Hornet football looking for bigger things in 2010

With the 2010 campaign nearing for the Fullerton Hornets football team, Head Coach Tim Byrnes and his staff have moved on from their 38-36 triple overtime loss in the Southern California Championship Semifinals to Palomar College last season.

"We always get over a loss. We need to respond [well] this year," Byrnes said. "I hope that some of our young guys learned from that loss, hurt from that loss a little bit and learned what it takes be become a champion."

Along with some of the new faces on this year's team, some of the returners from last year will have big shoes to fill with many from last year's Southern Conference winning team leaving to four-year schools.

This will be nothing new for Byrnes who is entering his third season as the Hornet head coach. In his two seasons the Hornets have an 18-2 regular season record which has led them to two straight Conference championships.

Quarterback Darius Banks led a trio of Hornet quarterbacks that played under center last year. Banks threw for a team-high 914 yards on 76-135 pass attempts with seven touchdowns. Banks played in all of the Hornets games last season and also rushed 38 times for 178 yards and two touchdowns.

"No doubt Darius[Banks] is the quarterback I don't think there is a question. Last year we had three pretty good guys and we were trying to pick between them," Byrnes said. "You will see the other two quarterbacks get reps, they are young and they are new, but we are going to have to count on them before the end of the year comes up, with injuries a factor and Darius getting tired."

With the departure of 2009 All-American running back Kenny Turner, last year's second leading rusher Jereme LaGarde along with the newcomers will have big shoes to fill. Turner was also awarded the Southern Conference Player of the Year award as he rushed for an unprecedented 6.4 yards-per-carry.

Turner ended the season with 1518 yards on 236 attempts and 18 total touchdowns and played a huge role in the Hornets having the top ranked rushing offense in the Southern Conference last year.

"As long as LaGarde is himself this year and nobody else he will be okay and will put up big numbers, now," said Turner, now at New Mexico State. "The Hornets have a talented team this season; I had a chance to meet some of the new guys before I left."

LaGarde was legitimate change-of-pace running back for Turner, who also showed signs of speed and mobility on top of power. LaGarde rushed for 657 yards on 85 carries and four rushing touchdowns. This year the Hornets will also return Cory Norman from last year and 2008 leading rusher Devon McCullough.

"I just have to play up to my potential and use some of the great advice that Tuner has passed on to me," LaGarde said. "I have to keep studying the game week in and week out and stay healthy. I feel like this year the offensive line is better overall than last year's line, with a lot of experience."

The offensive line was anchored by top recruit John Cullen who is now at Utah State, but Byrnes still believes that one of his team's strengths will be the offensive line.

Brian Crooks' defense was ranked No. 1 in the conference last year allowing a conference-low 14 points per-game. The defense was stingy all season, giving up 169 yards through the air and 64 yards on the ground per contest, both were top in the conference.

"We are going to be solid there. It's a well coached group, they play hard," Byrnes said. "We have a good D-line, a solid secondary, we are inexperienced at linebacker, that is an area of worry for us, but I think they will come through because we have a lot of depth."

The defensive line will be without three key guys from last year in Cha Lane, Joel Bonomolo and Anthony Walton. The trio accounted for 14.5 sacks and plugged things up for opposing offenses. Kevin Pope will anchor the defensive line this year. Pope had 6.5 sacks last season and 12 tackles in the backfield.

The secondary will also be a key for the Hornet defense this year even with the departures of Max Charlot, Blasher Saintvill and Alex Valdez. The Hornets will return talented standout cornerback Aaron Garbutt who earned first-team All-Conference honors last year. Garbutt led the team with four interceptions last year and 40 tackles in eight games.

The Hornets look to win their third consecutive conference title, but know that it will be tougher this year since the Southern Conference has been re-aligned. This year the conference includes Fullerton, Palomar, Mount San Antonio, Saddleback, Grossmont and Pasadena City Colleges.

The Hornets will kick off their 2010 season against the Santa Ana Dons in the 88th annual "Key to the County" game at the Santa Ana Bowl, Saturday at 1 p.m.