If you want to tab one area on Blessed Trinity’s 2009 football season report card as “Needs Improvement,” look no further than the Titans offense. They averaged just 15 points per game, were shut out twice, and in each of their five losses they managed either one or zero touchdowns. “We’ve got to be able to keep our defense off the field,” BT head coach Ricky Turner said of his 2010 team. “We’ve got to give them a break and be able to move the ball. And we’ve got to put it in the end zone too. We weren’t able to finish last year.”

Strategically speaking, the responsibility for making that happen belongs to the man in Ricky Turner’s mirror now that Bob Lord’s stint as offensive coordinator is over after two seasons. “I’m back calling the offense,” Turner said.

Turner called the offensive plays for his first six seasons at Blessed Trinity and employed a run-heavy, conservative attack before yielding to Lord in 2008. Lord loosened things up with the passing game, and that’s something that Turner plans to keep incorporated into his offense. “We still like to mix it up and still be able to throw the ball. It was great having coach Lord here. I learned a whole lot being around him, especially in the passing game,” Turner said. “We’d like to keep that passing game in there. We’ve got a quarterback who can throw it. So we’d like to continue to mix it up with the pass and the run.”

That quarterback is sophomore Spencer McManes, who was one of several players to wear the quarterback hat a season ago in the Titans’ attempt to scrounge up some offense. That experience (he started three games) will serve him well as he opens the season locked in as the starter.

“He’s a big kid. He’s a strong kid. He’s got a great arm. He’s got a lot of football sense,” said Turner. McManes is listed at 6 feet 2 inches tall and 192 pounds and has been throwing well thus far in the preseason. Behind him, the Titans bring back last year’s leading rusher, Kevin Schulz. He will share carries with Casey Joseph, a converted tight end who moves to fullback this season, and Wes Fujihira, who will rotate in behind both players when needed.

McManes will be throwing to an experienced quartet of receivers. Ryan Cote, Sam Farmer, Ricky Turner, Jr. and Matthew Kinney all lined up at the receiver spots a year ago and will all be counted on to contribute in the passing game ¬– and the running game. “We want the guys to be able to catch the ball and run some routes, but also they need to be able to block,” Turner said. “When coach Lord was here, people don’t realize that we still ran the ball about 75 percent of the time. So those receivers were having to do a lot of blocking when we were running the football. They’ve got to be good athletes out there and disciplined.”

Up front the Titans will line up two juniors and three seniors, which plays along with the theme of experience on the offensive side of the ball. From left to right, Jack Bradley, Shane Foye, Patrick Marsden, Thomas Pietro and Jack Howard will be charged with protecting McManes and making holes for Schulz and company. Nathaniel Maggio will start at tight end. The average weight is 260 pounds, led by Bradley, who stands 6 foot 3 and weighs 298 pounds. “We’ve got some size up front. We’re fortunate with the big line. And we’ve got some experience up there. And all those guys move pretty well,” Turner said.

Defense

In 2009, the BT defense allowed just 13 points per game, which was third best in Region 6-AA. They only allowed more than 14 points three times, and all three were to playoff teams Buford, Lovett and Westminster.

The two players who will be leading the effort to replicate or improve upon that performance are linebackers T.K. Thomas and Nick D’Amato. “Those guys are the leaders of the defense. Those are the guys making sure everyone’s lined up right,” Turner said.

Thomas is probably BT’s most heavily recruited defender. He’s 5 foot 11 inches tall and weighs a solid 213 pounds. “He’s a player. He will hit you,” Turner said. He’s drawing interest mostly from Division I-AA schools like Elon and Georgia Southern.

Will Slaten and Liam Walsh will split time at the other outside linebacker position and Luke Tarquino will push them for playing time as well. On the defensive line, the Titans won’t line up quite as much bulk as they do on the offensive line, but Andrew Lyon, Patrick Towner, Stephen Spitler and Bradley make up a solid starting four. And there’s some depth there as well as Maggio, Kevin Lynch and Howard will all see time up front. Turner has long turned to his offensive skill players to man the secondary positions, and this year is no different. Schulz, Turner, Farmer and Cote will all see time on both sides of the ball. They’ll join Merrick Metcalf, who is a second year starter at strong safety. “We’ll play these guys one way as much as we can and rotate it around so we’re keeping them fresh,” Turner said. To that end Scott Evans and Jonathan Davis will also be in the mix in the defensive backfield.

Changes

Last season Turner suited up just 14 seniors, only seven of whom started. This year there are 25 seniors on the roster and many of them fill starting or primary backup roles.

Turner is relying on that experience to help create what he hopes will be a marked improvement in his team’s performance and, perhaps, a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2005. “You want your kids to experience that, and that’s our main goal every year, is to get to the playoffs. Or at least put your kids in the situation to go,” Turner said.

Realignment has brought plenty of changes to Region 6-AA, and has created a schedule fraught with potential twists and turns. The region has grown from eight teams to 11, which means that it is now subdivided. But here’s where it gets interesting. The last opponent on everyone’s schedule reads “TBD.” That’s because the region is implementing what has become a growing trend among sub-divided regions – a play-in game for the state playoffs.

In week 11, based on the first nine games, the top teams from each subregion will play each other to determine who gets the top seed and who ends up number two from the region. The second place teams will play the third place teams to determine who gets the final two spots. So if, after the first nine games, you are in third place in your subregion all you have to do is win that last game and you are automatically in. “It’s something to play for at the end of the season,” Turner said.