Skill position players to lead way for defending Big East champion D-B

Don't expect any jitters from Dobyns-Bennett's returning players this fall, certainly not from the skill positions.In eight years as a head coach, Joey Christian can't recall the last time he returned this much experience there — experience from a Region 1-6A championship run, no less."We want to build on that," Christian said after the Indians posted a 9-3 mark in 2024. "We have 20 seniors. … When you look at our corners, our safeties, really the whole back end, we've got a lot of guys who've played a lot of football back there. A lot of them play on offense as well. They shouldn't be big-eyed on Friday nights."Senior running back Tegan Begley certainly won't be. He missed two games last fall but still accumulated 1,161 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground, not to mention his impact in the kick return game.Begley has since committed to further his baseball career at Army, and he'll lead a noticeably deeper backfield this fall. Luke Lundy was projected to start at running back last year before a preseason injury ended his junior year prematurely.Lundy will complement Begley in the backfield this fall as will junior Emmitt Starnes, who found the end zone twice and averaged 7.6 yards a carry in 2024, and explosive sophomore Kedrick Harris.THOMAS TERRIFICAs many receivers as D-B graduated, one of the most busiest of the group is back for his senior year. Slot receiver Jaylen Thomas, who returned kicks and broke up three passes with one interception last fall, had 288 yards and three touchdowns on 17 receptions in 2024."We looked at it on film, and the first guy never tackles Jaylen, and that's against some good teams," Christian said. "We track the guys with GPS on practices, and in a typical practice, Jaylen will run over 5,000 yards. We're talking over three miles of running. That's a lot."Jaylen's brother, junior Tyree Thomas (6-2, 221) could also contribute to the passing game at tight end.Former running back Corde Moore is projected to start at tight end for his senior year, a transition Moore embraced according to his coach.After a breakout junior year, Zayden Hayes returns at wide receiver alongside fellow senior Zabian Goodwin and junior Jackson Sensabaugh. Senior Noah Raines and junior Aiden Villa, along with 6-3 sophomore Admire Fikes, give the Tribe plenty of depth at receiver.LINE REBUILDINGD-B's skill positions return as much experience as the Indians' offensive line doesn't. Senior left tackle Baker Correll is the only returnee from last year's squad, as fellow senior Tyler Grizzle suffered an injury during spring practice. Christian didn't rule out a late-season return for Grizzle, but it'll depend on the recovery time."If I told you we had four seniors and a junior on the offensive line, you'd think that was pretty good (for experience)," Christian said. "(Correll) is one of the better ones we've had, and he's going to have an opportunity to play on Saturdays."Still, Christian has an idea of who will round out his O-line this fall, with senior Zackhi Williams anchoring the center position. Seniors Mitch Newhouse and Cooper Bellamy will man the right tackle and right guard positions respectively, with junior Ezra Renderos at left guard. Zane Carpenter, another junior, is also expected to see time.DEEP ON DEFENSETyree Thomas will once again anchor D-B's defensive line after leading the Tribe with 11 sacks, including six in one game against Farragut. Braylon Fugate is also expected to "play every play" his senior year after significant action in 2023 and 2024. Senior Maddex Artrip and sophomore Weston Grizzle are expected to compete with Williams, Correll and Renderos for the other D-line spots.Juniors Isaiah Bolden and Luke Brandon, along with Starnes and Raines have stood out the most of late at inside linebacker. Begley, Lundy and Harris are the frontrunners to fill the outside linebacker slots.Jackson Sensabaugh and Jaylen Thomas both return at corner, with Hayes and Goodwin projected to start at safety. But Christian advised spectators to be on the lookout for sophomores Brayden Blakley, Isaiah Coclough and Julian Sensabaugh to make an impact.And while he's currently recovering from an injury, senior Cooper McLain returns to handle kickoff and field goal duties. McLain made his lone field goal attempt last year and went 22-of-23 on extra points. Sophomore Lofton Fuller could potentially step in as well, with Begley also capable of punting.No. Name Pos. Class0 Zabian Goodwin WR/DB Sr.1 Tyree Thomas TE/DL Jr.2 Zayden Hayes WR/DB Sr.3 Jackson Sensabaugh WR/DB Jr.4 Corde Moore TE/DL Sr.5 Noah Raines WR/LB Sr.6 Hudson Clabaugh WR/DB Jr.7 Tegan Begley RB/DB Sr.8 Emmitt Starnes RB/LB Jr.9 Aiden Villa WR/DB Sr.10 Levi Chappell QB Jr.11 Isaiah Bolden TE/LB Jr.12 Tate Wernke QB So.13 Kedrick Harris RB/DB So.14 Luke Brandon TE/LB Jr.15 Jordan Reed QB So.16 Cooper McLain P/K Sr.17 Jaylen Thomas WR/DB Sr.18 Kaelon Hernandez WR/DB So.19 Kenyan Maxwell TE/DL Jr.20 Alex Vasquez-Lopez WR/DB Jr.21 Peyton Ferguson QB So.22 Santiago Cerna RB/DB Jr.23 Isaiah Coclough WR/DB So.24 Julian Sensabaugh WR/DB So.25 Jayden Voelker RB/DL Jr.26 Braydn Davis WR/DB Jr.27 Jack Tremaine RB/LB So.28 Jason Scheuch WR/DB Sr.29 Ty Allen WR/DB Jr.30 Brayden Blakley WR/DB So.31 Brody Rollins WR/DB So.32 Damian Perez RB/LB So.33 Cade Holton TE/LB Sr.36 Jael Aroche RB/LB So.37 Gabe Edwards WR/DB So.38 Cale Bass WR/DB So.39 Benji Brown RB/LB So.41 Grayson Owen RB/DB So.43 Luke Lundy RB/DB Sr.44 Gus Adams TE/RB So.45 Lofton Fuller P/K So.46 Pablo Rutledge TE/DL So.48 Brandt Holton RBLB So.50 Zackhi Williams OL/DL Sr.52 Baker Correll OL/DL Sr.54 Maddex Artrip OL/DL Sr.56 Zane Carpenter OL/DL Jr.57 Tyler Grizzle OL/DL Sr.58 Dakota Josjor OL/DL So.59 Mitch Newhouse OL/DL Sr.60 Braeden Sons OL/DL Jr.61 Stephen Harris OL/DL Sr.62 Brady Griffith OL/DL So.64 Braylon Fugate OL/DL Sr.65 Jaidun Maxwell OL/DL So.66 Colin Taylor OL/DL So.67 Aiden Green OL/DL So.68 Elliott Tate OL/DL Jr.69 Ryder Vaiese OL/DL So.70 D'Angelo Ewing OL/DL So.72 Cooper Bellamy OL/DL Sr.73 Ezra Renderos OL/DL Jr.74 Isaac Tate OL/DL Jr.75 Weston Grizzle OL/DL So.76 Zymari Jones OL/DL So.77 David Kalil OL/DL Sr.81 Brayden Gay WR/DB So.86 Colton Houchins TE/DL So.87 Cooper Lockhart TE/DL So.88 Admire Fikes WR/DB So.Head coach: Joey Christian.Assistant coaches: John Ellis Davis (Co-DC/Safeties), Trey Trammell (Co-DC/LBs), Chris Thacker (OC), Jesse McMillan (Associate HC/TEs), Walker Throp (WRs), Carter Everett (QBs), Ty Hayworth (OL/Beef Boys), Lendon Redwin (Slots), Jake Mullins (DL/OLBs), Dustin Gaines (CBs), Rocky Jones (DL), Sam Barton (OLBs).Head athletic trainer: Kevin Trivette.Athletic trainer: Briana Hippenstiel.