Eagles: There is no 'I' in Rusk
Team unity is theme for 2007 season
BY LELAND ACKER

Eagle running backs Manny Griffin (32), Horrace Lewis (26) and Marcell Johnson (34) will anchor the Rusk offense. Lewis said the Eagles are more excited as a team this season and have the potential to be better than last year.

To the surprise of most of the out-of-town media, the Rusk Eagles still have a football team. The biggest surprise of this development is that Rusk has a football TEAM.

"We're more excited (this year) as a team," said Eagle running back Horrace Lewis. "We're more of a team this year. This team has been playing together since junior high."

"It's not just about one player this year," said wide receiver J.J. Session. "A lot of us on offense want to win. There's no key player, just a team. We're ready for this year."

The team concept is readily demonstrated in watching the player interaction on media day and during two-a-days.

"If I don't have the play, Bobby (McDuff) will tell me the play. If he doesn't have it, I'll tell him the play," Session said.

Session and McDuff are probably the two most dangerous receivers Rusk has ever had, said Eagle Head Coach Wayne Mahaffey during an interview with the Cherokeean Herald in June. Session and McDuff enjoyed hearing about that comment.

Bobby McDuff (14) and J.J. Session (22) "are about as dangerous as receivers as Rusk has ever had," said Head Coach Wayne Mahaffey. Session said this season is not about one key player, but the entire team. PHOTOS: LELAND ACKER

"We just do what we can do," McDuff said. "(Session and I) line up on the same side of the field."

"The defense doesn't know who to pick, so we can do some 'shake-and-bake,'" Session said.

McDuff is a speedster with a 40-yard dash time of 4.31. Session clocks in at 4.39. Both have high vertical jumps, with McDuff flying high at 34 inches and Session reaching 31 inches.

"I'll make a quarterback look good. If it's too high, I'll go up for the ball. That's how I got a concussion against Westwood last year," Session said.

Two fast wide receivers, along with two others who have good hands (Chance Cleaver and Cody Daniel) would normally signal an "air-it-out" offense. However, this is Rusk.

"Our bread and butter is to take what the defense gives us," said quarterback Jared Colville, explaining that the running game will probably be the predominant aspect of the Eagle offense. "I hope to put up more passes on wide receiver and running back screens, but we'll run a lot."

Colville will start as the quarterback and cornerback. He said the toughest aspect of playing "ironman" football is the mental aspect of the game.

"Being focused on defense and offense is the toughest part," he said. "I have to keep thinking of the formations."

Colville said the goal of the Rusk Eagles is to win state. He added that the yearly expectation is that Rusk will go two rounds deep into the playoffs.

Manny Griffin, who plays linebacker and running back, echoed Colville's assessment of playing both offense and defense.

"You have to know both sides of the ball," he said.

Playoff glory is the goal of running backs Lewis, Griffin and Marcell Johnson.

"We're going to try to go all the way," Griffin said.

"We have the potential," Lewis added. "We're excited. We have a chance to prove ourselves. We have the potential to be better than last year. We have to live up to that potential."

The team concept was echoed by the backfield.

"We're more excited as a team this year. We've been playing together since junior high. This is our senior year," Lewis said.

With Lewis and Griffin playing together since junior high, one might think the addition of Johnson would be like adding a third wheel. One would be wrong.

"I was nervous (playing varsity for the first time last year)," Johnson said. "Horrace and Manny showed me what to do and helped me out some."

Johnson said he looked forward to "banging people's heads a lot," to which Griffin added, "six yards per carry."

Coach Mahaffey said if he were to rank the teams that were fun to coach, this year's team would rank near the top.

"The best thing is the amount of experience on this team," he said. "We have 15 seniors, 10 played on the varsity as sophomores. They run well, have lots of athletic ability. They have good size and love to play the game."

Coach Mahaffey said teams like this can play beyond their ability because of their desire.

"Some teams, you have to pull teeth to get them to play," he explained. "You don't have to worry about that with these guys. They love to play. It makes it even more fun to coach.

"And that's what I like about coaching here. We don't have bad groups at Rusk," he said. "Every year I've been here, we've had good groups."

The Eagles kickoff the season at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Mabank.