By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics The Glynn Academy Red Terrors are set to begin a new season which will be their 10th under head coach Rocky Hidalgo. And following a good offseason that saw the GA players develop and bond, the Terrors have their sights set on a winning season and another berth in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs with a team that is more experienced starting out than the team Glynn put on the field last season. The Terrors ended up going 6-5 and 4-2 in Region 2-AAAAAA and went to the playoffs as the league’s No. 3 seed, flirting with an upset of Northside-Warner Robins before falling in the first-round game. “Our kids show up and work hard everyday and they’re receptive to coaching,” said Hidalgo who will lead the Terrors onto the field Friday night for the opening game against Statesboro at home. “I think we have good chemistry. Those are traits you can build a quality team around. It’s been a lot of fun being around them. I’m excited to watch us go out and play, and I think it’s going to develop into a really good football team when it’s all said and done.” Glynn has made some coaching changes, too, which will show on the field in what the Terrors look to do as they play, especially on offense. The Terrors will go away from the shotgun-triple-option offense as their primary scheme and will be more of a power team, one that will line up in the I-formation and try to run right at opposing offenses. The Terrors have promoted James Perry to offensive coordinator while also adding a new offensive line coach and receivers coach to the staff. Perry took over play-calling duties for the GA offense in the middle of last season. “He’s done a great job developing the offense around what we want to do and our players,” Hidalgo said. “We wanted to simply the offense for everyone. We want to come off the ball and play fast on the line of scrimmage. We want to run the ball, get downhill and be physical which a lot of teams don’t want to do these days. “We have some guys who can run the ball, tote the mail, but we have some talented kids at wide receiver who we want to get the ball to as easy as possible. We have some kids who can make a 2-yard catch and turn it into a 15- or 20-yard gain. So, we don’t necessarily have to throw it downfield all the time.” The Terrors have a handful of running backs that they can give the ball to this season. Chief among them is junior Greg Peacock, a major college prospect who rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. Glynn also will look to give carries to Willie Butler, a 190-pounder who runs hard and isn’t easy to tackle, Da’Vontae Lang, a senior starter for the defense at linebacker, and Sean Wallace who also plays wide receiver for the Terrors. The Terrors’ top receiver is senior David Prince who committed to Georgia Tech this summer. Prince, an athletic post player for the GA basketball team, is a big-play threat on the perimeter for Glynn who creates matchup problems for an opposing defense. Glynn will open with a new quarterback stepping in for Tyler Devlin who graduated and is now playing college baseball. Another baseball player, senior Ryan Schueneman, will start under center for the Terrors. Hidalgo has been pleased with his progress throughout the offseason. “Last year was his first year playing football and he’s worked really hard. He still has a lot to learn, but I can’t tell you how impressed I have been with his poise in the pocket and how he’s taken command of the offense,” the GA coach noted. “The more he plays and gets comfortable, you’re going to see him take off.” Glynn’s coach also likes the team’s offensive front which includes Max Poysky and Caziah Alston, two seniors and returning starters who will anchor the line. Others figuring to start include Harrison Knight and Benton Dyal, a pair of juniors who have blossomed in the offseason, and also sophomore center Josh Baker, an athletic and powerful player who has a promising future according to Hidalgo. The Glynn defense returns several players from last year’s starting unit. The defensive front has some depth which the Terrors plan to use as they rotate players in and out across the line. Junior Quay Evans, senior Camden Wilson and Tae Green, another junior, all played last season. Others who will play up front are Deuce Hidalgo, Ka’Leon Bacon and also Poysky and Alston from the offensive line who may come over and play defense as well. The linebackers feature senior tackling machine Peyton Parker who will play middle linebacker. Lang returns at one of the outside spots as a three-year starter and Gavin Wells, who has also played in the secondary for the Terrors in the past, is another starter at outside linebacker for the Terrors. The secondary includes seniors Tank Tankersley and Ryan Young who has shown drastic improvement, and also Bruce Edwards, a senior who started every game at safety last year, plus cornerbacks Jayden Ellis , a junior, and Marshawn Turner, a senior. “I’m excited about our defense which ended up being pretty good at the end of last year,” Hidalgo said. “I’m excited about the defense because I think all great football teams start with defense, and I think this is going to be a good defense for us.” On special teams, the Terrors will have to replace All-American deep snapper David Stanphill who is now playing for Navy as well as kicker/punter Kody Arnold who is now playing for Mercer University. Jeb Carson, a sophomore tight end and linebacker, has been working as Glynn’s deep snapper. The new kicker and punter for the Terrors will be junior Tuck Tucker. Coming up on GCS Athletics: Friday- A look at Friday’s Glynn-Statesboro season opener. Saturday: A recap of the Glynn-Statesboro game. Next Week - Brunswick High team preview, plus a look at the Pirates’ opening game next Friday at Camden County and an advance on Glynn’s second game versus McIntosh County Academy.