Carvers Bay hopes ‘younger,’ ‘stronger’ team will have turnaround

Before the first game of last year, Nate Thompson predicted that his team was going to have a bit of a down season.

He saw the pieces he had back in tow. Unfortunately for him, the Carvers Bay coach turned out to be right. The Bears finished with just their third losing record in school history.

This time around, the only coach in school history isn’t so sure what’s going to happen. He’s leaving the door open for some high-quality results.

“They’re bigger and they’re stronger. They just need to get battle-tested,” Thompson said. “I think we could be real interesting.”

Eleven seniors from last season’s 3-7 team have departed. What the returning players saw, though, was a handful of close plays dictating the entire year.

Carvers Bay lost three games by a touchdown or less. That included a two-point loss to region champion and rival Hemingway, a squad that didn’t lose a game until the playoffs.

Thompson’s mantra, though, hasn’t changed; he’s saying some of the same things he did a year ago with his team coming off a trip to state finals.

“It gets frustrating,” he said. “We’ve got to hurry up and get last year behind us.”

Besides, the Bears have plenty of other stuff to concentrate on.

Juniors John Frazier and Levi White are competing for the top quarterback spot, replacing Israel Davis (831 passing yards, 313 rushing yards, 11 total touchdowns). Calvin Miller, who was the backup last year, likely moves into the starting tailback role following the departure of Terry Bromell.

Lineman Darry Goss, the team’s leading tackler last season, returns for his senior year. And while he did most of his damage at 215 pounds, Thompson contends there will be plenty of size around him.

“The kids we have now, they’re bigger, but they’re younger,” he said.

They won’t have much of an acclimation period once the season begins. Eight of the Bears’ opponents qualified for the playoffs last season, including all five non-region foes. The first four teams on the schedule are also from a higher classification.

History, though, says Carvers Bay won’t stay down for long. After all, the Bears bounced back in a hurry from their only other two losing seasons.

They chased a 5-6 season in 2001 by going 14-1 and winning the Class AA state title the following year. And after a a 5-6 record in 2011, the Bears went 8-3 and won the region championship in 2012.

Could a similar turnaround be possible this year?

“It’s possible,” Thompson said. “It’s about getting ready to play. It’s a matter of how fast they mature and they catch on. We’ve got some good bodies. It’s just whether we can get them in gear.”

This story was originally published August 8, 2015 at 5:53 PM with the headline "Carvers Bay hopes ‘younger,’ ‘stronger’ team will have turnaround."