The Garden City Telegram

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Busters, Norsemen starting season with something to prove

Published 8/28/2010 in Sports

By BRETT MARSHALL

bmarshall@gctelegram.com

The football programs for Garden City Community College and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M of Miami, Okla., are eerily similar.

And it will be much the same tonight when the Broncbusters of the Jayhawk Conference play host to the Golden Norsemen of the Southwest Texas Junior College Conference at 7 at Memorial Stadium.

The two schools have head coaches — Lucas Aslin at age 33 for the Busters and Don Bigby, age 50, for the Norsemen — who are coming off losing records with their respective 2009 teams. Garden City slipped to 4-5 a year ago in Aslin's third year at the helm, the first time in nearly two decades the program finished with a sub-.500 record. The Busters also missed the KJCCC playoffs for the first time since it went to a four-team format in 2006. The Norsemen, too, struggled in Bigby's first year as the head coach, going 3-6.

Now, each coach has brought in an almost new roster, with freshmen finding their way into the starting lineups at numerous positions for both squads.

"We feel like we're ready, we've done everything we can to get the players prepared," said Aslin, 17-12 his previous three seasons. "It's been a good week of practice. We've worked on our special teams and just tried to ready ourselves for the game situations we'll face."

Two freshmen, GCCC's Wes Winfrey and Northeastern's Beau Marsaln, will get the starting nods at quarterback. Marsaln, from Tulsa (Okla.) Metro Christian, is a big, rangy athletic quarterback who will guide an offense predicated on throwing the ball from a pro-style formation using a single back nearly 70 percent of the time. Winfrey, at 5-11, 192 pounds, is more of a controlled-type signal caller with plays that allow him to utilize the skills of those around him, as well as his field savvy.

"We're closer to where we want to be, but in all honesty we're a year away from where we need to be to play a team the caliber of Garden City to start the season," Bigby said. "I'm satisfied that our kids will play harder than last year with so many new ones, and we've got a good freshman class."

In a Saturday scrimmage last week against Coffeyville, the Norsemen turned the ball over three times during their matchup with the Red Ravens, expected to be a contender for playoff honors in the Jayhawk Conference.

"We'd rather be playing a junior varsity team somewhere because Garden is in the same position we're in — they've got something to prove," Bigby said.

Aslin indicated that both teams are similar in size across both the offensive and defensive lines, so there are still a lot of unknowns.

"I like where we're at. The unknown is always tough, but you've got to start and see how things go," Aslin said Thursday. "We need to get out there and hit some folks and see how it goes. I believe if we play harder, hit harder, are tougher mentally and make fewer mistakes, we'll be OK. But there's so many new faces, it's hard to know how they'll react to this atmosphere."

That's why Aslin is looking to his few sophomore returners — like wide receiver Corey Johnson and linebacker Korey Jones — to help the young players.

"They've both done a great job of providing leadership for the freshmen," Aslin said of his returners. "We've got a new offensive coordinator (Pete Darnell), we've simplified a lot of what we do and we've avoided injuries leading up to this game. We're certainly way ahead of where we were at this time a year ago, especially since we had the kids in for summer camps."

The Busters also have had one extra week of practice due to the fact that NEO doesn't open its dormitories until the week of Aug. 16 while GCCC began fall drills on Aug. 7. Since 2004, the Norsemen have struggled after having one of the most successful junior college programs in the country. NEO has gone 26-31 in the past six seasons and has had three coaches. From 1978-2003, under four coaches, the Norsemen were 216-52-3 (.797).

It has been 17 years since the two teams have met on the field when NEO came away with a 31-21 victory. In a short series of nine games, the Norsemen are 8-1, with the lone Buster victory coming in 1976 (28-13) in the Beef Bowl played in Garden City.

"Since I've been here, Garden City, like us, has had its ups and downs," said Bigby, now in his 10th season at NEO. "We're both trying to get back up the ladder of our conferences."

