Football preview: Hoover football demands improvement in 2018

Year two of Hoover High football coach Terrance Jones’ tenure has brought about more demands of the Tornadoes.

Demands from Jones for the Tornadoes to be more consistent on defense.

Demands from him of quarterback Mattis Richards to pick up where he left off last year, when he threw for 725 yards over the final three games of the season.

And demands of skill players like James Chang, Andrew Rangel and Sebastian Sologaista to replace the huge hole left behind by two of Hoover’s offensive starters from a year ago.

His players are ready to meet their coach’s expectations.

“We have to push,” Richards said. “We have to work hard every day.”

The highest expectations might fall on Richards. The junior took over at quarterback from Rangel last year and shined, completing 42 of 77 passes in the last three games of the 2017 campaign that saw Hoover finish 2-8, 1-6 in league.

“He has a heck of an arm,” said Chang, a running back and wide receiver. “He has everything you need to be a perfect quarterback.”

Richards won’t have two weapons that he had last year. Hoover graduated Quran Bouldin and Maurice Herrera, two powerful running backs that the Tornadoes relied on.

“Q is a 6-foot-3, 220-pound man,” said Jones of Bouldin, who scored five touchdowns and had one interception in Hoover’s season-ending 35-25 victory against Glendale last year. “That’s a lot of man to replace. Most schools will have a hard time replacing someone that big.”

He’ll turn to new talents like Chang to help carry the team’s offense.

“I expect James to have a great year,” Jones said.

Chang, Rangel – who’ll play at wide receiver – and Sologaista, also a running back, don’t have much varsity experience, but Chang said his teammates are getting more comfortable and they have high expectations of themselves.

Fullback Edwin Milian Moreno echoed Chang’s sentiments.

“We have some good players,” Milian Moreno said. “I believe we can get a few more wins this year.”

The running back group will look to returning starting offensive linemen Shawn Ferreras, William Escalera and Micah Willingham-Harvey – as well as newcomers Michael Linares and Cesar Arista – to open up the running lanes and protect Richards.

“The strength of the team is going to be the offense,” Jones said. “James Chang is going to be the strength. He can be relentless.”

Some of the offensive players will be expected to line up on defense as the Tornadoes field about 35 players. Kevin Carroll (corner back) and Gabriel Harris (safety) will likely get starting nods in the defensive backfield.

The Tornadoes are an inexperienced team, but they’ll be a squad that believes that it will be better this year.

“It’s a very young team, but we’re a brotherhood,” Chang said. “We feel close as a family. We expect a lot from this team.”