The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 99, No. 165, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 25, 2019 Page: 38 of 42
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Football Preview
Sunday, August 25, 2019
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In search of playoff breakthrough
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Eagles offensive
weapons could
change fortunes
8D Ohe Havtown Sun
Baytown Sun photo by Alan Dale
Barbers Hill head coach Tom Westerberg saw “100 percent buy in” from his football program as the players worked hard from spring
practice through the summer to the first weeks of preseason. The Eagles open the campaign at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Magnolia.
BY ALAN DALE
alan.dale@baytownsun.com
Baytown Sun photo by Alan Dale
The Eagles bring back a number of offensive weapons that could step in and play major roles as Barbers Hill aims for its first playoff win under head coach Tom Westerberg.
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Collier is optimistic about the play be-
hind center with the addition of Kaopua
and the running options.
“Our offense is coming along really
great,” Collier, a University of Minnesota
commit, said. “We got a new quarterback
and he’s got an ann - he can throw. I feel
confident in our running backs. Gibbs is
really shifty and can really run. If he gets
in the open field no one is going to catch
him.”
Both quarterbacks will have plenty of
talent to throw to with Cameron Cauley,
Andrew Galvan, Jaden Meredith and Can-
den Grogan offering a plethora of options.
“They all played last year,” Westerberg
said. “They are all pretty quick and catch
the ball well. They work well together.”
The offense will not settle on just one
approach as each week will offer different
challenges.
“We will roll into a lot of stuff,” West-
erberg said. “You will see us with two
backs, four receivers, five receivers. You
will see a little bit of everything. It just
depends on what goes on in a game.
“Our kids will create our own identity
as we go.”
Defensively, the Eagles will run a four-
man front as their base and linebacker
Cavin Branin, strong safety Branden Hef-
fernan, defensive end Josh King-Bradley
and defensive end Ramsey Humphrey
will anchor that side of the ball.
Barbers Hill football looks like playoff
success could be a reality under fourth-
year head coach Tom Westerberg.
The Eagles come in off of a 7-4 season a
year ago that ended with a bi-district play-
off loss, 62-42, at Manvel.
With about a dozen starters back and
even more rotation players in the fold,
Westerberg is feeling optimistic about
where his team is today.
“We had guys who played a lot and a
lot of kids who played a lot that weren’t
starters,” he said.
The Eagles will be put to the test 7:30
p.m. Friday at Magnolia to open the new
season.
Westerberg is getting his offense ready
to be led by senior quarterbacks Christian
Kaopua who transferred from Humble
and has been reunited with his fonner
junior high classmates in Mont Belvieu.
Senior Connor Dunham, who started the
last few games of last season, will also get
playing time.
“We’ll play both until one takes it and
runs with it,” Westerberg said.
With Dunham, Westerberg know what
he has in his veteran, but both signal call-
ers have a lot to offer.
“We know what Connor is like in a
game, but not Christian so we don’t know
how similar or different they are,” Wester-
berg said. “Connor is a player every day.
He comes to work every day.”
Cohn Betz and Kaegan Gibbs offer
some nice options out of the backfield and
depth behind them is a boon for Wester-
berg.
“We are all kind of the same,” West-
erberg said. “Their identities open up as
their games go along.”
y3x.
this summer we really came together as a
group,” Heffernan said. “This is Wester-
berg’s fourth year here and this is the most
bought in we’ve been in the four years.”
Their coach sees the work paying off.
“They are still learning from carrying
over from the summer workouts,” West-
erberg said. “It’s still a process and now
they have to learn from the speed coming
at them. That’s what they learn in the fall
camp.”
They have gone 0-2 in the playoffs
during Westerberg’s tenure but the team’s
work this summer could pay off.
“They are always going to give great
effort,” he said. “We coached them all the
way up through when school started. We
didn’t give them a whole lot of time off.”
He hopes to finish higher in District 12-
5AII and get a favorable playoff matchup
after finishing in third a year ago and hav-
ing to travel to Manvel.
“We were right there in the mix last
year,” Westerberg said. “We couldn’t fin-
ish the Nederland game and made some
mistakes. PN-G was our first game with-
out our starting QB and they got after us
pretty good. We are there with everybody
and I think the district is pretty even.”
It won’t hurt to have a team that is ready
to go and make a move toward a higher
district finish and favorable playoff route..
“With our varsity kids we had about 100
percent buy in and were here during the
summer,” Westerberg said. “Talk to me
in Week 10, because I can’t tell you it’s
the best team because we haven’t played
a game yet. We are heading in the right
direction, but now they have to get it done
on the field. You don’t know where you
stand until it’s all over.”
One thing the players know is they are
in this as a unit.
“We’re a lot tighter than before,” Hef-
fernan said. “Also, even though we are
older we are closer to the younger groups.
We know we are a team and we are here to
win together. It takes all of us.”
_____..2
File photo
Barbers Hill quarterback Connor Dunham started the final few games of the 2018 football
season. The senior signal caller and Christian Kaopua are expected to both take snaps
during the season.
Branin is feeling very optimistic about ter,” Branin said. “We’re dogs out there,
this team in his final year. We are going to show everyone who’s
Barbers Hill High School
football schedule
Aug. 30 - at Magnolia, 7:30; Sept.
6 - vs. Montgomery, 7:30; Sept. 14 - at
Kingwood Park, 6; Sept. 20 - Bye; Sept.
27 - vs. Dayton, 7:30; Oct. 4 - at Neder-
land, 7:30; Oct. 11 - vs. REL, 7:30; Oct.
18 - vs. Vidor, 7:30; Oct. 25 - vs. Cros-
by, 7:30; Nov. 1 - at Port Neches-Groves,
7:30; Nov. 8 - vs. Santa Fe, 7:30.
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The offensive line is anchored by Chris “We are going to be the No. 1 defense in boss.”
Berrios and Casey Collier, two seniors the district,” Branin said. “We got every- Heffernan says the team has come to-
who really like the direction the offense body basically back and we are going to gether and is stronger than ever. The se-
is heading. stop everyone in the district.” nior class is bonded after coming together
11 We are working on skill or how to The Manvel loss was attributed to some their freshman year following the junior
block the defense and get the job done, nerves and injuries. high split that pulled them apart for two
Berrios said. Our line knows what we are . 1..1 1.c2121
i • • 1 i i ,. We got a little scared at first with them years.
doing, we communicate and don t mess 1 . ° . 1011110.11 11 1 (0117 . , ce .1 . .11
up very often " being a big ole 5A, but that will get bet- what made us dit erent this year is that
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Bloom, David. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 99, No. 165, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 25, 2019, newspaper, August 25, 2019; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1467828/m1/38/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.