The Raptors are ready to break through the trials they experienced last year and improve on their 2009 5-5- record.

Raptors make changes on both sides of ball under second-year coach
By CAROL STUART
For Brentwood Home Page
After completing his first year on the job, Ravenwood Coach Tom Shuman plans to do things somewhat differently in 2010.

And the Raptors are hoping for improved results this season after the team suffered numerous injuries – including to their top two quarterbacks – and lost several close games in a 5-5 campaign.

In a preseason poll of District 11 coaches by Murphy Fair’s Tennessee High School Football magazine, Ravenwood is predicted to finish third – challenging favorites cross-town Brentwood and rival Franklin.

Shuman said he now plans to focus “more on the nuts and bolts of football” in 2010 after trying to do too much last year. Other major changes involve diversifying on offense and being more aggressive on defense.

Raptors ready to fly

Coach:  Tom Shuman, second year 2009 record/finish: 5-5, 2-3 in district Key returnees: S Ryan Bednar (Sr., 6-1, 155), CB/WR Andrew Cash (Sr., 6-0, 160), TE/DL Drew Hawken (Sr., 6-3, 205), DL Anthony Jones (Jr., 6-1, 205), DL Ronnie Wright (Sr., 6-1, 212), WR/P Payne Shanafelt (Sr., 6-1, 182) Watch for more from: QB Keegan Leyrer (Sr., 5-10, 155), RB Alec Johnson (Sr., 6-0, 170), RB Omar Joseph (Jr., 5-9, 156) Key losses: RB Tony Rowland, OL Ben Stansfield, QB Alex Williams, DL Eric Saul Outlook: Picked third by coaches behind Brentwood and Franklin; returns entire secondary and strong on defense; diversifying offense; new starters in backfield. Base offense: Spread Base defense: 4-3

“Obviously it was a learning experience for me,” said Shuman, an assistant in West Virginia for 18 years and  a member of the RHS staff for its state title in 2005 and back-to-back finals appearance in ‘06.

“You coach all your life and think you know better than everybody else, but until you actually get a hold of the reins, you don't know how that horse is going to pull,” Shuman said. “So, I have a year under my belt, and I feel like I'm a lot better prepared to do the job well. I don't think I necessarily did a terrible job last year, but there were some things that you can only learn by doing.”

I have a year under my belt, and I feel like I'm a lot better prepared to do the job well. Head Coach Tom Shuman

One of those is to not rely too heavily on one aspect of the offense – or one particularly one player.  After quarterback injuries plagued the spread offense in 2009, the Raptors have been working on a more diverse playbook.

Ravenwood is also scheming to force more turnovers on defense, where depth abounds and starters include the entire secondary.

“I'm not going to say that we're even going to win one football game. I do say that I've enjoyed coaching since January, and I plan on having a lot of fun this fall,” Shuman said. “If we do the things we plan on doing, do things right and do things with class, then I think we'll have a pretty good team.”

Offensive changes
Senior Keegan Leyrer, slated to start at quarterback this fall after backing up Alex Williams for two years, broke his collarbone last summer in a 7-on-7 preseason camp -- while trying to break up a play on defense. When Williams was hurt in the second game, it took the Raptors time to re-adjust since Leyrer didn’t return until the eighth game.

 “Keegan has worked very hard in the offseason,” Shuman said. “And I'll be shocked if he doesn't do a very good job for us.

“He's an honor student, he has not missed a workout, he's put in extra time training, and I think the kids believe in him. I think he'll be a leader for us,” the coach added.

Originally told he would be out 4-6 weeks, Leyrer ended up missing nearly three months.

 “But I got to see some stuff on the sidelines. In the offseason, I've been working hard to get all the way back,” said Leyrer, who played on the JV his first two years of high school. “I’ve waited a long time here, and now it's my chance.”

Shuman said the injuries convinced his staff to become “more diverse (and) less predictable in what we do on offense.”

Last year, a Raptor took flight in the Battle of the Woods. The city's rivalry game takes place on Sept. 17 at Ravenwood this year.

“We've been lucky (at Ravenwood) to always have a talented quarterback,” Shuman said. “Our kid got injured and we lost momentum. Entering the meat of our schedule when we had to play Brentwood, Franklin, Smyrna and teams like that, we were in effect down to an injured quarterback and a freshman quarterback.

“It's my job as coach to look at things like that and go, ‘you have to have a contingency plan for something like that.’ You can't let that one kid make or break your football team,” Shuman added.

The Raptors do have several receivers back with experience, including two-way player Andrew Cash and Payne Shanafelt, as well as tight end Drew Hawken. “But we have some young talented guys who are going to push them for playing time and push for starting jobs, too,” Shuman said.

The Raptors also have big shoes to fill at tailback, where speedy Tony Rowland was a three-year starter. Senior Alec Johnson is Rowland’s heir apparent. “Alec has good strength and speed,” Shuman said, but may share time with Omar Joseph and Ryan Butler.

The Raptors lost a team leader and Austin Peay signee Ben Stanfield on the offensive line, but are big up front with junior Kyle Bolstad at 6-5, 300 pounds, junior Hunter Judson at 6-7, 300 pounds, and senior Eric Powers at 6-4, 250 pounds – all returning starters. “But on the other hand we've got some guys that are going to give them a run for their money,” the coach said.

