Airing it out a little

New Chester coach has offense spreading the ball around

By Karl Lyles - Karl Lyles

CHESTER -- Since he was hired in May, Chester High football coach Maurice Flowers has been busy installing his spread offense, one that produced nearly 4,500 passing yards for West Charlotte High School a year ago under Flowers' direction.

Flowers came to Chester after one year at West Charlotte and five at Olympic High School in North Carolina. He brought Andre White, his offensive coordinator, and Anthony Sterling, his defensive coordinator, with him.

White was contemplating taking a year off from football. He got married this summer and just returned from his honeymoon in Cancun. Flowers said White's wife is a bigger sports fan than anyone.

"She gave Andre the green light and he is ready to go. He knows the offense very well. He coaches the wide receivers and has coached in the Shrine Bowl," Flowers said.

West Charlotte went 13-2 in 2007 with quarterback Darius Thomas completing 246-of-386 passes for 4,460 yards and 56 touchdowns. Those numbers are more gaudy than what Northwestern's Will King posted last year when he broke school records with 3,395 yards and 41 touchdowns.

Thomas became the first player in North Carolina history to throw for 500-plus yards twice in the same season, and had two games with seven touchdown passes in 2007. He was selected to the Shrine Bowl, but an injury kept him from playing. He signed with Gardner-Webb University.

Thomas isn't the only quarterback to excel under Flowers and move on to college. Antonio Miller threw for 1,564 yards as a senior for UT-Chattanooga in 2007. Ben Williams is a sophomore at Fayetteville State.

Flowers, a former quarterback for Johnson C. Smith University, wouldn't say his Cyclones would replicate West Charlotte's passing numbers, but Chester will move the football and put points on the scoreboard.

Tony McNeal, a sophomore, is Flowers' next quarterback protégé. Flowers sees similarities in McNeal and Thomas.

"Thomas is 6-foot-1 and about 185 pounds. Tony is 6-1, 170 and already has the arm strength," said Flowers,

Although he's nursing a hip flexor right now, McNeal is ready for the season.

"This is a high-powered offense. We are going to look to score a lot of points. We have four or five great receivers that can catch the ball," McNeal said Monday afternoon outside the Chester High training room.

Chester blew through Region 3-AAA competition last year and took a 12-2 record into the state championship game, a 14-12 loss to Wilson. Graduation took C.C. Whitlock, Gene McCaskill and others. Eight players from that team moved on to the college level.

Still, Chester is loaded, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

"There's a little bit of pressure," McNeal admitted. "I just do what the coaches tell me to do. We get a whole lot of work in. I throw 200 balls a day. If something goes wrong, we get together to make it right."

That's the atmosphere in place at Chester.

"The tone was already established when I got here," Flowers said. He and former Chester coach Victor Floyd have been coaching colleagues and friends for years, according to Flowers.

Floyd resigned to take the head coaching job at Brunswick (Ga.) High School.

"It would be different if we were rebuilding, but there are a number of players coming back from a team that played for a state championship," Flowers said.

Fresh off his honeymoon, White was working hard with his wide receivers on Monday. He barked at them to block during one drill and led them through a "freeze" drill where players caught a pass, then froze in that position. White would critique the catch before they could make a move down field.

"We love to pass the ball, but we will be a mixture," White explained. "It's more than just throwing the ball. We have to be able to block and make every play appear to be a pass."

White said he has coached some of the best wide receivers in North Carolina.

"It's the same here. We want to be the best passing team in South Carolina," he said after the drills as the team headed off to study film.

The wide receivers are led by seniors Fred Lee, Devin Jackson and Jeremy Hughes and junior Bobby Kelly.

Flowers said Lee is a great possession receiver who can go deep. Jackson is the Class AAA 100-meter champion in track (10.99 seconds).

Lee played the first two games in 2007 before suffering a knee injury. He missed the rest of the regular season but returned for the playoffs.

"I love the offense. We do more timing patterns. It gives a chance to get the ball and do something with it instead of getting licked right away," Lee said.

Lee said his new coaches are making an impression on the wide receivers. Presbyterian and Catawba College have showed interest in him.

"I've seen improvement in my game already. Both schools are saying I'm already doing what they are looking for."