Roos look to lay foundation for new era

The Weatherford Kangaroo football team is looking to kick off this new era on a good note as it welcomes into the fold some new faces in charge.

Coach Marshall Williams takes over a program coming off back-to-back losing campaigns and last made the playoffs in 2021. While he has head coaching experience at Timber Creek, he is coming from Lovejoy where he spent the previous two seasons serving as offensive coordinator under legendary coach Todd Dodge.

“What has been fun to see is that I had to hire eight new people, but I also was able to hold on to about seven or eight coaches,” Williams said. “They want to be here, and they’ve bought into how we want to do things.”

Offensively, Weatherford brings back some big-name offensive weapons who will both be seniors. Running back D.J. Quimby and receiver Jakob Hemphill were first-team all-district selections last year. Quimby rushed for 1,261 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, while Hemphill led the team with 59 catches for 872 yards and 10 touchdowns.

“Quimby, it starts with him and Hemphill,” Williams said. “Two returning starters who are all-district players, with more than 2,000 yards between both of them in the air and on the ground. So we’re always going to try to find a way to get them the ball.”

Another big name is on the offensive line, with senior Buck Griffith also earning first-team all-district.

One big change is at quarterback with junior Braelyn Jones.

“He’s obviously a talented athlete,” Williams said. “What I’m pleased with right now is that he’s picking up the offense and understanding where the ball needs to go decisively.”

Williams plans the offense to operate out of the spread formation and will try to dictate the pace of play. While the offense will feature several different formations and packages, it will feature mainly the same personnel.

“When you do those sort of things, you don’t have to add plays because you create a different dynamic with each play because of the formation. We’ve been trying to do that, and we want to take what people give us, stay on schedule and play aggressive and fast.”

The defense is the big overhaul after last year’s team gave up 498 points. The team will employ a lot of new faces, with seven to nine juniors planning on earning extensive snaps on that side of the ball.

New defensive coordinator Jacob Holley is implementing a 4-3 scheme with the ability to play multiple fronts, but generally the new coaching staff is planning to keep things simple.

“We are going to line up correctly,” Williams said. “We are going to play hard and swarm to the football.”

On the defensive line senior Quinton Martinez along with juniors Nicholas Soto and Kayden Redditt are being counted on to set the tone up front. At linebacker juniors Levi Hall and Ace Feriend are expected to be counted on. In the secondary junior cornerback Camryn Parker has shown improvement every day according to Williams.

While a motto hasn’t been decided, Williams reiterated what he said soon after his hiring.

“This program is going to be based on love,” Williams said. “As long as I’m here there will be no bigger message I have because I don’t think there’s anything in this world that’s stronger than the Christian love you have for your brothers and your friends that you don’t want to let down.”

With a new district that features county rival Aledo joining along with many Arlington schools, every week will be tough, but Williams believes a playoff berth is possible.

Williams is most proud to lead a football team where the whole community supports one high school, which is becoming a rarity in the big pool of 6A schools.

“Weatherford High School’s one of 19, 6A one-horse towns in the state of Texas,” Williams said. “People might sit there and say, ‘well, that doesn’t mean anything.’ Well I believe it does. That’s why I came here. I think being a one-horse town is an advantage. I think having our own stadium; having our own indoor practice field; having our own facilities; having our own boundaries; and having our kids is a huge advantage.”