The R.E. Lee High School football team is preparing for life without senior quarterback Dylan Horne, who injured his arm pitching for the Leemen baseball team in the spring.
Senior wide receiver/defensive back Malachi Crawford says, "It affects it a lot. People are sad he's not playing, but we still have to move on."
Senior tight end/defensive tackle Colton McCauley says, "It shouldn't affect it. The second-team quarterbacks are just as good. We'll keep playing. I miss Dylan, but we'll keep playing."
Horne had Tommy John surgery three months ago, and head coach Dave Tibbs says the senior will be hard to replace.
"He was a starter at quarterback last year and rushed for over 1,000 yards," says Tibbs. "He threw for over 1,000 yards. He was our punter. He returned kicks. He was an all-state safety. He's a heck of a football player. He's like five starters."
Coach Tibbs says the quarterback position remains up for grabs for now. All the players in contention for the spot have starting experience elsewhere on the field.
While they do have to replace an important cog on offense, expectations remain high.
Tibbs says, "There's a difference between confident and cocky. I firmly believe if we don't set our goal to win the Valley District championship, that we're selling our kids short."
R.E. Lee made it to the second round of the state playoffs last year before falling 42-14 at Northside.
Crawford says, "It hurt really bad, and we don't want that to ever happen again. We're going to go out there and play hard every game."
"It was real tough," says McCauley. "We shouldn't have lost by that much. They weren't that much of a better team than us."
Tibbs says, "They kicked our tails, and I told them to remember that. We'll work on it in the offseason, build, and come back, and hopefully we'll get a shot at Northside again this year."
The Leemen open the season August 31 at home against Wilson Memorial.
