Player turnover an accepted part of HS coaching

WASHINGTON - There is a lot of consternation among Washington High School football fans about replacing three-year starter Luke Turner at quarterback.

Demons head football coach James Harris is putting a damper on that.

'Luke had his own strengths that contributed a lot to our program, but so did a lot of the seniors that we are going to miss,” Harris said.

Granted, Turner's 1,606 passing yards on 95 completions in 194 pass attempts (49 percent) with 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions will be tough to replace. Even tougher will be his 1,276 yards on 161 rushes for an average of 7.9 per carry with 19 touchdowns.

Players who graduated from last year's team were Brady Knutson, Turner, Dillon Sanders, Jace Buck, Jarrett Bender, Brody Wagner, Ryan Friese, Juan Cano, Lucas Ellis, Jaden Crawford, Ethan Hunt and Tyler VanWeelden.

'We lost some great lineman in Friese and Crawford and we lost skill position guys in Hunt and Knutson, plus defensive guys like Sanders and Bender,” Harris said. 'We are always going to lose guys that we count on. But I'm excited about this year's group.”

Hunt had 27 catches last season for 597 yards. Six of his catches went for touchdowns. The longest reception was an 88-yard score. His catches averaged 22.1 yards a reception.

Knutson snagged 15 receptions for 183 yards and a TD. His average yards per catch was 12.2. Knutson had 32.5 tackles, 16 solo stops and a sack.

Dillon Sanders recorded 51 tackles last season, 32 by himself. Both of those totals led the Demons. He had one tackle for loss.

Bender had 15 tackles, 10 solo, two sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss.

Buck made 21 tackles, 14 solo with 3.5 TFL.

High school coaches have to be able to adapt to their personnel. College and professional coaches can recruit the kind of athletes they want for their particular system.

'In high school, you have to take what you get and plan accordingly,” Harris said. 'We are always trying to do what's best for our kids.”

Harris starts his third year at the helm of the Demons football program with his first season's record at 6-3. That team was the 17th eligible for the playoffs but only 16 qualified. Last season was a 7-3 record and a first-round playoff loss to the eventual state champions of Western Dubuque.

Last year's 7-3 record was really an 8-2 season, but for a forfeit of a 42-20 win over West Liberty for using an ineligible player.

'That is on me as the head coach,” Harris said. 'I'm responsible for everything that happens in my program.”

There is a camaraderie among the Demon coaching staff that together they can weather anything.

'That's the big thing,” Washington offensive coordinator Don Miksch said. 'Everybody makes mistakes. Mistakes are going to happen. It's not a big deal as long as we learn from it.”

Harris is not worried about what the new offense will look like without Turner.

'We will have a dynamic Demon offense, just like in the past,” Harris said. 'What you will see is some nuance. Coach Miksch and the offensive staff have a plan. That plan still is in the process of being put to work. It's hard to know what we have or don't have until they get some game time in.”

It's the time that teams put in when nobody is watching that can make a difference when the game clock is running on Friday nights.

The offensive staff has worked hard over the winter and spring planning for a different talent running the offense. It is something that most coaches do every winter, but the Demons have been lucky to have Turner as a three-year starter.

'Maybe the next guy has a different skill set than the quarterbacks we have had here recently,” Miksch said. 'So we have had to adapt for that, but we're excited about it.”

Football coaches love to spend their time thinking of ways to make their players better.

'One of the great things about the way I designed this offense is the way we can fit whatever the strengths are of whoever is out there to the offense,” Miksch said. 'We feel that our offense is a lot more dynamic than other offenses at this level. The way it's designed, it allows us to decide how much we want to run the quarterback or have him pass.”

While the offensive staff has its challenges adapting to life without Turner, the defense will have eight starters returning, led by Zayne Laws in the defensive line and All-State (Second Team) linebacker Trashaun Willis.

Willis was second on the team in tackles with 47.5 and his 22 solo stops was tied for third with Lucas Kroll, who also returns. He had nine tackles for loss, second behind Bender. Laws had 34 stops and 21 solo as well as two sacks and 7.5 TFL, which was third on the Demons.

Harris is the defensive coordinator as well as the head coach. The last two games of 2019 were a win and a loss, but the opposing team scored a combined 106 points in those final two contests.

'I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the last two games,” Harris said. 'We gave up way too many points. That guy gives up 100 points in two games, he should be fired.”

Harris has not fired himself from the DC position.

'When you're playing against a really talented kids, things are going to happen,” Harris said of the Western Dubuque (42-10 loss) team that went on to win the Class 3A state title and a longtime rival in a Mt. Pleasant (64-61 win) team that just missed the playoffs. 'We just have to be better and returning eight starters on defense is going to help that a lot.”

Kael Adam returns on the offensive line and Wyatt Stout started at running back last year. Both are seniors.

'I'm excited for what we have talentwise on both sides of the ball,” Harris said. 'I think this is going to be one of the deeper teams that we have had. As far as our ability to have guys at the level we need, two-deep across, it is really good.”

It is always important to have depth on a football team, but Harris said this is one year where depth may not be as important as the past. With the guidelines from the Iowa High School Athletic Association decreeing a mandatory timeout every four minutes of game time, players will not be as tired during and toward the end of games.

'So you're going to have extra breaks and that's why I say the depth may not be as important this year, because the kids will be rested throughout the game,” Harris said.