NORTHEAST LEAGUE: Canyon Springs seniors out to build on last season’s success

The seniors at Canyon Springs have seen this script before. This time, they’re hoping to write a different ending.

The Pioneers were 9-2 and won the Northeast League in 2007 only to collapse the following season, finishing 1-8.

After bouncing back with a 7-3 record last year, this year’s seniors hope to avoid a repeat of 2008.

“We had a good season back in the '07 season, and the numbers fell off when all the stars left, and we had a bad season,” said Jamaal Martin, one of two seniors competing to start at quarterback. “We picked it up when coach (Hunkie) Cooper came. He got the program turned around and got people to back us up in the community around here.

“Canyon Springs has had a bad image, and I think it’s good that we’re trying to change it.”

Repeating last season’s success won’t be easy. The Pioneers lost 31 seniors from last year’s team, but Cooper, in his second season as head coach, inherits a strong group of young players.

He also has a group of seniors eager to lead by example.

“The only way I can expect my teammates to do what’s right is if I lead by example,” Martin said. “As seniors, we stepped up and made sure we went hard and took the leadership role as a group.”

Cooper said he’s proud of the way this year’s seniors have responded. He let the older players know early that there was enough young talent to replace the seniors.

“Why waste my time for someone who has one year left vs. a kid who has three years,” Cooper said. “(The seniors) have stepped up to the challenge. They know what’s at stake. You never get your senior year back.”

And having watched a previous senior class waste its opportunity, this group is anxious to do what’s necessary to have success.

“Like Hunkie Cooper said, we’ve just got to trust each other and trust the person next to you,” said senior wide receiver Treyveon Evans, who led the Pioneers with 30 catches for 322 yards last season. “Two years ago, I don’t think we had that leadership, and we didn’t have the discipline that we do now.”

That discipline might be due to Cooper’s presence. The former UNLV and Arena League standout demands it.

“On the football field, coach Cooper is my dad, and I feel like everybody feels like that,” senior defensive back Marquon Webster said. “When he comes out, you see that change in everybody’s face, and everybody automatically focuses on what’s going on. Coach Cooper has that power.”

Along with Evans, the Pioneers return last year’s second-leading rusher, Malik Brown, on offense. Brown ran for 463 yards and seven touchdowns while backing up the graduated Deavin Rimmey (1,155 yards, 16 TDs). D’Vante Howard is challenging Martin at quarterback.

Brown will get help in the backfield from sophomore running back Donnel Pumphrey and sophomore fullback Eric Williams.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys that are real skilled and talented, and they should be able to fill that void,” Martin said.

Cooper said that the talent is there, but how the team reacts to mistakes might be the key to how far the Pioneers go this year.

“When things go wrong, that’s when we usually have our breakdowns,” Cooper said. “In the last year and a half, we’ve started to see that turn around.