High School Football Preview: Huntington Beach will look to its defense to lead the way

When Brett Brown went from offensive coordinator to the head coach of Huntington Beach High’s football team last year, he introduced an acronym his players could get on board with.

Prominently displayed white lettering spelled out W.I.N. on the back of black T-shirts at Wednesday’s practice.

“‘W’ is work hard, ‘I’ is integrity, and ‘N’ is no excuses,” junior cornerback Jeremiah Flanagan explained.

An addition has been made for the upcoming season. Every time the players break as whole group, they say, “All-in, WIN!”

“We are all in it together,” Brown said. “We hold each other accountable, do things the right way, work hard, and are all bought in to being part of an Oiler football family every day.”

At a glance, much appears to be the same. Nine of the 10 opponents on the Oilers’ schedule will be repeats from last year. The only exception is Anaheim Canyon, which Huntington Beach will host Aug. 25.

Huntington Beach needs contributions from everyone in camp, especially with the team in search of difference-makers. All seem to be in agreement that there is no simple solution for replacing the production of Derek Thomas.

Thomas, who now plays for Cerritos College, was a wrecking ball at defensive end who could stop a drive in a hurry. He had 15 1/2 sacks and 13 tackles for a loss.

Jonah Apelu, the Oilers’ nose guard a year ago, had five sacks and eight tackles for a loss. He will be playing football for Golden West college this fall.

Where the defensive line was Huntington Beach’s greatest asset last season, it is arguably the Oilers’ biggest question mark as they prepare to start the year.

The Oilers have their top tackler from 2016 returning in middle linebacker John Gosney. He led the team with 77 tackles (Gosney’s 52 solo tackles were second to the 56 recorded by Thomas).

Brown attributed much of that production to the ability of last year’s defensive line to keep opposing blockers from getting down the field. Gosney remains intent on having another productive campaign.

In much the same way as it was a year ago, the defense feels that it will be up to them to keep the Oilers in games. Outside of Arick McLawyer, the other pieces available to the Oilers on offense have seen limited varsity touches.

“The main mission is to obviously get more tackles, get more fumbles, and more defensive plays,” Gosney said. “This year might be the year for defense.”

“We don’t have a set quarterback, so our defense is going to have to work hard, score, set the mood, and get everyone hyped.”

Young once again, no one on the field will have less varsity game experience than the player receiving heavy consideration for the starting quarterback job out of training camp. Regardless of that fact, Brown says that freshman Jacob Hanlon comes equipped with the physical tools needed to succeed at this level.

“He is not a typical freshman,” Brown said of Hanlon, who stands at 5 feet 11, 170 pounds. “He is mature, and he has got a good varsity arm already. He is going to be a kid that is going to get a lot of looks eventually.”

Two players are already drawing interest from colleges to play when their high school careers are over. Neither will be matriculating into their senior year.

McLawyer and Flanagan, both juniors, have popped up on the radar of Fresno State, San Diego State, and UNLV.

McLawyer transferred in from Fountain Valley before his sophomore year. Once eligible, the Oilers put him to work. His motor is such that Brown foresees a number of uses for the jack-of-all-trades.

“Arick’s going to play everything for us, so he might get some running back carries,” Brown said. “He’s going to play receiver. We’ll put him at quarterback at times.”

“We’re just going to try to get the ball out to our playmakers as best as we can, whether that is throwing or handing it to them.”

Not too long ago, another versatile star led Huntington Beach to a CIF Southern Section Southwest Division championship. Kai Ross was the starting quarterback and a defensive back on the Oilers’ title-winning team in 2013.

He is back at his alma mater now. Although he is the receivers coach, Ross possessed a skill set that can assist this latest group of Oilers in many ways.

“He has his banner hanging up in the weight room, and everyone knows who Kai is,” Brown said. “He’s been awesome out here. As good of a player as he was, he’s going to be just as good of a coach.”

For the Oilers, their most experienced unit will be the defensive secondary. Caleb Webb and Flanagan are the corners, Nick Napoli and Andrew Blokdyk are the strong safeties, and McLawyer is the free safety. All are returners for Huntington Beach’s 3-3 stack defense.

There are some good challenges on the schedule for the Oilers’ secondary, including the likes of Las Flores Tesoro and San Clemente.

“My matchup is San Clemente,” Flanagan said of the game he looking forward to the most. “They air the ball out a lot. I play DB, so that’s love for me. I’m trying to get a couple of picks, get some touchdowns on the offensive side, and just get the (win).”

Gosney said he is eyeing the Fountain Valley game. Nick Welch, who started last season as the Oilers’ starting quarterback, is projected to be the starter for the Barons.

The Schedule

Aug. 25: Anaheim Canyon

Sept. 1: at San Clemente

Sept. 8: at Tesoro

Sept. 15: at Long Beach Wilson

Sept. 22: San Juan Hills

Oct. 5: Edison *

Oct. 13: at Fountain Valley *

Oct. 20: Marina *

Oct. 26: at Los Alamitos *

Nov. 3: Newport Harbor *

* denotes Sunset League game

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner