NEW CANEY — The New Caney Eagles are well aware of the target firmly on their backs.
After crashing the District 13-6A scene in 2022 by winning the championship after moving up from Class 5A, a wave of change has since met the Eagles.
In February, the program celebrated running back Kedrick Reescano’s signing day with Ole Miss. Reescano rushed for 4,576 yards and totaled 75 touchdowns while donning the blue, black and white of the Eagles. His senior year included 1,849 yards on the ground, 249 receiving and 35 touchdowns as he claimed the Montgomery County Player of the Year.
In March, head coach Travis Reeve left to take a job closer to home in El Campo.
With four starters back on offense, seven back on defense and a new head coach, New Caney is maintaining the same standards that got them to this point.
“Goal is to do the same thing,” Eagles senior linebacker Daylen Wilson said, referring to last year’s undefeated district title. “We know we have the target on our back and we are coming even harder. That’s why we are getting better every day.”
New head coach Mike DeWitt was hired in early April, just in time to get to know his new team for spring ball. DeWitt spent the 2022 season as the linebackers/special teams coach at McKinney Boyd and was at Coppell for 13 years prior to that, eight of which as head coach where Cowboys went 54-35 on his watch with four playoff wins.
“They came in the spring,” Senior utility man Dravon Wilson said of the new coaching staff. “Just learning new schemes and getting prepared for that game.”
DeWitt was running around Tuesday’s practice with a hands-on approach of preparing his new team.
“Things are going well and the kids are excited to be back in football,” he said. “We’re excited about the group we have and they’ve been working hard.”
The Wilsons are a key part of this year’s team, as is Kayden Cooper, a three-year letterman who can do a little bit of everything.
“Time has really flew by,” Cooper said. “My mom and dad said these four years would go by…but I didn’t think they’d go by this quick.”
On offense, there’s competitions everywhere.
“They graduated a lot of guys on the offensive side,” DeWitt said. “Experience-wise, we’ve got some young guys coming in.”
A new starting quarterback is needed after the graduation of Nehemiah Broussard, who signed with Faulkner, an NAIA program in Alabama.
Junior Hunter Taylor and sophomore Grant Webb are battling it out for snaps.
“Every day is a tryout,” DeWitt said.
It’s the same deal at running back as Reescano leaves after assuming a massive amount of production on offense.
“Right now it’s by committee and we’ve got some guys battling it out,” DeWitt said. “It might be that way where we have two or three guys that we roll with and try to keep those guys fresh. We’re excited about that group.”
Eric Sanchez is a key guy back at wide receiver while Dravon Wilson was the leader there a year ago with 576 yards. Wilson was the District 13-6A Utility MVP last year.
Johnny Bailey is a key guy back on the offensive line.
“Offensive line, that’s probably where you would say we’re the youngest,” DeWitt said.
Cooper will likely see action on both sides of the field.
“A little bit of everywhere,” Cooper said. “Defense. A sprinkle of offense here and there. Anywhere I can help the team, that’s where I’m at right now.”
Cooper is among a solid group that allowed 13.2 points per game en route to an 11-1 record.
“Lot of senior leadership coming back,” DeWitt said. “When you’ve got guys like Dravon, D-Will and DJ (Lewis), Kayden Cooper and (Andrew) Wilkinson. You have guys and you certainly have some pieces. I think they’ve embraced the fact that on paper, they’re supposed to ‘carry the team’. They are taking pride in that this summer in leading.”
Daylen Wilson lit up when asked about the returners on defense.
“They’re my brothers,” he said. “We’ve been here all four years when all of us were really young. We’ve been playing together for four years and I feel very comfortable with them.”
As mentioned earlier, the rest of the district will be gunning for the Eagles. Don’t expect them to back down from their eight opponents, including fellow playoff teams in The Woodlands, Oak Ridge and Conroe.
New Caney won just its fourth playoff game in program history last year when it defeated Eisenhower. The season came to an end in a 16-15 comeback win against Tomball.
After reaching the playoffs just eight times from 1955 through 2014, the Eagles have now gone beyond Week 11 eight consecutive seasons.
“I think they’re hungry for more,” DeWitt said. “They want to keep playing in the playoffs. District titles are good, but they want to win playoff games. They’re hungry and we’ve got great senior leadership. We’ve got some young guys, but our older guys have done a good job embracing those young guys and bringing them along.”
DeWitt will learn the Houston area on the fly, but isn’t too worried about it.
“Honestly, it’s the same mindset I had in DFW,” DeWitt said. “Everybody you play every week is going to be really good. Rather it be your nondistrict schedule is tough, your district schedule is tough. Everybody you play is really, really good and if you don’t show up, you’ll get beat.”
New Caney will see action next Friday at Lake Creek, playing another district champion in a scrimmage.
“We are excited to finally go hit somebody else instead of ourselves,” DeWitt said. “We’ll see how things go. But we’re excited to put all the pieces together and play somebody else.”
Said Cooper, “It’s time to do it. It’s August. We’ve got two weeks to prepare so we’ve got to go out here every day.”