Defensive outlook
Led by two-year starting safety Ryan Bednar and all-district cornerback Cash, the secondary also will have cornerback Clay Forney back after he missed virtually the entire 2009 season to injury.

“Hardly any teams threw the ball against us, and we're all coming back this year, and I think the main goal is just to stay healthy,” said Bednar, who is getting interest from Brown University of the Ivy League.

Jeremy Brown and Vincent Vaughn got valuable experience filling in for Forney and for Cash, who battled a shoulder injury the last three weeks. The defensive backs are coached by former NFL player DeRon Jenkins, an All-SEC player at Tennessee.

 “Any time you return four starters, it needs to be a strength of your defense,” Shuman said. “Those guys need to earn their starting jobs and to improve, but we're pretty quick and athletic back there.”

The Raptors also return two defensive linemen back who were consistent in 2009: junior Anthony Jones, who Shuman called “one of our best players,” and senior Ronnie Wright, who started every game. “We expect Ronnie to play very well for us too,” Shuman said.

The Ravenwood linebacker corps also boasts experienced players, but lost one on Friday, Aug. 6, during the team's scrimmage against Brentwood Academy. Outside LB James Kho, who showed a lot of promise despite missing games to injury in 2009, suffered what will probably be a season-ending injury. Kenner Withrow is a hustle guy who needs to continue to develop to reach his potential.

Home games at the Ravenwood stadium are always a festive occasion.

 “We're going to take the experience we have on defense and get a little bit more aggressive over there and create turnovers and things like that,” Shuman said.

The team developed new packages during the spring and summer, and have more to learn during preseason practices, Bednar said.

“It's a lot different than what we've been doing the past couple of years.  A lot of our goal is to force more turnovers and be more aggressive,” Bednar said.

Adjustments and injuries
The Raptor coordinators were also new to those positions last season.  “And they have been real determined in the offseason to improve the things we do,” Shuman said.

Offensive coordinator Jason Reinbold, who replaced Shuman in that spot, will share the responsibilities with Tommy Rewis. A.T. Owens is the defensive coordinator.

Besides the changes and injuries, Ravenwood also had inconsistencies in placekicking, although Shuman said it was not always the kicker’s fault.

This season Michael Giangreco, goalkeeper on the RHS soccer team, is competing for kicking duties along with junior Thomas Dawson and Shanafelt.

“They've all spent a lot of time and effort going to camps and taking lessons and working on that,” Shuman said. “A couple of field goals and extra points could have made us 7-3 or 8-2 last year.”

Preston Carter has been returning kicks for two years, and Shanafelt is expected to punt although that competition is open.

After struggling with offseason workouts in 2009 prior to Shuman’s appointment, Raptors players have been focused as the 2010 season approaches.

“This year, we got up at 5 o'clock in the morning and came in here from the time the season ended, through March,” Shuman said. “We'd have 75 or 80 kids in here lifting weights -- plus the school and the boosters club provided us with some Olympic weight platforms and some Olympic weights.

“We've been working on getting a lot more explosive, so now that we're thicker I think we'll tackle better,” he added.

The injuries, however, weren’t necessarily due to lack of training but rather freak things such as a rare kneecap ailment, three broken collarbones and a torn labrum, he said. Ten of the 2009 seniors missed games due to injury.

“Our team doctors and trainers definitely earned their money,” Shuman added.

Senior Keegan Leyrer, slated to start at quarterback this fall after backing up Alex Williams for two years, at the team's spring Red and White scrimmage.

Big legacy in short time
Ravenwood, which opened in 2002, has only been playing varsity football six seasons but has high expectations like schools with much longer legacies -- due to the glory days of early success.

“I think it looks hopeful, I think it'll be a good year, and hopefully it'll get back to the way it used to be at Ravenwood,” Bednar said.

Added Leyrer: “You do feel some pressure, because we had those teams that won the state championship and then the next year returned to the state championship. I think all the guys on this team right now said ‘if those guys can do it, well so can we.’ We're all trying to get to that goal.”

Shuman said the only pressure he feels is what he puts on himself. But he says he wants to develop Ravenwood football into a consistent top-level program – with great facilities, a winning tradition, a good education, and programs for freshmen, JV and varsity players.

Other local coaches expect the Raptors to be improved, simply because it’s Shuman’s second year.

“I had coached just about every position there is on a football field,” Shuman said. “I'd been a head wrestling coach, but I never attempted to do anything on a scale of coaching a 6A football team in Williamson County. There's a lot more to it than coaching a team.”

Shuman compared the Ravenwood role to that of a corporate CEO, saying he tried to anticipate and address the needs of parents, the community and school administrators, instead of letting “the other things try to take care of themselves.”

“You try to control to get things to go the way you want, and you realize it's almost kind of like -- this is an overstatement -- but it's kind of like running a big corporation when you think about it,” he said.

“You've got about 140 employees, and 8 or 12 managerial staff. You've got facilities, and there's a lot more detail -- it's a lot more of an executive-type job.”

The Raptors' home schedule includes a Sept. 17 date with the cross-town rival Brentwood Bruins and a season-concluding senior night against Independence. The team also faces solid road tests against Centennial, Hillsboro, Franklin and Smyrna.