Note: This is the first year Wayne High is participating in varsity football
BICKNELL — It’s taken 100 years, but Friday night lights are finally coming to Wayne County.
For the first time since Wayne High School opened in 1915, varsity football will be played in Bicknell this fall.
The move to 1A competition comes after the Badgers played exclusively junior varsity teams last season.
“It couldn’t be any better,” said head coach Rick McCartney, who moved to Wayne County with the idea of settling into retirement before an interest in football arose in the community. “It’s a great opportunity. It gives us a chance to get more kids in front of us and impact their lives. We’re thankful and happy to be able to play.”
In McCartney’s view, impacting lives is what the years-long process to get the program started has been all about.
“We got some kids out that haven’t played before, the cheer program is expanding because of it, there is more opportunity for the pep band, opportunity for the drill team and the dance team,” McCartney said. “I think it's great things for our community and our school.”
The community has certainly rallied behind the team despite an initial lack of familiarity with the high school football scene. McCartney estimates that an average of 400 fans attended last year’s home games, and those were all played in the afternoon.
With no funding from the school district, the program’s financial stability has been at the mercy of support from the public, but enough money was pooled together to purchase lights and a scoreboard, allowing for the opportunity to play on Friday nights.
McCartney anticipates even more fans will show up to games with the time change.
“I think the community really likes it,” he said, recounting that approximately 275 people who traveled with the team to a game in Gunnison last fall. “They’re excited. We’ve got great support. They’re always there for us.”
As much as he realizes the magnitude of what this season will mean for his players and community, as well as the challenges it will bring, McCartney does have one goal that’s not a whole lot different from about 100 other teams in the state.
“We’re the same as everybody else and I’m the same as any coach. We all want to win,” he said. “We’re doing the things that we need to do in the offseason in the weight room to put ourselves in position to be a more competitive team...you never see the team that lost jumping up and down saying that was a great thing.”
From a personnel standpoint, Wayne will be led by running back Jaxon Jensen, who McCartney said has gained 26 pounds since last season thanks to a bunch of hard work in the weight room.
Although Jensen will look to carry the offense from a production standpoint, quarterback Connor Rees is the leader of the group.
“The kids look up to him and respect him because he always puts in the extra effort,” McCartney said. “Last one off the field and the first one out there to get started for the day. When the players respect you, they’ll follow you. They’ll follow you a long ways, and I think he’ll lead them there.”
As far as who will catch Rees’ passes, barking out “Barlow” at the line of scrimmage would likely be both an effective and deceptive play call, as receivers Barlow Pace and Devan Barlow will look to be the Badgers’ primary targets.
Up front on the offensive line, McCartney acknowledges that there’s some growing up that needs to happen, but he’s happy with the unit’s progression.
“We’ll be better than we were last year,” he said. “We struggled a lot last year moving kids around and just finding out who’s comfortable where and what we were capable of doing. We didn’t do a very good job at all. This year I feel a lot better about the direction we’re going.”
Leading the way there will be James Oldroyd, who transferred from South Sevier, and Mac Giles. While Wayne won’t have the numbers to platoon the lines, McCartney envisions that Pace, Barlow and Dean Matthews will anchor the defensive line.
Braden Erickson and Brogan Reynolds have emerged as key linebackers, while Logan Stevens will be the leader of the secondary. He’ll be joined there by Jensen and Rees, although the latter’s time there will likely be limited because of his quarterbacking duties.
“Our win-loss record will be whatever it is at the end of the season, but we can’t lose track of what these kids are doing, what they’ve accomplished to be able to play high school football down here,” McCartney said. “They do a lot and put up with a lot because of it and they just keep giving and giving. They’ll get what they deserve on the field, but it’s more than just what they do on the field. What they’ve done to get here to be able to play is important.”
Wayne Badgers at a glance
Head coach: Rick McCartney is entering his first year as Wayne’s head coach on the varsity level. He’s a graduate of Douglas High School in Nevada.
Offense: (5 returning starters; spread offense)
Offensive coordinator: Greg Pace (first year as assistant)
Returning offensive starters
Riley Cook (OL)
Devan Barlow (TE)
Braden Erickson (RB)
Connor Rees (QB)
Jaxon Jensen (RB)
Offensive newcomers to watch
Barlow Pace (WR)
Calvert Taylor (WR)
Logan Stevens (WR)
James Oldroyd (OL)
Defense (3 returning starters, 4-3 defense)
Defensive coordinator: Jim Lamb (first year)
Returning defensive starters
Devan Barlow (DE)
Jaxon Jensen (FS)
Connor Rees (SS)
Defensive newcomers to watch
Jay Jackson (CB)
Brogan Reynolds (LB)
Braden Erickson (LB)
James Oldroyd ( DL)
Coaches preseason 1A North straw poll: Fifth
Deseret News 1A North prediction: Fifth
Bottom line: In a lot of ways, this season won’t be as much about football for the Badgers as it will be trying to establish a program that can survive. Rick McCartney and company are basically starting from scratch, so success will be more about improvement than wins and losses. Jaxon Jensen will be the key. If he can have a nice year, Wayne could be competitive in a relatively weak region.
Ryan McDonald is a part-time sports reporter at the Deseret News. Follow him on Twitter @ryanwmcdonald.