Few starters back, but Red Mountain has depth

Red Mountain, coming off a 10-3 season that concluded with a 14-7 semifinal loss to Phoenix Desert Vista, has 52 seniors and 54 juniors on hand for 2008. Jones estimates about eight to 10 of the juniors will make a varsity impact this year. The rest will get seasoning with the junior team and the eight or nine games that squad plays. The cycle figures to repeat itself again after that.

“You have to have numbers for it to work best,” Jones said. “We’ve got numbers. If a starter on varsity gets hurt, we’ll usually go with a backup from varsity first to take over. But if we see the development we’re looking for from someone on the junior team then they may get the call to come up.”

Only five starters from last year’s semifinal squad return for Red Mountain. The quality of the seniors ready for the front line is more than satisfactory this year.

“We will be fast and quick, if not quicker than last year,” Jones said. “And since our numbers are good we’ll continue to two-platoon. It worked well for us last year, and the real benefit is it allows us to play more kids.”

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