Cardinals to take flight with just ten players this football season

James Boyle now handling head coaching duties

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BY RUSSELL HUFFMAN
TheFlashToday.com

Coach James Boyle has taken over the head coaching reins of the Lingleville football team with a reversal of roles with coach Ken Davis.

“He was already doing most of it last year,” Davis said during the Cardinals’ practice Friday morning.

Boyle is in his second year at Lingleville, and the 10-year veteran of the Marine Corps and his “staff” have a big challenge in 2018 with ten players on the roster.



 

“It’s going to be a little tough this year because we have D1 student numbers at D2 numbers when it comes to football players coming out,” Boyle said.

Boyle is not what one might expect in a former Marine turned six-man football coach as he’s very calm and concise when he explains what he wants from his athletes. When he gets in their face during practice its to show them how they should be positioning themselves on the line and he “mirrors” up with them.

Displeasure or tips on how to play better are met with close up face-to-face discussions held at the whisper and out of earshot of others.

“These guys are learning out here right now,” Boyles said. “We want them to be confident and know what they are doing.”

Part of Friday’s practice involved the players establishing themselves inside the goal lines in blocking and running drills. The idea being Boyles doesn’t want his running backs heading for the sidelines, and Davis is right there with him.

“We can’t step out of bounds like that!” Davis calls out. “We need 15 yards for a first down, so we need that extra yard or two.”

A short coaching moment and two plays later one of the Cardinals burst through the hole created by his teammates.

“That’s what we want!  Wait for the hole to open,” Boyles said while clapping. “Don’t overrun things.”


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Lingleville is in District 14-1A this season which features Gorman, May, Santa Anna and the Cardinals. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine predicts Lingleville will finish second in league play behind May which was a 12-1 regional finalist in 2017.

It’s going to be hard with ten players to make good on the prediction as Gorman has a reported 28 players out this season and May’s number hover around 36.

Jason Misemer is the Cardinals’ top returning player with 71 tackles last season while also rushing for 543 yards and ten touchdowns.

 

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