Loss of college football-bound seniors exacerbates numbers game for Great Falls

Coach Ken Schofield begins his 16th season at the helm of the Great Falls Red Devils, and the veteran football coach is looking once again at a familiar situation.

The Red Devils are thin in numbers. There are only 26 players on the Great Falls roster and five of those are freshmen. This season, the shallow depth is compounded by the graduation of four outstanding two-way starters from a year ago.

Chris Culp, Chris Twitty, Shyheim Kelly, and Ty Ross all signed to play on the next level – Culp (Presbyterian) and Ross (Coastal Carolina) at the FCS level. That quartet plus five others who contributed quite a bit to the team last year are gone, leaving some big holes to fill for a team that annually has around 30 players.

“Numbers and depth is always a problem here, but this year it is harder because some of the players who graduated last year started for multiple seasons,” said Schofeld. “That means that we will have to work harder to be the team we want to be.”

Great Falls finished the regular season last year with a mark of 7-3 before losing in the first round of the playoffs.

Despite the loses from a year ago, Great Falls has some talented performers returning and vying for the starting spots.

The roster show Pierce Funderburk as the starting quarterback. He worked last year with the signal-callers, but saw little game action due to Culp’s firm grip on the starting job. However, he feels he is ready to lead the offense.

“I got a lot of reps with the quarterbacks last year, and learned a lot from them.” said Funderburk. “I do not feel any extra pressure because I did not take a lot of snaps in a game at quarterback.”

Raheem Bowers is one of the candidates at the running back position. Great Falls needs guys like Bowers to emerge, especially with athletic difference-makers like Kelly and Lamarion Craine gone.

Funderburk, who played wide receiver a year ago, feels like this year’s team could be closer than the one the Red Devils fielded last year.

“We will rely on each other,” said Funderburk. “We have really put a lot of effort in to what we did in the offseason and what we have done thus far. We all feel confident that if we work hard we can be successful.”

The offensive line will be spearheaded by Tyrek Hoover and Mylek Hoover, a pair of returning performers. They played alongside Ross and Langley last season, two All-State blockers who would be tough for a school of any size to replace. The Hoovers have racked up snaps the last three years, though.

“Those two will anchor our line, and we have some good candidates at guard and center,” added Schofield. “The only problem we have up front is depth.”

The Red Devils are in a little bit better shape on defense as seven starters return.

The Hoovers, along with Corey Roof, Artez Blackmon, and Cody Spires will be leaders in the front seven positions. Deandre Perry, Zykerrion White, and Bowers will be the leaders in the secondary, although some of them could play linebacker.

The Red Devils will once again have most of their players playing both ways.

“There is only so much you can do with conditioning.” said Schofield. “We run a lot to work on that aspect, and we lift weights, but it all comes back to numbers.”

Despite the fact that a lack of numbers always factors in at Great Falls, the Red Devils turn out consistent winners. Schofield attributes that to his system.

“We have been doing the same thing since I have been here,” said Schofield. “Part of the system is consistency and the other part is commitment by the players. They know what they need to do and when they need to do it.”

Schofield has four assistant coaches who played for him at Great Falls. Having former Red Devils Cody Mobley, Terrell Hutchinson, Antonio Artis, and Walter Lamar on the staff is a tremendous advantage.

“These four coaches have been in the program, seen the low numbers, the lack of depth, and overcome that to post winning teams,” said Schofield. “Having them around to tell the young players how to overcome the odds through hard work will be most beneficial.”

Losing so many seniors last year left some people wondering about overall team leadership.

“The leadership thus far has been excellent,” said Schofield. “The little things they do will help us as we move through the season. So far I like how they work.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2015 at 12:49 PM with the headline "Loss of college football-bound seniors exacerbates numbers game for Great Falls."