Mesquite Skeeters - 2008 Season Preview

2007 Season Results: 5A Division 1 Area finalists (7-5)
Head Coach: Robbie Robinson
Key Returners: QB Luke Halpin (5-11, 173), DB/WR Marcus Trice (5-9, 175) OLB Darnell Taylor (5-11, 182)
Starters Returning: O/D: 2/5

Mesquite-- One of the off-season's biggest storylines was the sudden retirement of longtime Head Coach Steve Halpin.  With his untimely departure in May, the administration had to act fast and chose to promote from within.

The decision was made to hire Robbie Robinson, a Mesquite High graduate and longtime assistant coach. Robinson has coached at Mesquite since 1989, most recently as assistant head football coach and strength and conditioning coach.


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What he has coming back is enough to excite any coach because when you visit a practice at Mesquite High, the first thing that jumps out at you is the speed and athleticism of the players. Nobody personifies this more than Senior DB/WR Marcus Trice. When we met Trice at the Nike Camp in Ft. Worth, we were astonished that he had no offers to play college football.

Since that time, he has been offered by twelve different schools ranging from Arizona to Iowa and Wisconsin. He was clearly one of the quickest players on the field and now that he's on the map, he's hoping that his team will follow suit.

With 7 returning starters, the Skeeters have a decent nucleus returning intact. Luke Halpin returns at Quarterback to give Mesquite some continuity at the most important position on the field. Revamping both the offensive and defensive lines will be the biggest challenge as they lost all starters to graduation.

The news is better at the skill positions where the aforementioned Trice will be joined by the speedy Darien McNealy. At 5 foot 6 and 154 pounds, McNealy is a waterbug who has legit 4.5 speed and good hands.

On defense the Linebackers are solid with all 4 back from last season. Outside Linebackers Darnell Taylor and Oshae Hamilton return after earning all-district honors in 2007. The inside isn't bad either where Robert Lewis and Darius Taylor each earned 2nd team honors.

On paper Mesquite looks like a dangerous team with senior leadership at Quarterback, experience on defense and talent in the skill positions. They'll definitely be a team to keep an eye on as the season gets underway and should challenge DeSoto for the district title.

Prep Ticket predicted order of finish for 11-5A

1) DeSoto (2,836)
2) Mesquite (2,684)
3) Tyler Lee (2,465)
4) North Mesquite (2,471)
5) John Tyler (2,135)
6) Mesquite Horn (2,196)

Date of Article: Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:28 pm