OKC-area high school notes: U.S. Grant’s Matt Miller utilizing youth [The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City]

Aug. 27--Miller utilizing youth in first season at Grant

Matt Miller is U.S. Grant's third coach in the last three seasons, but after helping build Little Axe into a playoff team, Miller takes over the Generals with plans of doing the same there.

And he'll get his chance to start building for the future right away, because he'll be forced into using several young players in his lineup this fall.

One of the few seniors on the squad is Anthony Ortiz, who can do a lot in the backfield. He reached the 1,000-yard mark in both rushing and passing last season. There are also a couple of returning starters on the offensive line, led by sophomore Daniel Laguna, who started at guard as a freshman.

Another sophomore, running back/linebacker Derrick Young rushed for more than 500 yards and picked off three passes on defense in a strong freshman year. Junior Carlos Morales, 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, gives the Generals a big tight end.

Defensively, Christian Nicholson is a potential college prospect as a 6-foot-2, 245-pound defensive end who had eight sacks and three forced fumbles last year.

Lyons building Redskins' numbers

Back at the helm for Capitol Hill, Montana Lyons is hoping to see a rise in participation as he tries to build his program into a regular contender for postseason bids.

"We've just got to continue to build," Lyons said. "I think the guys have a better understanding of what our expectations are. We had a lot better participation at summer workouts, and that always helps. And when the kids show up, they've had a better attitude, so I think we're looking better."

The Redskins' strength will be at the skilled positions, led by senior quarterback/safety Derrick Jefferson. Fred Taylor, De'Antre Williams and Junior Zavala are all seniors who will contribute.

"We have a good senior class, guys who made the summer workouts," Lyons said. "They're guys we'll have to lean on for the future. We have a lot of freshmen that look up to those guys, so if they pull their weight, we'll be OK."

Safeties leading Southeast defense

Southeast coach Michael Branch is relying on some of his experienced seniors to help him get the Spartans back on the right track, not only from a performance perspective, but also in attitude and effort.

Branch sees a strength in his secondary, led by safeties Nelson Williams and Jay Gogue, players who he is counting on as leaders of his defense.

"There was a lot of misunderstanding on defense last year, and we're gonna get that fixed," Williams said. "Me and the other defensive backs are working together to make sure everybody is on the same page."

Northwest young but experienced

Northwest Classen will be relying on several young players who got valuable experience as sophomores last year.

In 2009, the Knights' quarterback and top rusher were both sophomores, with Christian Gorham completing more than 50 percent of his passes for 869 yards. Another sophomore, Marvin Kerbo, rushed for 395 yards on just 43 carries, an average of 9.2 yards per rush.

Northeast's Thomas back in action

Michael Thomas will be at the heart of the Northeast offense once again, after a busy 2009 season. He played quarterback, receiver, defensive back and special teams last season, leading the Vikings in total offense, while adding 53 tackles and two interceptions.

He'll have a couple of solid wideouts helping him on offense, with Aron Gaines and Trevyone Willis, who combined for nearly 800 receiving yards and seven TDs last year.

By Scott Wright

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