Abilene Spring Ball

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http://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/sports/d/story/ahs-conversation-eagles-glad-to-start-spring/41435/3r9lyp2oUkuIdJSt0Xlhrw

David Robinett talks to Abilene High head coach Del Van Cox about Spring football practice.

David Robinett said, "Coach Cox, you've been out there briefly for a day in Spring training. Tell me what you saw in your guys, and how excited you guys to be out there?"

Del Van Cox said, "There was tremendous excitement. The wewather kind of got us, but we got out to do a little work and got some pads popping. It was a lot of fun."

Robinett said, "You are now the head coach. I don't know if you've heard that."

Cox said, "I've heard about that. It's good to be out on the field with football because there's been lots of other things going on. It's good to get out of some meetings and go play some football."

Robinett said, "You have several starters returning, but you're missing some key parts that were a lot of your yards last year. Talk about getting those guys replaced and what the competition is going to be like."

Cox said, "We've got a good battle at quarterback and we've got to find some receivers on offense. On defense, we've got to find some defensive linemen. We had three great defensive linemen last year, and we've got to find some guys to fill those shoes."

Robinett said, "Are you confident that they guys that you have in place are going to be the guys that step up and get the job done?"

Cox said, "You bet. We've got three or four or 5 defensive linemen that are fighting for 3 spots, and we've got two quarterbacks that are battling every day . They're doing great."

Abilene High continues Spring football practice until May 22nd.

They finish up with the Black/Gold game and the Game of Champions at Shotwell Stadium.

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http://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/sports/d/story/abilene-high-is-looking-for-leaders/61199/YnYQLGoRzEq4pBl9M4J5tQ

New head coach Del Van Cox and the Abilene High Eagles are back on the field this Spring.

Cox is working to replace several starters from 2014's regional quarter-finalist team.

To be specific, the Eagles are looking for four new starters on defense and eight on the offense this Spring, including a new quarterback.

There is work to be done, and leaders to be found at Abilene High.

Del Van Cox said, "You bet. You've got to find out which ones are capable of doing that, and which ones are trying to lead by example. Those kids figure it out. The ones that do the talking better be the ones that are doing the walking. It's fun to see those new kids step up in those roles."

Abilene High continues Spring practice until May 22nd.

They finish up with the Black/Gold Game and the Game of Champions at Shotwell Stadium.

[Eagle82]

http://www.ktxs.com/news/Cox-era-begins-with-Abilene-High-football/32808322

ABILENE, Texas - Spring practice opened for Abilene High on Monday, and it's the start of a new era of Eagle football.

It was the first practice under head coach Del Van Cox. He replaced Steve Warren, who retired after 19 years at the helm of the Eagles.

The weather wasn't in Cox's favor though. After warmups, lightning put the Eagles in the field house to wait things out. They would eventually get on the field about an hour later.

The War Birds are a younger team. Tthey have a lot of positions to fill, especially on the offensive side of the ball. For day one the focus was just getting back out on the field.

"Man it feels great to be out here and in our comfort zone of being out here on the football field," expressed Cox. "The kids are excited, we're excited, and ready to get going."

"Coming in last year, our offense had a lot of people coming back and they made [the defense] better," explained senior cornerback David Earles. "I think us coming back and having experience on defense is gonna make our offense better."

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ABILENE, Texas - For the first time in 20 years, the Abilene High Eagles opened spring practice with a new head coach.

Longtime assistant Del Van Cox, who was named in March as the successor to Steve Warren, said the process remains largely unchanged.
“We know what we need to accomplish,” said Cox, who spent the last 10 years as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator. “We need to get our run game going and get good in the offensive line, get our quarterbacks’ reads good and find some defensive linemen. It’s everything that we always do, and we make it a point to focus on those things and come out healthy. That’s the key to spring training, coming out healthy.”

Class 6A and Class 5A programs are allowed to conduct up to 18 full-contact practices in the spring, but must start preseason practices a week later in August. Cox said the plan for AHS is to conduct 15 workouts, including the spring game. The Eagles will have scrimmages the first two Fridays — this week at Shotwell Stadium and next week at Action Zone — before finishing up May 22 with the spring game at Shotwell.

The spring game will be in conjunction with the annual Champions Game, a flag football game for special-needs students, which is part of the football program’s fundraising project for Children’s Miracle Network. Contributions to the fundraiser can be made by contacting and Eagle football player of by calling the AHS fieldhouse at 325-677-1731, extension 2099.

Incoming senior Ronnell Wilson, a two-year starter at inside linebacker, was glad to get back on the field.
“It was good to put the pads back on,” he said. “Today was a good day to get the younger guys in, get them some reps and let them learn a little bit, let the coaches yell at them a little bit and see how they take that.

For Wilson, one of two returning players who spent Friday and Saturday competing in the Region I-6A track meet, it was a quick turnaround from one sport to the other.
“When you’re a two-sport athlete, you’ve got stuff to look forward to,” he said.

Wide receiver Nic Roy said the team got things off to a productive start.
“We’re looking pretty good,” he said. “The offense is looking great. The defense is looking really good. It was really competitive today.”

The Eagles were without four returning starters for different reasons. Running back Abram Smith (knee) and outside linebacker Hill Holloway (shoulder) are both coming off surgery, while defensive backs McKendrie Morrison and Isaac Buenrrostro are both members of Abilene High’s playoff-bound baseball team.
“Abram has been cleared, but we know what he can do,” Cox said. “You’ll see him in the fall. We just want to make sure he gets good and strong before he does anything.
“Hill is still rehabbing from his shoulder surgery. He’s coming along as well.”

