Kinsinger looking forward to first season at CMS

Editor's note: This is the 15th story in an ongoing series about area high school football teams preparing for the 2020 season.

First-year head coach Matt Kinsinger is excited to see how his team will shape up against opponents this year, especially with 13 seniors on the team.

While the team has switched from a Spread offense to the Wing-T, Kinsinger said that the team has transitioned well to the new scheme.

"They were playing the spread, so they had more guys out of space, and I'm kind of bringing them back in tight," he said. "But your skill kids are still in a way similar. You've got to have a kid who can play -- so my wingback would be a kid that can potentially be a kind of a gritty kid, can block a little bit but can also go out for passes and can run the ball a little bit. So he's like a really good athlete. It's just teaching them the different nuances of the offense, but as far as kids go and potential, I feel we've got some good potential. ... They've embraced it. They've done a good job of -- it just seemed natural."

Sam Moore returns for his senior campaign at quarterback. Moore completed 79 of 185 passes for 1,620 yards and 16 touchdowns with 16 interceptions last season after completing 58 of 139 for 761 yards and four scores in his sophomore season. He also scored nine touchdowns on the ground last season with 137 carries for 735 yards.

Kinsinger said that he was a bit concerned early this summer, especially with how the transition might go.

"Honestly, I didn't know what to expect," he said. "I was a little concerned. ... My quarterback had never taken a snap from under center -- maybe once or twice or here and there but like on a consistent basis. So I really didn't know what to expect, but I think they like it. They look like they like it."

Senior Landon Watson moves to fullback after accounting for eight of the team's 42 touchdowns last season, three which were earned while completing 7 of 10 passes. He also tallied 443 all-purpose yards.

"Landon Watson is going to be a good fullback for me," Kinsigner noted. "He's a scrappy little dude, and he runs hard. He's also my backup quarterback. He's a senior; he's gritty, and he can block. He can run the ball hard."

Senior Keyshawn Blevins will play either halfback or tailback, Kinsinger said. Blevins caught 17 passes for 318 yards and five touchdowns and rushed 113 times for 412 yards and three scores. Sophomore Clayton Weldon steps into the wingback position, and senior Mitchel Herron will line up at split end.

Junior Blake Bissell returns to the offensive line as tight end with classmate Zack Bailey at tackle, seniors Silas Bateman and Josh Reyna at guard and sophomore Clayton Hardister lining up at center.

One of the main things that Kinsinger has noticed that has translated well into the new offensive scheme is the team's blocking concepts.

"The offensive linemen -- I think they primarily ran a lot inside zone type stuff here -- zone blocking concepts," he said. "I don't know how much success they had with that, but the Wing-T is designed to help kids get angles on their blocks, so it appears that they seem to like it. I think they like it. I really do. I don't want to sound narcissistic in any way on that just because it's what I'm running, but the kids are taking to it really well."

Kinsinger said that with 22 players on the team, he is impressed with how the team is shaping up overall.

"We have a good handful of sophomores," he explained. "Some of those linemen that I named that are going to start, they're sophomores. We've got three big kids that are going to be putting some time on the line. We've got a couple of juniors you're going to sprinkle in there to fill in some of those spots. So I think we've got a pretty good mix there from the top down.

"And, of course, I think we have roughly about 13 seniors, so that usually bodes pretty well, especially for a school this size. That's half your team, a little more than really. And they're players; they seem to be. They've been here in the summertime, so I feel confident that as we begin to become masters of our craft, which is running the Wing-T and doing the plays and getting the little things right, I think that we're going to have some we have some potential to do well. I really do."

Kinsinger knows that the conference is full of teams that have plenty of tradition.

"This league is -- you've got Magnet Cove, you've got Poyen, you've got Gurdon," he said. "You've got some really talented teams here with some really good coaches and some programs that have been historically have been good programs for years. You get a good team like Gurdon that's been up in 3A and then they ... (moved) into the 2A two years ago. ... They're well-coached, and they've got good coaching there.

"I know most of the coaches in this conference, and they all seem to have done a very good job with their programs, as far as holistically, not just knowing football, but they've done a good job of creating a good culture. I think that that really shows year after year. To me that's how you win at a school that doesn't always have all the best talent world, but if you want to be competitive year-in, year-out, you've got to have that culture. It seems like they've got talent as well at all those different levels, but it's a tough conference. It's going to be tough to win."

The Eagles open their season Friday night at Bismarck before traveling to Poyen on Oct. 9 for their first 2A-5 conference game. Due to Mountain Pine switching to eight-man football, the Eagles will have an open date on Oct. 16, so Kinsinger said he is hoping to fill the team's Sept. 11 open date with an additional game.