2019 FOOTBALL
SEASON PREVIEW
+ GAME SCHEDULES
photo by Patrick Parton
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cont. on pg 22
TUSCOLA
The 2018 Tuscola High School
football team won three of its last
four regular season games to finish
8-5 overall, 5-3 in the Western
Mountain Conference and made it
to the second round of the state
Class 3-A West playoffs in head
coach J.T. Postell’s first year at the
helm in Waynesville.
Just weeks away from the 2019
season, the Mountaineers are
primed and ready with very high
expectations for improvement
and there is good reason for this
excitement.
Tuscola has all the ingredients for
a championship season, beginning
with a varsity roster of 26 seniors.
Add a pinch of a hard-nose defense,
a dash of experienced, veteran
interior lines and a sprinkle of one
of the best placekickers in Western
North Carolina, every black and
yellow fan can’t wait to get a taste
of the 2019 campaign.
“We are all excited about this
season,” said Postell. “We finished
the 2018 season strong, had a great
off-season and we have a great
group of kids returning and a bunch
of talented kids rising from an 8-2
JV team. So we are expecting big
things from this team. We all have
high expectations. But what I like
about this team, they have
the same high expectations
as the fans and coaches.
“These kids have worked
hard in the off-season in
the weight room and are
very confident They have
expectations to win that
conference championship.
They have expectations to host
several state playoffs games
and when it comes to
the greatest rivalry in the
country, we need to win.
We know what it’s been like
the past six seasons, but
give Pisgah credit, they’ve
had our number and we need to
figure out a way to get over the
hump.”
OFFENSE
The strength of the
Mountaineers on offense will be in
their line, which Postell called, “a
close knit, deep, experienced and
very talented group of kids.”
Starters returning to the O-line are
seniors Joseph Smart (6-5, 290),
Joseph Hernandez (5-11, 255) and
Josh Greene (6-1, 250). in addition, a
pair of seniors, Jonathan Smart (6-2,
215) and Juan Sanchez (6-2, 270) are
expected to be starters. According
to Postell, senior Cash Medford (6-
4, 295), juniors Hunter Murphy (6-1,
240) and Grayson Jones (6-0, 225)
will play a bunch.
Graduation hit the Tuscola backfield
hard. But experienced senior Nick
Helsel (5-10, 185) returns as the
feature back. But Postell noted
juniors Garrett Fox (5-8, 155) and
Coleman Cothern (5-8, 155) will
be called on every Friday night to
“tote the rock” to help establish a
consistent run game.
A lot of old faces will return to
the receiving corps, led by senior
Hunter Bryson (6-0, 190), who
moved from quarterback to wide