2022 season preview: Joshua Owls
Aug. 26—Editor's note: This season preview article is published in the 2022 Johnson County GRIDIRON Guide.
The Joshua Owls enter year No. 2 under Head Coach Danny DeArman and are hoping to build off the progress made a year ago.
Joshua finished 3-7 last season, a two-win improvement from 2020, so while that shows some progress win/loss-wise, other types of progress was also made but didn't show up on the scoreboard or in the standings.
DeArman said the biggest progress he saw last season was in the Owls' mentality and culture.
"From the beginning of last year to where we ended, I think we made a ton of progress, not so much in schemes but just in mentality," he said. "The biggest jumps we made were our confidence factor and being able to rely on the man next to us and trust that we're going to hold each other accountable. I think we had a huge improvement in that. Scheme-wise, everything was all new for everybody, so that obviously that got a little better throughout the year. But I still feel like even in the last game of the year we were still missing keys, missing calls, missing alignments."
And the difference from day 1 of practice last season compared to day 1 of practice this season showed how far the Owls have come overall — the mental side and from a scheme perspective.
"Where we are right now is light years ahead of where we started last year," DeArman said. "Where we ended last year, scheme-wise, I feel like our kids were still trying to figure out what we were trying to get accomplished. We're putting a whole lot on the kids and it's impressive. We've had some real good practices this first week. I think we grew a whole lot mentally last year but we're at a great place right now mentally and scheme-wise, and I'm pretty excited about that."
While the Owls finished 3-7, they were a handful of plays away from potentially being 6-4 after suffering close losses to Lake Worth, Arlington Seguin and Cleburne. DeArman said finding a way to win close games takes time and experience.
"When you talk about winning, to me that's a mentality," DeArman said. "Part of what we had to learn last year was that we could win. You've got to be in some tough and close games and win those. You've got to be able to come from behind and win. It takes a while to have the confidence in yourself and brothers that you can consistently win.
"I think that's part of where we grew quite a bit last year. Did it show? I don't think it showed as much on the outside as it did within the program. So right now the confidence level is out of the roof. You're going to have to beat good teams before you're recognized as being a good team. So here's your opportunity. It's not necessarily about 'This school hasn't had a lot of success and other schools have.' It's about the opportunity. The kids are excited about the opportunity to go out there and see what happens."
DeArman said he hasn't established any tangible goals for the team this season; instead, focused on small steps in different areas.
"Our goal is to open up our schemes, expand where we are and get to a different level," he said. "I'm looking at every single game the same way. Whether we're playing Seguin or we're playing Burleson or we're playing Summit or we're playing O.D. Wyatt — whoever we're playing, it's the same. We have to manufacture opportunities for ourself. The things we're going to have to do to win games, it doesn't matter who we're playing, we have to do those things we're focused on."
After UIL realignment, the Owls landed in District 5-5A Division II, a deep district comprised of Arlington Seguin, Burleson, Corsicana, Ennis, Everman, Mansfield Summit and Midlothian Heritage.
"I think our district is going to be tougher than the last one," DeArman said. "Every game is going to be ridiculous. The teams are good, players are good, coaches are good. Definitely tougher than last district. It's exciting to get to go into that and get to play against good teams every week. You gain something every time that you break down good teams. You gain something when you watch good teams play. You gain something when you compete against good teams.
"At the end of the season, if you went out there and laid it all on the line, whatever happens, happens. It's going to take time to get us where we need to be overall. But that's not going to happen unless we're able to see different levels of competition and see what it takes to compete at that level."
OFFENSE
A year ago, the Owls were inconsistent offensively, especially depending on the quality of their opponent.
In three wins, Joshua scored a combined 127 points. But in seven losses, the Owls managed only 61 combined points and were shut out twice.
Coach Danny DeArman believes another year in the system and more experienced and more explosive playmakers will go a long way in Joshua being tougher for opposing defenses to handle.
Joshua was a run-first team last year (402 rushes vs. 153 passes) and the Owls will lean on the ground game again this year but with the hopes of an improved aerial attack.
"Obviously, we're going to run the football," DeArman said. "To me, you've got to establish the run. And we can't call run plays and not establish anything. That's the biggest difference from last year. There were many opportunities last year but because of confusion those plays didn't get made. This year, I feel much more confident about that. I feel like we have to establish the run and that opens up the pass. With the running backs we have — 'the triplets' — and our receiving corps along with a more experienced quarterback, I think it's going to be very exciting."
Last season, freshman Jaydin Pool was thrown into the fire as the Owls' starting quarterback — not only faced with the task of being a starter at the game's most important position at the varsity level but also learning a new offense.
"I really think he's going to be a phenomenal quarterback," DeArman said. "I think he's going to be really good. He was thrown into the fire last year as a freshman playing in the district that we were in and having to do the things we asked him to do, but I felt really good about how he handled that. That's helped him where he's at right now. His confidence level is really high. His confidence in his receivers is really high. Because of the position he was put in last year, he's already become the leader of our team. He's controlling a whole lot out there and he's comfortable with that."
Pool had modest stats a year ago — he threw for 713 yards with three touchdowns and seven interceptions — but the expectations in Joshua are for a breakout season for the 6-foot-3, 175-pound QB.
"We are going to open it up with him," DeArman said. "He's going to have to run the football this year. He's going to have to be able to get the ball into the intermediate levels and down in some deep zones and rely on his abilities but he's also going to have to manage the game, come over to the sideline and be able to communicate the things he sees from series to series to the coaches so we can try to get an upper hand on things.
"He definitely is going to take a larger role in our offense. Last year, we put him in some situations here and there where he could be successful but we really tried to put more of the pressure on other people. But this year he's a veteran and he's handled it very well through the summer and camp. He's definitely going to be one of the focal points of that offense."
