WHITMIRE — The Wolverines will need to rely on a good group of seniors to find success in a tough schedule.

“Right now we have a long ways to go,” said coach Donald Addis. “We have a lot of work to do.”

A tough first scrimmage with Indian Land exposed a lot of weaknesses. Whitmire has been working hard since then to be ready for Ninety-Six on Friday.

“We have a good group of seniors and hope they provide leadership,” said Addis. “We’ll need to lean on them to get through the early part of the schedule.”

Inexperience at key positions and little depth are weaknesses that the Wolverines must work to overcome. They’ve got talent among the 30 players on the varsity roster, but must work on conditioning as most players will be on the field the entire game.

The team participated in passing leagues at Union and FCA camp over the summer and was hard at work in the weight room. Twenty-one players met their requirements for summer workouts.

Offense

Whitmire will use a spread offense, as it has the last few years, but the Wolves will be running more and also utilizing the wishbone and I formation. Five starters return on offense, all seniors — Ethan Campbell, Allen Glenn, Joseph Brown, DJ Davis and Lance Kitchens.

“We need to lean heavily on our seniors because we’re so young,” said Addis. “We’ve had several meetings about leadership. They have to step up and take charge of this team, lead the way and set the right example.”

Defense

The Wolverines use a multiple front on defense. They’ll base out of a 3-5 or 5-3 look and go to a six-man front against power run teams. WHS returns six players on defense — Campbell, Glenn, Brown, Davis, Eric Shouse and Seth Horton. All are seniors.

Looking ahead

Whitmire is the smallest public school in the state and has a tough schedule against much larger schools.

“We have a brutal schedule,” said Addis. “That helped us last year and hopefully it will toughen us up this year.”

WHS finished 6-6 overall and 3-1 in region play in 2008. Christ Church looks to be the front runner in the region. Landrum is better, with the majority of its team returning. Blacksburg is improved.

“It’ll be a struggle in the region,” said Addis. “Hopefully, when we get to that point of the schedule we’ll be ready for it.

“We hope to continue building on the success we’ve had the last several years. We’ll take our lumps early, but hopefully when we get to region play we’ll be ready to take them on.”

The Wolverines’ coaching staff is intact and that will help. Matthew Tepper is a new addition to the JV staff.

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Whitmire

Wolverines

Aug. 21: Ninety-Six, 7:30

Aug. 28: at Mid-Carolina, 7:30

Sept. 4: at Wagener-Salley, 7:30

Sept. 18: Gilbert, 7:30

Sept. 25: Dixie, 7:30

Oct. 2: Landrum, 7:30

Oct. 9: Southside Christian, 7:30

Oct. 16: at Blacksburg, 7:30

Oct. 23: at Christ Church, 7:30

Oct. 30: at McCormick, 7:30