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Bulldogs seek fresh start in 3A
Robinson players ‘excited’ about opportunity to prove critics wrong
Photo by James Nix
Members of the Jay M. Robinson football team stretch during the Bulldogs' practice Monday, Aug. 3.
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Published: August 21, 2009
CONCORD - On Aug. 5, Jay M. Robinson head coach Bobby Cloninger was talking about his football team.
"We've got 95 percent of our running game in," he said. "We've got probably 85 percent of our pass offense in. I'm telling you our kids are very, very committed. They have a lot of enthusiasm, and they want to get better."
The Bulldogs, coming off a 3-8 season, start 2009 a week later than other local teams because of an open date today.
When they do start playing, they'd like to prove any critics wrong.
"I think they're tired of some of the things that they've heard in the past, both in the community and school," Cloninger said. "I told them, 'Well, you're only as good as your last game. And if you want to change people's opinion, then we've got to change what we do on the field.'"
Moving to 3A competition could help Robinson, where football teams have gone 11-34 the last four years while playing 4A.
"Our kids are excited," Cloninger said. "They played hard. But being in 4A, it was a tough nut when they had to look down the road and see some things. They were realistic about some stuff.
"They have a little bit of confidence about the (new) conference one, being a good league, but two, being a very balanced league. There's been a lot of emotion and a lot of intensity."
The Bulldogs return nine starters on offense, including senior quarterback Robert Cloninger, Bobby Cloninger's son.
"He's much stronger," Cloninger said. "I think he has grown physically and mentally a great deal in a year's time. I feel like he's set to have a very solid year for us. He's a good leader."
Cloninger's backup at quarterback is junior Joey Bastine.
"Those two kids have been hooked at the hip during the off-season," Cloninger said. "They did a lot of things together. They help each other ... The good thing about both of them is they can play other positions if there's a need to."
At running back, "We don't have anybody that's as good as (2008 senior) Jason Hampton," Cloninger said. "But we have a pack of kids who can make us very solid and very sound and create a lot of problems for people."
Those backs include Zach Fandl, Troy Parker, Mitch Weddington and Paul Ruby.
And the good news for Robinson's backfield is the Bulldogs' offensive line.
"The big improvement will be in our offensive line," Cloninger said. "When you have four out of five starters up front coming back, you feel good about that."
Tyler Davis, Colin Honeycutt, Marcus Richardson, Larry Payne, Garrett Ballard and Clint Buck are among the top Robinson linemen.
At wide receiver, Chris Caldwell and Ian Cannaday return, and at tight end, Dutch Entwistle and Jacob Allen are a solid duo.
With Allen standing 6-7 and Entwistle 6-4, "We've got some size there and some athletic ability," Cloninger said.
Wide receiver Dominique Bellamy also has big-play potential, Cloninger said.
"We don't know if we're going to be explosive," he said. "Only time will tell. But I feel that group is going to give us a solid foundation to build on."
On defense, "We have a lot of depth in the line," Cloninger said. "That's one thing we've not had. Practice is going to be fun because there's going to be competition on both sides of the ball, and that's going to make us better."
Nelson White, Ryon Snedegar, Drew Taylor, Dayjon Lynch, Zach Linker and Blair Chopin head the D-line.
"We feel like we can two-deep there and be pretty good," Cloninger said. "Snedegar and White give us a great presence on the edge. They're very athletic."
At inside linebacker, "Tyler Robertson has probably made as much improvement in the four years he's been here as any kid I've been around," Cloninger said. "He has very good speed and quickness and we're excited for him.
"NaShaun Dingle will be our other inside linebacker. He's 6-2, 230, a junior who has a world of potential. They give us two who can be playmakers inside."
Jake Thomas and Patrick Eudy are frontrunners at outside linebacker.
"Eudy can play inside, outside or can play down as well," Cloninger said.
Chris Robinson, Stephon Swanson and Dennis Williams, up from the junior varsity, "are young kids," Cloninger said, "but we feel like they can give us some competition there at those outside positions."
Jordan Efird, Akshar Patel and Chris Turner are among top candidates for the defensive backfield.
"Our secondary is going to be young and inexperienced, but we feel like athletic ability is going to be very interesting because we'll probably be more athletic there than we've been the last couple of years," Cloninger said. "We look more athletic and hopefully we're going to play more athletic."
The fifth-year Robinson coach looked at the roster in front of him — about 105 players came out for football — and said: "I could talk about every single kid, and the big thing you're going to hear from me is improvement.
"They're better athletically," he said. "They're better mentally. They've developed a concept of team and have really, really made a commitment to this and what we're trying to do.
"They believe in each other."
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