Chaparral football players Greg Tucker, left, and BreOnta Griffin Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009.
Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009 | 2:08 a.m.
Chaparral High coach Donnie Davis wants his defense to be vicious.
So vicious that he’s not going to measure their success by any statistics. Davis has his own criteria.
“If the trainer isn’t coming out to check on people from the other side, then we aren’t hitting hard enough,” Davis said. “That’s the attitude we’re taking.”
No wonder Cowboy defensive backfield members Greg Tucker, BreOnta Griffin and Malcolm McMurray have worked so hard in the offseason. Chaparral wants to make sure it isn’t easy to score against it.
Davis, the Cowboys’ first year head coach, is defensive minded and hopes his team takes on his identity.
“I’m trying to change their attitude to a feisty, never want to lose-type attitude,” Davis said.
Last year, Chaparral lost all but three games. With a strong returning core, the players feel they will be much improved in 2009.
A lot of the brunt falls on the senior trio of Tucker, Griffin and McMurray. They’ll star offensively, too.
Griffin will spend most of his time at tight end. McMurray will be out on the edges as a wide receiver. Tucker, well, he could be anywhere.
“Greg is going to be a big part of our offense,” Davis said. “He’s going to be a slash-type player, where I can put him out at wide receiver or running back. We’ll try to get mismatches.”
But Davis doesn’t speak with the same intensity when discussing offense. He saves his fiery comments for his defensive hopes.
“I want us to be nasty,” Davis said. “We need to swarm the football.”
Chaparral High School has seen better days.
Once among the top performing schools in the Clark County School District, Chaparral High is undergoing changes to counter dismal test scores and the lowest graduation rate in the district.
The campus located near East Flamingo Road and U.S. 95 is one of five turnaround schools not meeting the expectations outlined in No Child Left Behind.
Chaparral is now looking to clean up its reputation, touching every aspect of the school from restrooms to test scores.
Changes weren’t received well by students who openly protested the cuts to faculty and the new order that banned the use of cell phones and music players during the school day.
Under stricter rules, tardy students are locked out of classrooms, bathroom breaks during class time aren’t allowed and the lunch hour was pushed back to 1:40 p.m.
Superintendent Dwight Jones told students he’s not settling for half successes.
“Right now, 50 percent of the kids in this school don’t graduate high school. Is that acceptable to you? Think about that. Right now, some of the friends that you’re with aren’t going to graduate. Is that OK? That’s unacceptable to me. I think you guys ought to kick all of us out.”
- Year built:
- 1971
- Mascot:
- Cowboys
- Principal (Year Hired):
- David Wilson (2011)
- Enrollment:
- Approximately 2,250
- School Report Card:
- 2010-2011
Compiled by Gregan Wingert
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or at [email protected].
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