Gametime
What: Garden City C.C. (0-0) vs. Northeastern Okla. A&M (0-0)
Where: Memorial Stadium
When: 7 p.m.
Head coaches — Garden City: Lucas Aslin, 4th season (17-12); NEO: Don Bigby, 2nd season (3-6).
Series: 10th meeting; NEO leads 8-1.
Previous Games — 1993: NEO 31, GCCC 21; 1989: NEO 21, GCCC 0; 1988: NEO 17, GCCC 6; 1982: NEO 41, GCCC 7; 1980: NEO 45, GCCC 0; 1976: GCCC 28, NEO 13 (Beef Bowl, Garden City); 1958: NEO 40, GCCC 13; 1957: NEO 48, GCCC 0; 1954: NEO 32, GCCC 13.
——————
Projected Starting Lineups
Garden City
Offense
WR — Corey Johnson, 6-1, 190, so., Muskegon, Mich.
LT — Stoney Jackson, 6-5, 280, r-so., Luvurne, Ala.
LG — James Callahan, 6-3, 285, fr., Ashland
C — Chris Wilson, 6-0, 285, so., Garden Plain
RG — Jacob Owen, 6-4, 305, fr., Hoisington
RT — Mitch Harrison, 6-6, 285, so., Sharon Springs
TE — Byron O’Rourke, 6-2, 210, so., Holcomb
WR — T.J. Johnson, 6-1, 200, r-fr., Kannapolis, Md.
QB — Wes Winfrey, 5-11, 192, fr., Plains
RB — Keion Wade, 5-11, 200, r-so., East Orange, N.J.
FB — David Hawk, 5-10, 240, fr., Hugoton
Defense
E — Billy Stensland, 6-1, 262, fr., Greensburg
T — Maurice Couch, 6-3, 294, r-fr., Orlando, Fla.
T — Marrion Holmes, 6-0, 320, fr., DeFuniak Springs, Fla.
E — Chaz Nelson, 6-2, 240, r-fr., Columbus, Ohio
CB — DeVaughn Levy, 5-11, 185, so., Englewood, Colo.
LB — Nate Davis, 6-3, 215, so., Liberal
LB — Mark Spaight, 6-0, 190, so., No. Little Rock, Ark.
LB — Korey Jones, 6-2, 225, r-so., Fort Collins, Colo.
CB — Terry Perkins, 5-10, 185, fr., Chandler, Ariz.
FS — David Gonzalez, 5-10, 180, so., Deerfield
Special Teams
KO Return — Deschion Baskerville, 5-10, 175, fr., Jacksonville, Fla., Corey Johnson.
Punt Return — Corey Johnson.
Kickoffs, Extra Points, Field Goals — David Gonzalez.
Punter — Justin Skelton, 6-1, 185, so., Pawnee Heights
——————
Northeastern Oklahoma A&M
Offense
LT — T.J. Jones, 6-5, 329, Coweta, Okla.
LG — Colton Hyde, 6-2, 295, Washington, Okla.
C — Jay Davis, 6-0, 264, Tishomingo, Okla.
RG — Tanner Newby, 6-3, 280, Enid, Okla.
RT — Logan Jones, 6-7, 305, Blackwell, Okla.
TE — Anthony Sparks, 6-4, 235, Stillwater, Okla.
WR — Jermaine Sherman, 6-2, 185, Wagoner, Okla.
WR — Jakeil Everheart, 5-8, 160, El Reno, Okla.
WR — DonAvon Dan, 6-1, 185, Del City, Okla.
RB — Terrance Olds, 6-1, 215, Spencer, Okla.
QB — Beau Marsaln, 6-3, 215, Tulsa, Okla.
Defense
E — Kenny Garrett, 6-2, 277, Oklahoma City
E — Leo Gross, 6-3, 250, Oklahoma City
NT — Bobby Pointer, 6-0, 282, Dewer, Okla.
T — Caleb Thyer, 6-2, 290, Miami, Okla.
LB — Eric Feemster, 6-0, 210, Inola, Okla.
LB — Money Davis, 6-0, 246, Spencer, Okla.
LB — Eddie General, 5-10, 190, Reddick, Fla.
LB — Justin Lepley, 6-1, 215, Tahlequah, Okla.
CB — Romon Beard, 5-11, 175, Tulsa, Okla.
CB — Brice Ebbs, 6-0, 185, Vinita, Okla.
FS — Colby Ellis, 5-9, 176, Tonkawa, Okla.

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