids compared to my first year when I had about 19 kids."
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Junior Colton Terrell (OL/DL) and sophomores Holden Tice (QB) and Caden McLaughlin (RB/S) will also factor in some this season as well. Tice spent most of the year on JV last season before becoming the starting QB in district play. The former starter, Conrad, will be featured more in a running back role this season, though his ability to throw the ball will give Claude the option to use some trickery at times.
"Tice is just going to step right into that role," Lemons said. "There's another sophomore named Corbin Jackson that I think will have a pretty big impact offensively. He can catch, run and gain some years. He did really impressive on the JV level and he's impressed so far in practice."
Tough road
There's no other way of saying it: Ending the 11-year playoff draught is going to be challenging. Not because the Mustangs lack the talent, but because of who else makes up District 2-1A Division I.
The Happy Cowboys, despite losing four tremendous seniors, are still considered the six-man team to beat in the Panhandle. Nazareth has many pieces to replace as well, but they're amidst their best stretch of football success ever. Wildorado is expected to be much healthier this year and will likely be far better. In the race to finish in the top two, Claude will have its hands full.
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Still, this is a group of talented and experienced players. This is also as open as the district has been in some time. Lemons said he believes as long as Claude does things its own way, it should be able to snap its playoff skid.
"Every year comes down to wins and losses," Lemons said. "Everyone judges your season on that. But, if we can grow as a team and achieve the little goals that we set for ourselves every week then we can achieve our big goal at the end."
More: 2023 Amarillo Globe News High School Football Previews
CLAUDE MUSTANGS
Head coach: Brantlee Lemons
2022 record: 4-6 overall, 1-2 in district
Base offense: T
Base defense: 3-2
Last playoff appearance: 2012
Top returners: Luke Knox, Braygon Conrad, TJ Ivy, Jayden Blandford, Raymond Milner, Brandon Johnson, Holden Tice, Hunter Lovell, Colten Terrell
SCHEDULE
Aug. 25: vs. Roby, 7 p.m. at Petersburg
Aug. 31 (THURSDAY): vs. Hedley, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 7 (THURSDAY): vs. Borden County, 7 p.m. at Gail
Sept. 15: at Groom, 7 p.m.
Sept. 22: at Meadow, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 29: at Amherst, 7 p.m.
Oct. 6: vs. Follett, 7 p.m.
Oct. 13: OPEN
Oct. 20: vs. Wildorado, 7 p.m.
Oct. 27: vs. Nazareth, 7 p.m.
Nov. 3: at Happy, 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Claude High School football looking to keep it going in 2023 season