At running back, DeArman gets giddy talking about the trio of senior Ayden Groce, senior R.J. Brown and sophomore Eli Martinez.
"The running back situation is probably as good as I've ever had it in my career," DeArman said. "Ayden Groce is a bulldozer — he's a very strong, thick kid that gets tough yards. He's fast enough to make a move and run by you but he's also the same kid that would rather run through you. He brings a nice mentality to the backfield.
"R.J. and Eli are going to be receiver/running back kids where we put them in situations where we can throw it to them, hand it to them, toss it to them, motion them in. They're going to be the jack-of-all-trade players. It's going to open up our offense having those three kids back there. R.J.'s got tons of ability. When he's confident and when he sticks his foot in the ground, he's a man among boys. We're excited about what he's going to do this year. And then Eli is a transfer from Cleburne, and he's a dynamic kid. I think he's really special and I really feel like he's going to shock a lot of people this year."
At receiver, sophomore Brett Pool and junior Will Koller will lead the way along with senior tight end Cooper Moore.
"Brett Pool has really good size and a good frame at 6-4, 175 pounds," DeArman said. "I feel like Brett will have a breakout season. He catches the ball well, he's precise on his routes and he's already got a good connection with the QB being his twin brother. Will Koller at slot is very quick and has good hands. He's very football savvy.
"At tight end, we have Cooper Moore, who was a safety last year and we moved him over to offense. He's a very smart kid and a fantastic tight end. He does a great job blocking and understanding schemes. The kid gets after it. We can line him up at tight end, split him out, play him at H-back. He understands everything about the offense so he will help us personnel-wise get into different formations."
Thomas Rodriguez, Xavier Edwards and Martinez will also see plenty of reps at wide receiver.
The unproven spot on Joshua's offense is on the offensive line, where the Owls have to replace five seniors from last year.
DeArman said senior defensive line standouts Josh Johnson and Gage Bandy will tag team the left tackle position, alternating here and there to give each other a breather in addition to their defensive duties. And from there, junior Hayden Nelson (left guard), sophomore Anthony Aguilar (center), senior Ryan Finch (right guard) and sophomore Noah Newman (right tackle) were leading the way during two-a-days.
"All of those guys were JV kids last year," DeArman said. "Even though they're all new, I feel really good about the O-line. The good thing about that is we had all spring and all summer with them. They've had a year in the offense under their belt coming into it. It's not like last year where you had a senior-heavy O-line that had to learn a new scheme, so we're actually a little bit further ahead where we expected to be."
DEFENSE
The biggest improvement Joshua made in year 1 under Head Coach Danny DeArman came on the defensive side of the ball, where the Owls allowed 30.8 points per game — a vast improvement after surrendering 50.8 points per game in 2020.
But DeArman said that number should've been even better last season — and that he fully expects to lower their PPG allowed even more this season.
"Our points per game allowed should've been lower," he said. "There were several games — Timberview, Aledo, Everman — that by the time we got to the third or fourth quarter, the game was out of hand and instead of punting the football and saying 'oh well,' I didn't. We went for it a lot because it was do or die and I didn't want to send the kids the message of, 'We're waving the white flag.' Those scenarios didn't go the way we wanted so that put the defense in bad positions and led to higher point totals.
"I really feel like we should've been closer to 21 points per game or somewhere around there. My goal is to get down to the 21 PPG mark this year, if not lower. We've got to play good defense to win football games. You need all three phases of the game, but defensively we've got to establish ourselves and be able to slow down offenses and give us a chance to be ahead in games. If people don't score, they can't win."
Two of Joshua's four returning defensive starters are on the defensive line in seniors Josh Johnson and Gage Bandy, who were all-district and all-county selections a year ago.
"Josh Johnson is the strongest kid I've ever coached in high school," DeArman said. "He has worked his tail off. He's a lot faster and he looks really good. I definitely think he is going to be somebody that creates some havoc at the D-line. Gage is the same as Josh, he's put on some size but he can run. Those two are great leaders for us and they're nasty. They're going to be hell on wheels for us on the D-line."
Junior Ray Slade is expected to join Johnson and Bandy as starters on the Owls' three-man front.
Juniors Blayne Street and Drake Smith led the competition during two-a-days at outside linebacker, while junior Preston Savage, senior Braylen Galbreath and senior Will Thompson will provide a three-man rotation at inside linebacker.
"With Blayne Street moving from safety to outside 'backer, I think he gives us a lot of versatility and has good size at 6-1, 205," DeArman said. "I think he's really going to be good for us there."
In the secondary, sophomore Thomas Rodriguez and junior Tanner Pennell are expected to start at cornerback with senior Nate Smith in the mix while seniors Xavier Edwards and Ace Hutchens were the leading candidates to start at safety.
"Thomas played slot receiver last year but coming into this year, we looked at where we needed to make some moves and we needed a kid that could really play corner, so we took a look at Thomas because he's got good agility, he can run and he's a football player," DeArman said. "So we put him at corner and it didn't take 5 minutes for all the coaches to agree that it was a good move. I think he's going to be a great corner for us.
"We moved Xavier from corner to safety so we could let him run around and just make plays. He's dynamic and has the ability to track people down and track the ball down."
One area DeArman said he's looking for the Joshua defense to improve in is increasing their sack, tackles for loss and QB pressure totals.
"I would like to do a better job of being able to pressure the QB," DeArman said. "I don't think we did that enough last year. I think we're going to have to do some moving and blitzing and add a little bit to our scheme. Last year, everything was very vanilla. I'd like to have a few more sacks, tackles for loss and hopefully those things result in more turnovers."
