John Robert Simon at the helm for Putnam City North
Putnam City North's Dre Holman will be a big help to new quarterback J.R. Simon both as a receiver out of the backfield and as a workhorse running back.
The OSSAA board meeting on Wednesday and the thunderstorm on Thursday morning kind of got me off track in making the rounds to all the West Metro and OKC football practices I wanted to hit, and one of the victims was Putnam City North (I’ll be there next week, Panthers).
But I got a chance to visit with coach Bob Wilson on the phone and he sounds pleased with his team’s performance over the first few days of camp.
One crucial position over the next two weeks for the Panthers will be the development of their new quarterback.
Jace James graduated, and Joe Summers decided to focus on basketball, so that opened the door for a new starter.
Junior John Robert Simon has stepped in to fill the void for an offense with only a few returning starters.
“Right now, it looks like he’s the guy,” coach Bob Wilson said. “Alex Clark is backing him up. He’s a capable and athletic kid. J.R. is a good athlete who started for the basketball team as a sophomore and has a chance to be a good player.”
With talented running back Dre Holman and highly recruited left tackle Daniel Burton, the Panthers will focus on the run game, which should benefit Simon early in the season.
“Running the ball will be real important for us,” Wilson said. “If we can do that, it’ll give J.R. some time to adjust to the speed of the game.”
I know Holman is strongly committed to staying healthy this year, and he has the potential to be a workhorse, especially if the new starters on the offensive line can come together in front of him. Holman is a sleeper in the recruiting game, too. I’m sure a lot of coaches want to see him stay healthy as well, but he has a combination of power and speed that is hard to match.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
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