Marble Falls Youth Football’s 6th-graders learning new offense with more on the roster
CAPTION: Marble Falls sixth-grade coach Daniel Cervantez (center) tells Tristan Moseley (front row, left) and Reese Butler how to run block as linebackers Colton Thornberry (back row, left) and Elijah Sanchez and coach Greg Carroll look on. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
When the Marble Falls Independent School District hired Keri Timmerman as its athletic director and football head coach in December, school officials knew a change in offensive scheme was coming.
And that change would be implemented from the varsity all the way to the seventh grade.
But what fans may not have realized is that Marble Falls Youth Football and Cheer officials install the same base schemes from the school district’s program on all of its teams from grades Kintergarten through sixth.
Though the youth football league completed its second week of practices Aug. 1, officials began to take steps months earlier to prepare for the changes.
Teams spent the first week doing conditioning with helmets on to get used to the Texas humidity.
Most teams used practice dummies the first part of practice July 30 where players went through blocking drills or cones to help them stay in their lanes as they blocked teammates.
The rest of the practices throughout the week were used to install Timmerman’s offense.
Timmerman uses a version of the spread-option system that’s a combination of what Gus Malzahn and Chad Morris utilize. The offense calls for short passes all over the field and is what he ran at China Spring and Anna as the offensive coordinator before he went to Grapevine High School as the assistant head coach.
Sixth-grade head coach Nicholas Wood, whose fifth-grade squad won the 2023 championship, said Timmerman’s offense has quarterback reads with different receiver routes. And quarterbacks know what to do with the ball if a receiver isn’t open. Wood noted quarterbacks in last year’s slot-T offense did more than serve as ball distributors to the fullbacks, halfbacks and tailbacks.
The biggest difference between now and then is that before, “everything was inside the box.”
Timmerman’s offense calls for more room.
“There is so much space,” Wood said. “It is called the spread. Getting through those first two reads adds a whole new layer of offense we didn’t have.”
To help make the transition easier, a couple of dads earlier this year contacted Timmerman to ask if he would open Mustang Stadium for a couple of hours to allow the youngsters to work on the passing game. Timmerman agreed.
Players learned the names of routes and how to properly run them, while quarterbacks began learning the different spots to throw to receivers on each route.
Wood said the importance of those sessions that lasted about two months can’t be measured.
“It gave them confidence,” he said. “For awhile, it was a foreign concept. Quarterbacks have to learn this is what it looks like. Those things are hard to learn. It takes time. Those details matter.”
He noted that during a recent scrimmage, the offense had three touchdown passes, almost as many touchdown passes it had all last year.
And the players are enjoying it, Wood said.
In addition, quarterback Charles Wood, the coach’s son, and receivers Quincy Rodriguez and Van Michael attended a Todd Dodge Quarterback and Receivers Camp.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez, Elijah Sanchez, Ayden Alexander, Bodie Christopher and Zaymian Granadoz all attended the CeeDee Lamp Camp hosted by Dallas Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Wood also noted another big positive for the association.
It had enough fifth- and sixth-graders to create two different teams that will play in the Hill Country Youth Football League. Each squad has close to 30 players apiece.
Wood pointed out that’s a far cry from where the association was when he and Charles first joined it. Wood served as the MFYFC president for at least two years. He recalled seeing the number of players during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and wonders how that impacted rosters, which are usually between 20-25 players. Back then, those who had already signed up to play and their families were inviting friends who weren’t on the team to join.
“At no time did we have separate fifth- and sixth-grade teams,” Wood said. “We had 22 with a combination of fifth- and sixth-graders three or four years ago. Our big goal was to improve numbers. I love (former Marble Falls ISD head coach) Brian Herman. I thought he did a nice job in pieces. I understand why he ran (the slot-T offense). Changes on offense (this year) has brought in more interest. Now I have mid to upper 20s of fifth and sixth-graders. We have triple the number of players.”
Just how dominant was the class of 2031 last season? Those Mustangs outscored opponents 183-16.
Though the sixth-graders are looking to repeat as league champions, Wood said the coaching staff is purposely staying away from that talk.
“I really don’t bring it up,” he said. “We’ve added more kids. Every year is a new team. We’re limiting our verbiage.”
The next challenge now is to balance playing time with more athletes on the squad. Athletes play a minimum of eight plays per contest. The team will have 11 starters on offense and 11 different starters on defense. That means the remaining eight players will be part of special teams.
“We’ve reworded it as our special forces unit,” Wood said.
Youth games will be played at Mustang Stadium again this year, and Wood said the association leaders are grateful to the school district.
“They’ve been so wonderful,” he said. “We talk to other youth leagues. They pay tens of thousands to use fields. MFISD has been wonderful to us. We’re really excited for the upcoming season. Everybody is excited to see a passing offense for games.”
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CAPTION: Marble Falls sixth-grade players Van Michael (front row, left), Quincy Rodriguez and Charles Wood (back row, left) with Todd Dodge after the trio finished his camp. Courtesy photo
