Abilene High defensive players embrace traditions, expectations that come with Blackshirts

Noah Hatcher was a running back in middle school, but the Abilene High coaching staff decided to move him to safety his sophomore year.

Hatcher, now a senior, was thrilled with the move. He knew the history and tradition of being a Blackshirt – the moniker given the Eagles’ defensive players.

“I knew the Blackshirts have always been a tradition at Abilene High,” Hatcher said. “When they switched me from running back to safety, I knew it was going to be a big leap, but a better place to me.”

There is a lot of pressure that comes with playing defense at Abilene High. The Eagles, traditionally, have hung their hat on defense. It all starts – and ends – with defense at AHS.

“I know it’s the heart and soul of Abilene High, just knowing what comes with it, what standards we’re held to,” Hatcher said.

This year, the defense has given up 55 points in four games - 13.8 per game - aside from allowing 56 to Midland Legacy in a road loss.

Game Preview:Abilene High takes on No. 9 Amarillo Tascosa in key district game

Defense get its identity

Wearing black practice jerseys started in 2004, when AHS started calling the defenders the Blackshirts (an idea borrowed from the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who gave their defensive starters black jerseys beginning in the 1960s).

The Eagles eventually began other traditions on defense – giving the ax award to the top defensive player at the end of the year and huddling before each game.

Not even AHS coach Mike Fullen, the team’s longtime defensive coordinator before becoming the head coach in 1999, knows what the defensive players talk about in the pregame huddle, where they link arms and dedicate themselves to each other and the defensive cause. One player is even chosen to wear a link of large carabiners, symbolizing their togetherness as a unit before breaking up to start warmups.

“They huddle and link up and basically commit to each other, and then they elect somebody to wear that chain when they come out,” Fullen said. “It’s something that we’ve done forever, and they started doing that on their own.”

It’s all part of the aura that goes with being a Blackshirt. Not even the offense has its own nickname or traditions. It’s something special to be a defensive player at AHS.

“It’s almost an honor to be picked on defense,” Fullen said. “You have years where you have offensive guys trying to find ways to play defense. They’ll say, ‘Hey, can I come over and play, even for a couple of snaps?’ “It’s a unique deal. It’s probably one of those things you can’t do everywhere.”

While playing defense is considered at honor at AHS, Hatcher said it takes a team – defense and offense – to be successful.

“I know a lot of people look up to the defense, even the offensive guys,” Hatcher said. “But we all need each other. Offense needs defense, and defense needs offense. We just have to keep each other’s head held high and ball out together.”

Defensive-minded

Hatcher was one of those guys who wanted to make the switch to defense. His quarterback at Mann Middle School, Tristen Hall, was a little skeptical when he was asked to make the move to defensive end during spring ball his freshman year.

“It was pretty weird, because I love the offensive side,” Hall said.

Hall, who didn’t start playing football until seventh grade, didn’t know the history and traditions that came with being a Blackshirt. Once he did, beginning his sophomore year, he was all in.

“I took it all in,” said Hall, a senior who also handles the punting and kicking duties. “It’s a blessing to be part of the unit.”

Hall soon learned the pressure that comes with being a Blackshirt and playing for defensive coordinator James Williamson.

“Coach Will is always harping on it, that it all starts with the D-line,” Hall said. “There’s a lot of expectations. It’s a lot, but we keep going.”

Fullen said the coaching staff doesn’t necessarily load the defense with its best athletes. He said finding a nose guard is the first priority each season, followed by defensive backs.

Fullen said one reasons the Eagles made the move to a 3-4 defense in 2001 is because of the type of athletes that started coming up from middle school.

“We see a lot more linebacker/safety type of kids,” Fullen said. “If they’re a linebacker in middle school, then they usually make an athletic lineman. The running backs, we turn into linebackers. Our defensive backs are usually wide receivers who can’t catch, but they’re good athletes.”

Fullen said some Blackshirts aren’t great athletes, but they are the Eagles best football players.

Dominating defense

The AHS defense has been superb this season. The Eagles are giving up 279.2 yards (194 passing/85.2 rushing) and 22.2 points per game. Take away a 56-20 loss to Midland Legacy, a game where turnovers fueled the lopsided loss, and the numbers are even more impressive.

AHS (3-2 overall) also has lost to unbeaten Odessa Permian 17-3 and a 4-1 Wolfforth Frenship team (21-7), while beating Cooper (14-10) and Lubbock Monterey (37-7).

The latter was the District 2-5A Division I opener, and the defense held the Plainsmen to 176 total yards and 10 first downs. They recorded five sacks.

It was the defense that gave the offense time to get going in the first half – limiting Monterey to 42 total yards and three first, while getting two turnovers. The defense's play allowed AHS to overcome three turnovers in the first half and even put points on the board with Kevion Williams’ 75-yard interception return for a TD on the final play of the first half for a 23-0 lead.

“Those guys are really good and playing well this year,” Fullen said of his defense. “It’s a pretty senior-laden defense. Some of those guys have been in there for two years. They take a lot of pride in what they do, and they play really hard for their coaches.”

Offensive struggles

The Eagles have struggled on the other side of the ball.

The offense, which lost two-year starter Abel Ramirez at quarterback to graduation, as well as standout running back Da’King Thomas, still is searching for consistency. No surprise, since Ramirez and Thomas accounted for 4,086 yards and 46 TDs last season.

The offense is starting to come around with Dylan Slack taking over the starting quarterback job while Brelon Badon – the starting QB to begin the season – has emerged as a playmaker at receiver.

It’s no surprise the offense has been a work in progress with so many new faces on that side of the ball. Yet it would be easy for the defense to get frustrated, because it’s given the team a chance to win just about every game. The Eagles could easily be 4-1.

“I wouldn’t call it frustration,” Hatcher said. “We expect to be on the field a lot. Our offense is getting better and better every week. We just need to get them on the field and let them do what they can.”

Hatcher’s response wouldn’t surprise Fullen.

“We’re a family, and there’s never any finger-pointing,” Fullen said. “They take a lot of pride in being able to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got it.’

“That’s the biggest thing we go over is, ‘Go put the fire out. Go put the fire out,’ and they’ll just keep doing it and keep giving (the offense) opportunities.

“They can feel good about what they’ve done, even though it is frustrating. But anybody who knows football knows that those guys have played pretty good, and they’ve done a good job of keeping us in games.”

Stopping the triple option

The defense will get a big test this week.

The Eagles play No. 9 Amarillo Tascosa (4-1, 1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday at Dick Bivins Stadium in Amarillo. The Rebels, whose only loss is a 13-12 decision against Permian, give defenses fits with their triple-option offense.

“We typically play it fairly well,” Fullen said. "It’s important we keep them from getting any momentum on offense."

Last year, early turnovers, along with a handful of key injuries, led to a 40-20 loss in the season opener in Amarillo. Tascosa would end up going three rounds deep in the playoffs.

The Rebels have won each meeting the past four years – all decided by six points or less until last year.

And if the Eagles are going to get their first win in the series since a 54-14 victory in 2013, it will be because the defense keeps it close.

Fullen said there’s no doubt the defense will give its best – that’s part of the Blackshirt tradition.

“What’s been impressive ever year forever is, just the way we can get those guys to play hard and trust,” Fullen said. “It’s just a bond, and it’s unique. A lot of it’s the way we prepare with these little traditions ... There’s a lot of things the outside world doesn’t see that we’ve done inside for gosh, nearly 20 years.”

Added Hatcher: “Everything we have, we leave on the field.”

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene High defensive players take pride in Blackshirt traditions