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Matt Hickman
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SIERRA VISTA — As Tuesday night’s practice at Loveless Stadium ran into dusk, the Buena offense was being guided in scrimmage drills by a signal caller well past his prime.
Kent Holland played quarterback at Adams State College over a decade ago. Tuesday, partly out of necessity, the first-year Buena head coach was back under center. He wasn’t wearing any padding, but in a Henry V sort of way, let his players know he was one of them in a very spirited and convivial practice for a team that, on paper, would have every reason to be full of woe.
Holland has just one win under his belt in five games as coach of the Buena program, and going into Friday’s home game against always powerful Sunnyside, he’ll have just one varsity quarterback.
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Jeremy Tuttle was quickly establishing himself as a budding star and exciting improvisational playmaker in the second half of last week’s homecoming loss to Ironwood Ridge until he was squished against the earth by two onrushing Nighthawks, even as he stood in the pocket to deliver a 24-yard touchdown pass to Deché Milburn.
Tuttle was taken off the field strapped onto a gurney and taken by ambulance to Sierra Vista Regional Health Center where he received X-rays. Holland said the test results showed no breaks.
“Tuttle’s going to be out this week. It’s just precautionary,” Holland said. “There’s not broken ribs — nothing major — they just want his ribs to heal.”
Senior Joe Wallace was the Colts’ first starting quarterback this season and he went down to injury shortly after replacing Tuttle on Friday night. He injured a right ankle that has been bugging him all season. Holland said Wallace, who also sees significant action at linebacker, is out with a badly sprained ankle.
That leaves 6-fot-4 senior Billy Grant as the lone varsity quarterback to suit up.
“He did a good job last week and he’s a competitive kid,” Holland said of Grant. “He’s the kind of kid who’s going to fight for you and do his best. We’re putting our eggs in his basket.”
Holland is holding open the possibility of bringing up junior J.T. May up from the junior varsity, where he has shown tremendous promise. But, he said, he’d rather not push May too fast into the varsity game.
Wide receiver Alex Summers was injured in the second half of Friday night’s game as well. Holland said he is lost for the season after fracturing his ankle.
Joining Summers on the injured reserve, as it were, is punter/kicker Brandon Porter, who broke his femur just above his knee three weeks ago in a home loss to Gilbert.
Despite the fact that Tuttle suffered some bruising hits and as a result won’t be available for Friday, Holland is confident he’s continuing to blossom.
“The biggest thing we wanted to do was to bring Tuttle along — we didn’t want to kill his confidence,” Holland said. “Now, he’s stable and we can open up the playbook with him.”
Holland said he’s seen marked improvement in his team through the first five games, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
“That fast, aggressive style of defense is finally here — it’s the most aggressive team I’ve seen at Buena and I’ve been here five years,” Holland said. “It’s about discipline now. We’re a young team and we’re getting better but we’ve got to eliminate the mental mistakes. The physicality is there — just not for four quarters yet.”
Youhavegottobekidding wrote on Oct 9, 2008 4:48 PM: