b'School Spotlight:School Spotlight: Pebble Hills High School (El Paso, Texas) Gulfport High School (Gulfport, Ms)P ebble Hills High School-located in El Paso, Texas-competesby John IV White ur newest school spotlight is covering the Gulfport Highby Connor Pedersenin the 6A Classification of Texas high school football. TheyO School Admirals out of Gulfport, Mississippi. The Admi-are ranked as the #80 team in the state, the #44 team in allrals will be moving into the newly established 7A class of 6A and the #1 team in the city of El Paso. The Spartans, whosein region 4. Gulfport has been a contender as of late making the colors are teal and Texas orange, had a great year going 10-2 andplayoffs 7 out of the last 8 seasons. The Admirals have a new Head winning their district. They played Odessa Permian in the firstCoach going into the next season, Coach Blake Pennock the for-round of the playoffs before losing to a tough North Crawley team.mer Head Coach of Ocean Springs High School. Coach Pennock Talking to Coach Mark Torres, I discussed with him about manysays that, Gulfport is right there and the team is ready to take the things revolving around the Pebble Hills program. next step into the playoffs.Pebble Hills is a high school that does not have a whole lot of his- New Head Coach Blake Pennock is very familiar with the Gulf tory. Opening up in the fall of 2015, the Spartans only played aCoast area as he has been within many of the high school programs sub-varsity schedule as they were getting accumulated to every- in the area for the past couple of decades. He initially started at thing. The school started to get better and better each year and lastOcean Springs as an assistant and bounced around as an assistant year was able to get into the playoffs and win a game. The pillars ofat Oak Grove, Clinton, and Madison Central. He then went on toOffensively, the Admirals are going to be a fast paced, no huddle, this team rest with the school motto RISE. RISE stands for Relent- coach at Southern Miss for a stint before taking on a Head Coach- tempo offense. They want to spread the field and will be utilizing less, Integrity, Strength, and Excellence. Coach Torres said if thating role at Pass Christian High School, next back to Ocean Springsa heavy inside zone running attack. Passing wise it is going to be a these kids show RISE everyday, then they are able to get better inas the Head Coach for the last 3 seasons. Eventually finding his newvertical attack. Defensively, it will be a 3 man front that is going to every aspect of life. role as the Head Coach for the Admirals this upcoming season. come after offenses with good angles, and strong tackling.The offensive and defensive schemes of the Spartans have helpedWhat is your philosophy when it comes to coaching? I want toOn the defensive side of the ball the Admirals have some big star them win their district last year. On offense, they run a base 1 backbuild quality young adults, I try to teach my athletes to take account- power, starting with 63 295 LBS Nose Tackle Kai McClendon, he spread that they like to play to their strengths. On defense, theyability for themselves and those around them. I am trying to moldhas had a great offseason and is poised for a great senior season. run an even front type of defense that they adjust from year to year.helps them for the future, as they have 11 returning starters back.them into quality members of the community and teach them how toNext is a pair of cover corners in Damon Felder and Prince Cotton-They really dont change a whole lot every year, they just like toMost of the starters have been playing since their sophomore year,make the right decisions on and off the field. ham who are shutdown guys that can run with anyone on the field.adjust their team so that they can play to the players strengths. This so experience is a strength for this team.School Spotlight: Brysen Steele Long Beach High School (Long Beach, Ms)Defensive tackle O n this School Spotlight, we cover the Long Beach Highby Connor PedersenSchool Bearcats. The Bearcats have had some struggles in the recent years as they are currently on a 29 game skid. Head Coach Jacob Massey who is entering his second year as the Marlin High Bearcats Head Coach believes his team has the fight in them to get over this slump. They had a lot of young guys playing last year, so Marlin, tx the experience from playing should help the team in games this next season. The team has really focused on getting back to the basics, working on lots of blocking and tackling along with a big HT: 62 focus on their strength programs. The team has had a very success-WT: 280 ful offseason so far and look to make some more big strides during the rest of the spring and into the summer.Coach Massey is a relatively young Head Coach at 32 years old. He Class of 2026 started out at DeSoto Central High School for a 3 year stint, before taking an Offensive Coordinator position at Emery High School. Gridiron Football Grade:6.7 of 10 B rysen Steele is a 61 280 lbs defensive tackle for Marlin HighHe then moved to Petal for 1 year as an Offensive Coordinator be-School. Brysen is in the class of 2026, and he had an impactfore taking over the Head Coaching role at Long Beach in 2022. for the Bulldogs this past year as a true freshman, which. heCoach Massey hired some great staff talent in his first year and will only get better with more reps. Brysen had 42 total tackles toretained a good amount of respected coaches from the previous go with 7 tackles for loss. Adding in 2 sacks for the Bulldogs, Bry- staff. He is prioritizing giving out more reign for the coaches, and sen has the size to continue to make an impact at the high schooltrusting them with their respected jobs.level for the Bulldogs. One of the key younger players for coachditioning, I think that is an important base for success. Once we are Ruben Torres, Brysen can penetrate any gap and play til the end ofWhat is your philosophy as a coach? I just want to get the most outstronger and faster as a team we can really roll our sleeves up and go the whistle. of my players. We have really emphasized our strength and con to work. The hard work from those programs will translate into wins on the field.32 33'