CENTERVILLE, TX -- A senior-laden Tiger squad will have a good shot at a second consecutive district title and back-to-back trips to the playoffs IN 2012 for head coach Kyle Hardee.

Eight starters return on offense and six more are back on defense. The Tiger offensive backfield is all back, led by senior quarterback Garrett Chase, senior tailback Ryan Payne, and senior fullback Jamal High who was co-mvp of the district a year ago.

Three of five offensive linemen and tight end Dalton Holden will provide the blocking for the potent Centerville run game, and all-district receiver Colt Harris gives Chase a good target when the Tigers go to the air.

Linebacker Tyler Brown leads the Tiger defense, which also returns three starters on the line and two more in the secondary. Centerville also returns experience in the special teams department in kicker Adrian Gaucin and punter Ryan Payne, who also returned two punts and one kickoff for touchdowns in 2011.

The Tigers move from a six-team district to an eight-team district this season, with plenty of different names on the schedule. In fact rival Buffalo is the only other team the Tigers had in their district a year ago.

Centerville and Crawford are the only two teams that made the playoffs as 2A teams a year ago, Moody and Riesel join the district off playoff runs in 1A in 2011.

Playing four of seven district games at home and the solid group of returning starters should make the Tigers at or near the top of the list of favorites to win 11-2A Division II.

2012 SCHEDULE
8/31 @ Grapeland
9/7 Corsicana Mildred
9/14 Elkhart
9/21 OPEN
9/28 @ Hearne
10/5 Crawford
10/12 Rosebud-Lott
10/19 @ Riesel
10/26 Buffalo
11/2 @ Moody
11/9 Bruceville-Eddy