Media Day: Destiny Christian Wildcats

The Wildcats will sacrifice size for speed in 2010.

Thursday, July 28th 2011, 5:43 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Aug 24, 2010 10:16 AM CDT

Dave Carty
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY -- It’s not easy to replace bulk on your offensive and defensive lines. After all, size cannot be taught.

So, after losing six players with a combined weight of about 1,600 pounds, Destiny Christian head coach Rusty Stone decided to go in another, foreign direction -- emphasizing speed over size.

“Up front, we’re going to be young, a little bit inexperienced but we got skill positions coming back that’s going to give us another strong team,” said Stone at CoachesAid.com and Oklahoma Sports First Look Media Day.

In the past, the Wildcats have counted on size for success. Last season, it earned Destiny Christian an 8-3 record, but the Wildcats failed to make the Oklahoma Christian Schools Athletic Association championship -- which was played by two teams who defeated Destiny Christian during the season, Rejoice Christian and Community Christian.

This year, players such as Ryan Maynord can play multiple skill positions, which could be a source of confusion for opposing defenses. Evan Blackburn is also back and he expects to pick up a lot of yardage on screens and short routes.

One area where size exists is at tailback. Tevin Middleton, who doubles as a linebacker, missed half the season a year ago with a broken collarbone, but don’t expect him to get skittish and try to run by any defenders.

“I think I like running over people more,” he said. “Everyone we play is small.”

With scheme changes on offense and defense, Destiny Christian hopes to throw a curveball at Community Christian, the team Stone calls the “measuring stick” of success in the OCSAA.