Don't be surprised if the 2011 Auburn Hills Avondale football team is just as dangerous, if not more so, than it was last year.
Yellow Jackets' head coach Steve Deutch is confident heading into his team's season opener next week.
"We might not be as explosive as we were last season, but we could be better overall," he said. "We're definitely going to be more balanced and more unpredictable and I think that's going to give opposing teams some trouble."
In 2010, Deutch's ball club was an offensive juggernaut averaging over 40 points a game, most of which came via throwing the pigskin, while going 6-3 in the regular season and losing in the district finals to Orchard Lake St. Mary's.
If you're not yet familiar with some of the names of the 2011 squad's weapons, you will be soon.
The one name everyone IS familiar with in the Avondale lineup is returning senior starting quarterback, Mitch Robinson, who had a season for the ages in 2010, accumulating over 3500 yards passing and a total of 57 touchdowns, a state-record 46 of them through the air. Robinson, also a standout baseball player, is entering his third-year starting under center this fall. When it's all said and done on his career, he will go down as one of the most prolific prep field generals in state history.
Unfortunately for Robinson, the Yellow Jackets' are faced with the unenviable task of replacing their entire prolific receiving corps from last season, including all-state playmaker Ray Tillman, a deep threat who had over 1700 yards receiving and 22 touchdowns.
Deutch calls his ball-catching unit from last year, "the best group of receivers I ever coached."
Set to fill the void left by Tillman and company is a new talented group of offensive artillery.
Eric Stubbs and Jeff Douglas are both swift and snappy wide outs that will serve as Robinson's top receiving options for the upcoming campaign. Douglas is a state champion track star and should be able to stretch defenses with his wheels. Stubbs is equally adept at going across the middle and beating his man deep on a fly route.
Another speedster, Julian Bundy will be in the slot and Matt Smith is slated to be the team's starting tight end, giving Robinson an additional pair of viable threats to play pitch-and-catch with.
The star-in-the-making in YellowJacketLand these days is junior tailback Mike Johnson, an agile and aggressive rusher that is ready to breakout in between the tackles in 2011. Last year as a sophomore, Johnson had a game where he went for 200-plus on the ground, showing off what's in store this season for Avondale foes trying to shutdown the potent 'Jackets 'O'.
Chris Wilson, a three-year starter, Clark Clancy and Tony Campozio are the leaders of the squad's line play and Troy May and Manny Baca are a linebacking tandem that should make a lot of noise.
Henry Paul is a name to watch out for in the Yellow Jackets' secondary.
"Our defense is going to be much better this season and that's something we're looking forward to," Deutch said. "We want to take all the good things from last year, build on them and add to them to make a better product on the field this year. People are going to see a more complete product from us in 2011."
Avondale kicks off its season on August 26 against Warren Fitzgerald, a squad it lost its opener to last season in a down-to-the-wire affair.
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