O'FALLON: Panthers depend on senior starters for leadership

O'FALLON -- The senior class will get its chance to shine this season for the O'Fallon Panthers.

The Panthers could have as many as 15 or 16 senior starters.

"When you can put that many out on the field, it makes a difference,'' said O'Fallon coach Brandon Joggerst, whose team opens the 2009 season against Cahokia at 7 p.m. Friday at O'Fallon Township High School. "Last year, most of the time we had 15-16 juniors on the field. Hopefully, we can build on that experience.''

The Panthers took a few lumps with a junior-laden squad last season.

"It is tough, especially when you are playing the likes of the teams in our conference,'' Joggerst said of being inexperienced last year. "It's hard to learn during the game. We have a lot of kids who have started ballgames for us, and even some that started last year who may not start this year. The competition is great in practice. When somebody is battling to take your spot, you better keep working.''

The Panthers posted a 4-5 record last season, finishing with wins over Collinsville and Alton.

"I felt like we showed great character by going out and winning those last two games even though we knew we were out of the playoffs,'' Joggerst said. "That can be tough, We just focused on getting ourselves better and doing things the right way, and hopefully we can expand on that. The kids are excited. I think they are very hungry. They have lofty goals for themselves.''

The Panthers will be playing much, if not all, of the season without senior running back Erin Lewis, who has a broken jaw. Lewis was the Panthers' leading rusher last season with 866 yards and eight touchdowns.

B.J. Hendrix, who rushed for 106 yards on 28 carries, is a potential replacement for Lewis.

Ben Benton is back at fullback for the third season.

With Sonnie Rollins, who threw for 1,154 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 280 yards and six touchdowns last season, having graduated, junior John Betten (6-1, 185) steps into the starting role at quarterback.

"He's a little bit different than Sonnie and some of the previous quarterbacks we've had,'' Joggerst said. "He's more of a pocket passer. He has a very strong arm. He definitely can throw it around a little bit. He's not a guy where we are going to run a lot of isolation plays for him out of the gun or anything.''

Betten has plenty of potential targets as the Panthers return Purdue recruit and tight end De'Ron Flood and wideouts Dionte Sullivan, Chevaugn Lawrence and Quan Guion.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Flood had 20 catches for 360 yards last season, while 5-foot-9, 165-pound Sullivan had 21 catches for 343 yards.

"With the receivers we have coming back, we're hoping to get some vertical threats going and spread the ball out a little bit more,'' Joggerst said. "This is the most confident we've felt about ability to throw it. We'll throw it as many times as we need to in order to win.''

Senior guards Justin Meyers (6-2, 250) and David Bozeman (5-10, 300) and junior tackle Carlos Beverly (6-3, 300) will anchor the offensive line.

"We bring three kids back,'' Joggerst said. "Hopefully, they've improved from where they were last year, and the other two positions, we'll fill in a little bit.''

Sullivan, Demarco Baxtron or David McDaniel are the cornerbacks.

Benton had 34 tackles at linebacker last season, while defensive ends John Bouquet (37 tackles) and Tivan Taylor (28 tackles) lend experience to the defensive line.

"We think on defense we need to improve a little bit,'' said Joggerst, whose team gave up an average of 31.3 points per game last season. "We gave up some points last year, and we were pretty susceptible on the ground at times. We have worked on some things to try to remedy that.''

Joggerst said the Southwestern Conference is loaded with star power this season.

"It seems like from top to bottom in the conference this year, there is a lot of very good teams and a lot of very good individual players,'' Joggerst said. "The marquee names are kind of spread out, so there are no weeks off.''