CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Cabaniss Stadium for a football scrimmage catching my first glimpse of the Veterans Memorial Eagles. They're reloading their roster, but they return their star running back Andrew Charlebois. He's getting acquainted with the new offensive line and they're ready to work going into week one.
"Patience is key with them, so just taking our time with everyone. Building love and chemistry as I said," Charlebois said. "It's looking good. We're not really worried about the people we lost. It's definitely reload with everyone."
Last fall, Charlebois carried the ball 244 times for 1,884 yards and 24 touchdowns through 11 games as a sophomore. This year he's leading a stable of backs looking to help make their mark.
"We got a sophomore that's coming up. He's really progressing well," Charlebois said. "He'll make a good addition, so we got three or four guys how much we run the ball it's real good to have that kind of like rotational players."
The Eagles' quarterback battle features Anthony Winans and Aaron Hinojosa.
"I mean I think they're picking stuff up quickly," said Veterans Memorial football head coach Ben Bitner. "I think they're playing with some confidence. I think that they're trying to stay within the offense which I like."
Their defense returns five starters. Eagles free safety Ryan Scott says the seniors are leading the way to get everyone up to speed.
"We have a couple of guys coming back," Scott said. "We have new linebackers, some new d-linemen and some new corners. We've been able to upgrade them and they're looking good this year."
The majority of their experience and confidence comes from the defensive line.
"I think they're really physical," Bitner said. "I think that they play really hard, and you know when we play really hard up front the guys in the back have to follow suit."
Veterans Memorial kicks off their season live on KRIS 6 for our Game Night South Texas TV matchup against Miller on Thursday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m.
