Last year’s fortune has become a test for this year’s West Hall Spartans.

After opening the 2008 season with three straight home games, the schedule will reverse this year and West Hall won’t play its first home game until the fourth game of the year. And with a young team, that could spell trouble.

"It’s gonna be very difficult because No. 1, we’re a young team and inexperienced," West Hall coach Mike Newton said. "A lot of the teams we’re playing on the road are going to be experienced because they were young teams last year."

That wasn’t the case for the 2008 Spartans, who started the year 3-0 and then lost their next three games. The team went on to finish 5-5, which was the program’s best record since it went 5-5 in 2003.

Whether or not West Hall can duplicate or improve on that record this year all depends on how well the younger players will adjust to playing on Friday nights.

"The way we’ve been running things the past two years it should be an easy transition," Newton said of going from an experienced team to a young team. "They’re going to have to get their feet wet on the playing field for the first time and it’s going to be a learning lesson for all of them."

Offense

One player that won’t have to get his feet wet is junior quarterback Shunquez Stephens, who is entering his third year at the helm of the Spartans offense. Stephens had a coming out party last year, leading the area with 2,556 yards passing and throwing for 24 touchdowns and just five interceptions. But that was with experienced players like Rodney Gibson, Terrell Penland, Kyle Weatherly and brother Marquise Stephens on the receiving end of the majority of those passes.

This year, Stephens will have a new running back to hand the ball to in senior Marquise Young, who transferred to West Hall from Brookwood High in Snellville. Newton feels comfortable with Young taking over the duties at tailback and he is confident that Brandon Fuqua and Ismail Nuckles can put up the same type of numbers that Gibson and Penland did last season. The team is still searching for one more slot receiver that can contribute to their spread offense.

Defense

What West Hall lacks in depth, it more than makes up for in size on the defensive line. Each defensive end is 6-foot-2 or taller and each tackle weighs at least 240 pounds, which will provide West Hall with a greater pass rush than last year and alleviate pressure from the secondary.

"Defensively, we’re going to be bigger," Newton said. "But we’re going to be inexperienced in the secondary and that’s our biggest concern right now."

Anchoring the defense are inside linebacker Chase Adams, defensive ends Ryan Shipp and Trevor Huth, and Travis Quick in the secondary.

Those four will be required to limit some of the most potent offenses in the subregion in Gainesville and Flowery Branch, and although the defense matches up with a spread offense everyday in practice, Newton believes his team will still be in for a tough task.

"The thing about those two schools is they have a lot more kids," he said. "Our biggest weakness is we don’t have a lot of depth."

Special teams

It’s one thing to lose almost all your skill players.

It is another issue completely when you lose one of the best kickers in school history.

Scott Eichler, who received a preferred walk-on spot at the University of Georgia, left some big shoes to fill at West Hall, and according to Newton, no one has stepped into them yet.

"That’s one of our biggest question marks we have is our kickers," he said. "We’re still trying out our kickers in practice to see who is going to win the job."

Outlook