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Baytown Sterling Football
THE PLAYBOOK: Baytown Sterling Football, Rangers seeking first playoff berth since 2008
TOOMER: It was 'Stay Together'. If we're going to fight this fight, we must stay together. We must have some type of team camaraderie. That's what they did a lot of this summer, just getting to know each other and hanging out. Everybody practices, everybody wants to play. It takes a special group to win consistently. And I told them that this senior class coming up is something special. Not that the juniors and sophomores aren't, but this senior class has taught them how to go about handling their business. I think it's going to be a big year for them.
VYPE: As you enter the 2021 season, what excites you about this team?
TOOMER: This senior class is our freshman group that we started with. As a senior class, they are hard-working and dedicated. They want to win. All these guys have come up together, played together in Little League and then middle school. This class that we have, we have potential. But potential without hard work equals nothing. So, these kids have what it takes to get to that next level.
VYPE: What is the biggest difference between where you all are now and when you came in four years ago?
TOOMER: I think it's the fact that I've been here four years. My first senior class had three different head coaches. This is the first time in a long time that these freshmen have had one head coach through their career. So, I think it is stability. When I first got here, the kids didn't know how long I was going to be here, so they didn't want to give me all of their trust. I gave them my word. I'm going to be here as long as everybody wants me to be here. That's the way we are building our roux. I'm showing these kids that I'm all invested in this roux and they're bought in.
Players to Watch
Noah Lister (DE)
Gavin Hebert (WR)
Reece Sylvester (S/ATH) – (Rice)
Ashton Williams (ATH)
Caleb Smtih
Back Row: Trinity Oliver, Devin Martinez, Camden Schoor, Omar Huntington, Reece Sylvester, Garrison Shaw; Front Row: Gavin Hebert, Ryan De Luna and Jayden Khoury
GCCISD Magazine Feature: Baytown Sterling Football
Toomer's roux has been cooking for two years and the flavor is starting to emerge. "I ask our guys all the time, what are you putting in the roux? Is it leadership, discipline, physicality or work-ethic? You have to bring something." Sterling has some ingredients who are coming together that want to leave their own legacy. "We don't have a successful tradition to really draw from over the past decade, so we are building this thing from the ground up," he said. "The process is coming along, but two years ago we were at Ground Zero. We had some success last season, maybe not in the win-column, but there were definitely some bright spots. I can see it coming."
Ryan De Luna
Sterling's strength this year is on the defensive side of the ball, just like Toomer likes it. "It has to start up front and being able to stop your opponent," he said. "It all starts with Omar Huntington – he's the leader. Gerald Hays and Noah Lister have also played well up front. Reece Sylvester, Camden Schoor and Jayden Khoury have continued to step up." Offensively, the Rangers have struggled mostly at the quarterback position. "We have three quarterbacks who don't have much experience," Toomer said. "Going live, when you are in a fire storm, you have to relax and trust your training. We have to apply what we've learned in the film room to the field. We just have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot."
Moving from Class 6A to Class 5A will help in years to come as Toomer gets his roux like he likes it. "Once the roux or the foundation is right, that's when you are able to add things to it to make it perfect," he said. "We aren't there yet, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel."
To see the entire Goose Creek CISD publication, CLICK HERE
