Westfield has new faces all over the place

There’s reloading, which is about normal for Westfield.

Then there’s rebuilding, which is quite a rarity for Westfield.

And then there’s this season.

“The couple of returning players we have from last year are playing a couple new positions,” head coach Jamey Watson said. “So really, we’ve got a new face at every position on both sides of the ball.

“It’s a work in progress.”

No kidding.

The Hornets have a familiar face as their new head coach, the first for the program since long before any players were born, and familiar faces on the staff.

And while there are nearly a dozen seniors on the roster, there is nowhere near the normal amount of experience that Westfield opens preseason practice with.

“That’s about the fewest returning starters we’ve ever had,” Watson said of linemen Landon Wainwright and Connor Doles. “Everybody else is new.”

The Hornets are a traditional contender for a run at a GISA title, yet are replacing a huge collection of impactful seniors.

The likes of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and skill players Giles Amos, Reagan Waller and Josh Jenkins, along with several others who did most of the blocking, pretty much accounted for the Hornets’ 5,412 yards in total offense and 74 touchdowns.

“We’ve got a lot of players that have to come up and step up at their positions,” Wainwright said. “We need a bunch of people to step up.”

Wyatt Young and Payton Black are battling at quarterback, and the Hornets’ staff is looking at a collection of players at pretty much every position.

Watson said the offense, which has more experience on the line than any other unit on the team, is ahead of the defense.

“I think our young guys can step up,” Doles said. “I think we’ll do pretty good throughout the season. I can’t wait for it.”

Replacing so many veterans — the senior class of 2015 went 48-6 — puts Westfield in a position where a .500 season would be an accomplishment.

Westfield hasn’t had a losing season since 2006, the only one in the tenure of former head coach Ronnie Jones. So there’s pressure on the seniors.

“Everybody’s young,” Doles said. “We have to make them step up and start hitting and doing what they need to do. They can’t be scared anymore. It’s varsity football.”

Westfield opens the season Aug. 19 at home against Southland, which went 3-8 last year. Then coming to Perry is Valwood, which went 12-2 en route to the Class AAA title, one win a 55-28 romp over the Hornets.

And then the Hornets keep on playing.

“We have 10 straight weeks,” said Watson, in his 18th year overall at Westfield. “Maybe by the end of the year, I wish we wouldn’t have done that.”

But with so many new faces, practice is precious.

“We sat down and said that we couldn’t see getting the kids out there a week early after only practicing 2 1/2 weeks,” Watson said. “We said we needed that extra week.”

This story was originally published August 11, 2016 at 10:25 PM.