Lone Tree’s Hudson focused on wins, not yardage

LONE TREE - He may be a two-time 1,000-yard rusher, but Jared Hudson feels his biggest contribution to claiming Lone Tree's elusive playoff victory is on defense.

'I plan on working a lot harder on defense than I have been,” Hudson said. 'I don't know why, but it's kind of kicked on right now. I want to work hard on defense. Defense is becoming a lot more fun than offense, to be honest with you.”

Up to this point, offense has been pretty fun for the Lone Tree senior fullback. After rushing for 1,026 yards as a sophomore, Hudson tore his right MCL in the season opener last season, missed two games (both losses), then torched Class A defenses by running for 984 yards over the final five regular-season games despite adjusting to a protective knee brace.

Still, Lone Tree bowed out in the playoff opener for the third straight year.

'I would give up 1,000 yards for a playoff win,” Hudson said. 'I don't care how much yardage I run for or touchdowns, I really just want to keep playing.”

Now free of the knee brace, Hudson is confident the yards and touchdowns will continue to come in Coach Chad Shield's triple-option attack. Shield begins his first season as the sole head coach at Lone Tree after two seasons as co-coach with Jeff Spears, who is now coaching the middle school team at Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Shield's hire of Aaron Bohr from Williamsburg as defensive coordinator has the Lions excited.

'One of the big things is tempo,” said senior linebacker/running back Greg Feldman, who headlines a defense that graduated five of its top six tacklers from last season. 'We don't like to walk around, we make sure we run everywhere we go. Break the huddle great. The small little things, the details; we're working on this year.”

Offensively, Lone Tree will break in a new quarterback among a trio that includes running threat Caleb Christian, heady junior Trey Pierson and strong on-the-run thrower Jovonte Squiers.

'They all complement each other well,” Shield said. 'I envision us potentially using a couple of guys and fitting them to the packages they run best.”

Shield feels the key to better playoff positioning lies in winning the district opener Sept. 11 against Van Buren, which blanked the Hudson-less Lions last season, 47-0.

'The guys are pretty fired up about that game,” Shield said. 'You never like to say a word ‘revenge,' but I think that's a game the guys have circled and they will be fully prepared for.”

LONE TREE, at a glance

Coach: Chad Shield (2 years, 12-8)

Last year: 6-4, A playoffs qualifier (lost to Lisbon, 40-0, in the first round)

Key returners: 11 letterwinners, including RB/LB Jared Hudson, RB/LB Greg Feldman, WR/CB Jovonte Squiers, OL/LB Michael Schmidt, OL/DL Dawson Swails, RB/S Drake Hotz

Key losses: QB Nick Viner, WR/DE Travis Gillham, OL/LB Alex Yedik, TE/DE Matt Wieland, OL Drake Dauber

Key to making playoffs: 'There's a lot of programs that will take 6-3, get the playoff T-shirt and end up 6-4,” Lone Tree Coach Chad Shield said. 'We want to take the next step as a program and to be able to do that, the focus has got to be on doing the little things and the fundamentals extraordinary every single day and strive for perfect practice.”

Games to watch: Sept. 4, at Belle Plaine; Sept. 11, vs. Van Buren; Oct. 9, at Pekin

Schedule (*district game)

Aug. 28 - North Mahaska

Sept. 4 - at Belle Plaine

Sept. 11 - *Van Buren

Sept. 18 - *at Cardinal

Sept. 25 - *at Winfield-Mt. Union

Oct. 2 - *WACO

Oct. 9 - *at Pekin

Oct. 16 - *Danville

Oct. 23 - *New London

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com