Chatham football looking for its mean streak

CHATHAM — The two came together with the distinct crack of shoulder pads and the hollow clang of facemask on facemask.

Like rabid dervishes, Chatham junior Josh Mathis and sophomore Logan Hoffman attacked each other during the one-on-one blocking drill — a mad scramble of limbs at the epicenter of a ring of teammates.

The 5-foot-9 Hoffman had called out the 5-foot-7 Mathis for the drill as the first of two Chatham preseason practices on Thursday was winding down.

And even though Mathis was giving up 16 pounds to his teammate, he never stopped scrapping. He never gave in. And he ended up winning the clash.

“I’m just going to give it my all. That’s all I have,” Mathis said. “If I get beat, I get beat. But if I go down, I’m going to go down putting up a fight.”

It’s exactly that kind of attitude that Chatham will need heading into the 2008 season. A size-of-the-fight-in-the-dog type of campaign will test the Cavaliers’ motivation and drive, not to mention the modified spread offense that Chatham plans to put into effect this year.

“We’re going through a fairly big change,” said Mathis, who is listed as a defensive end. “But as long as we hold together as a team we should be good.”

Chatham assistant coach Cole Simpson called it more of a “traditional” spread system. And even Cavs head coach Malon Dalton admitted that adding a tight end into the mix is the only difference between what Chatham’s will run this season and what they used to crank out a 6-4 record last year. But it’s the approach that the offensive conversion brings that may take some getting used to in Chatham.

“We don’t have the size, but we have to use these smaller guys the best we can,” Dalton said. He later added: “It’s not the block-down style that we’re used to, but we can use their speed.”

Eschewing the brute force approach that departed linemen like Cody Pugh (315 pounds), Ben Stone (302 pounds) and Brett Reynolds (282 pounds) took with them after graduation, the Cavaliers will instead try to make the best with what they have.

Yet, while Chatham can boast of height and size in spots, what they will turn to more than anything else is a healthy dose of athleticism and speed. And what they need to finish off the switch to a more open spread offense is a mean streak — something that a wavering motivation has left the Cavs lacking at times.

“We need it a lot,” Dalton said of a motivational push. “We need it more than we’ve been getting it.

“We want them to come out of the locker room with foam coming out of their mouths. But we’re not dealing with kids who are like that anymore. When we get a team that we don’t have to motivate, that’ll be the day I can sit here and talk to you with a real voice and not one that’s hoarse.”

Dalton does have help along those lines, however. And it’s not necessarily his assistant coaches that might save his voice box either. Players like Mathis, who believe and prove that intensity can top size, could make the difference.

So too could players like senior quarterback Buzz Keel, who is returning for his second year under center. On Thursday, even though he had met the offseason conditioning requirements and didn’t have to pay the penalty, Keel was leading his team by example and running extra wind sprints at the end of that first practice.

“That’s just me trying to push myself and get myself better for the team,” Keel said. “I’m trying to push the team too, give them a little bit of motivation.”

The Cavaliers will get to see exactly how much motivation they have to work with this Friday, when Chatham takes part in the Bassett jamboree, scrimmaging Magna Vista at 3:30 p.m. and then turning around to take on Patrick County at 6:30 p.m. They’re tune-ups that could make or break the Cavs as they prepare for a potentially brutal season in the Dogwood this year.

“The Dogwood is tough. I leave the predictions to coaches that like to make predictions, and I leave it to (the media),” Dalton said. “We’re going to prepare our guys the best we can, and our guys are going to play as hard as they can.

“Now, whether they go out there and execute, that will make the difference between wins and losses.”