The Eagles return three starters on offense and seven on defense. Open positions include quarterback, wide receiver, defensive line and inside linebacker.
“We’ve got to find a good combination on the offensive line and find out who’s going to be the quarterback and receivers,” Cox said. “We’ve got to find some receivers. We’ve got one guy (Roy) that was on varsity last year at the receiver spot. We’ve got a lot of young guys there that are still learning lots of things every day. Every play, they’re learning things.”

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Talley, Killam fighting for Eagles starting QB job

http://www.ktxs.com/news/Talley-Kill...B-job/32876708

ABILENE, Texas - High school spring football is in full swing. At Abilene High they have 36 seniors to replace, so every practice is crucial.

One of the key positions head coach Del Van Cox has to fill is quarterback. Rising senior Jakson Talley and rising junior Payton Killam are the two vying for that spot.
Talley lettered a year ago as he was the number two man behind Derek Scott.

Coach Cox tells us he doesn't have a time table in mind to announce a starter, but both Talley and Killam are taking advantage of what they call a friendly competition.

"We're pushing each other to our limits, we trying not to mess up, we're trying to just keep competing, keep competing, show the coaches what we have," said Killam.
"Payton and I are good friends," said Talley. " It's friendly and it's a competition competition."

"I mean both of us really want this spot, so we're out to get it," added Talley.

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ABILENE, Texas - Jakson Talley and Peyton Killam consider themselves good friends. They believe their friendship can withstand a friendly battle, too. Both are fighting for the Abilene High starting quarterback job, and it's something both want very badly.
Both looked sharp in the annual Black and Gold Game on Friday at Shotwell Stadium.
Killam, though, led the offense to all six of its scoring drives, including four touchdown passes — two to Sebryn Morris.
Despite the great day by Killam, Talley had only nice things to say about his competitor.
"We get along fine," Talley said. "We're real good friends."
Killam agreed.
"Friends no matter what," he said.
That's not to say the two aren't competitive on the football field.
"There's always competitive juices," Talley said. "But at the end of the day, he's here for me and I'm here for him."
Del Van Cox, who finished his first spring as the Eagles' head coach, was impressed with Killam's play throughout the spring.
"Peyton's having a great spring," Cox said. "We've found a punter today, too. That's a huge part of the game, having somebody that can load that punt up. Both those guys had a great spring and battled. It's going to be fun to watch them throughout the summer."
That punter, by the way, is Talley. So he's nailed down at least one starting job. But Cox, who took over after Steve Warren retired in February after 19 years with the Eagles, liked the way both Talley and Killam handled the quarterback job Friday.
"They took care of the ball and didn't get the offense in bad position when things didn't go well," he said.
In fact, the offense didn't turn the ball over once and moved the ball well against a defense that had five of its seven returning players missing from the game. All five are with the Eagles baseball team, which is playing a three-game regional quarterfinal playoff series against Arlington Martin on Friday and Saturday in Brock.
"The offense played about as well as it has all spring," Cox said. "We're missing a lot of players on defense, but we got to get our subs some work on defense. So it was an encouraging night. We took care of the football and executed on offense and ran to the ball pretty well on defense."
Killam threw TD passes to three different receivers in the first half. After leading the offense to a score on its opening drive, a 3-yard TD run by Immanuel Brown, Killam came back to throw a 24-yard TD pass to Morris on the next possession.
Killam finished the half by throwing TD passes of 50 and 28 yards to Brown and Bryce McGough, respectively, in the final 1:28.
The 50-yarder to Brown came on play-action, and Brown was wide open on the left sideline for a short catch. He did the rest with his feet.
McGough's catch came on the final play of the half, and he hauled in the pass in the right corner of the end zone.
Oscar Hernandez kicked a 41-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Killam threw a 45-yard TD pass to Morris with 8:17 left in the game.
Cox was happy with his receiving corps, for which Nicholas Roy is the only returner.
"McGough and Sebryn, they had great nights, as did Jaquan Thompson," Cox said. "He caught the ball well today. He had his best day. It was good to see those guys step and make some plays."
Cox said running backs Brown and R.J. Mireles also had a good day. Abram Smith, the starting running back last season, is out with an injury, but he's expected to be ready to play in the fall.
"They both ran well," Cox said of Brown and Mireles, "and then we'll have that other one back in the fall."
Killam was 4 of 6 passing for 94 yards in the second half, while Talley was 7 of 10 for 67 yards in the half. They combined to complete 18 of 28 passes for 303 yards on the day.
"Things went great," Killam said. "We took care of the football. Everything went well. We were flying around the football."
Talley liked what he saw, too.
"I think it went real well," he said. "We didn't have any turnovers, and we moved the ball real well against the defense. We executed very well."
Talley, who will be a senior in the fall, was the backup quarterback on the varsity last season and got some playing time in games. But, as Talley said, "Not much time."
He wants more.
"I want to be the starting quarterback," he said.
Killam was a sophomore on the JV last season. He said the varsity game is different.
"It's a lot faster game," he said. "The reads are a lot quicker. People are a lot faster. You've just got make quick decisions."
Like Talley, he wants the starting quarterback job.
"We're good friends, but I want to have that starting job,"Killam said.
Despite the battle for the starting job, both said they'll continue to be friends regardless of who gets the starting nod in the fall.
"As long as we're scoring and winning games, everything's good," Talley said. "Peyton and I are always friends. We're always cool."

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Some video.

http://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/sports/d/story/eagles-end-spring-with-blackgold-game/22865/8Qh05j3Rh06zrr_Oa2U2eg