Wall's Fuchs Ready to Follow Predecessors as Hawks Open with No. 3 Mason

WALL, TX-- Having two guys capable of running the complex triple option offense presented Wall head coach Houston Guy with a tough decision: who starts in week 1?

Guy made his decision and will go with junior Mason Fuchs to open the season against 2A power and no. 3-ranked Mason.

“I thought [Fuchs] did a great job controlling the offense [in the scrimmage] on Thursday,” Guy said.

The 12-year head coach said the decision wasn’t easy with how Fuchs and senior Garrett Bridgford battled it out in fall camp. However, Bridgford is a key player for the Hawk’s defense at linebacker.

“I felt we could keep Mason [Fuchs] over there and I could visit with him and Mason wasn’t going to have to play defense,” Guy added. “They were very close and very similar in their skills.  With Mason being a junior, that’ll help because we’ll have him for another year.”

The starting nod was something the junior quarterback has wanted since he was in sixth grade.

“It means a lot,” Fuchs said, “because I’ve been watching these past quarterbacks since I was in sixth grade. I was a manager in eighth grade, getting to watch them up close. It means a lot to be the next man up.”

After the 2017 season ended in early December, the coaching staff knew they would have a battle to replace senior Brock Rosenquist.

Fuchs knew he would have to put in a great offseason to earn the right to start for the Hawks.

Once coach Guy told him he was starting, he could see that hard work begin to pay off.

“I had a lot of happy emotions,” Fuchs smiled. “Just everything I’ve been working for this past offseason and the past couple of years...it’s finally paying off.”

For the Hawks, they’ve known this game would be a hot ticket since scheduling it in February.

“We knew [this game] would be one of those games that gets you ready for that playoff game,” Guy said. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere for the community of Wall. It’ll be a great atmosphere for the community of Mason. We look forward to playing Mason, it’s a great program. Any time you get to play a program like that, you better be ready to play. They’re going to bring their A-game.”

The game will also be somewhat nostalgic.

Neither team have played each other since 2004 and 2005. Wall won 35-19 in 2005 while Mason won 17-10 the year prior.

The two teams have also been dominant in the last 10 years. Mason has gone 114-18 since 2008 while Wall has gone 106-25 in that span.

The two teams also play in a nostalgic way, keeping the ball on the ground and playing hard-nosed defense.

Last year, the two defenses combined to allow an average of 8.7 points per game in 27 combined games.

“I think you’re going to see two teams who fly to the ball and play great defense. You’re going to see two run-oriented offenses that just go at it and hammer each other,” Guy said.

On paper, Mason holds the advantage with six starters returning on each side of the ball. However, Wall enters year two under defensive coordinator Craig Slaughter. For Guy, that’s a big plus.

“Having a guy like coach Slaughter back is going to pay dividends for us,” Guy said.

With any run-oriented offense, controlling the line of scrimmage is a focal point for coaches. That’s the case heading into this heavyweight fight.

“I think that’s going to tell the tale of the game,” Guy said. “I think whoever controls the line of scrimmage up front...and turnovers, that’s going to be the team who wins the game.”

Despite not playing each other in nearly 13 years, there is familiarity between the two teams.

Mason native, and current Puncher defensive coordinator, Michael McLeod was an assistant at Wall after graduating from Angelo State University in 2010.

Once a position opened up at his alma mater in 2011, he took the opportunity.

That familiarity adds another dynamic to the dormant rivalry.

“We know those Mason guys really well, we’re good friends with them,” Guy said. “So, it makes the rivalry a little bit better and a little more exciting. We love them over there and we expect it to be a good game.”

Kickoff in Wall is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.