High school football: Scots like their Kilts and should be much improved

OGDEN — Jeff Kilts' first year as Ben Lomond High's head football coach is really just a blur.

Without a consistent staff of assistant coaches to fall back on, Kilts said he was swamped from the moment he took over. During some practices last year, there were only two coaches present, which left a lot of details unattended to.

Things are much more settled in 2008.

"I'm really happy with the coaching staff I have now. It was kind of a long process last year getting coaches," said Kilts.

This year, in addition to Kilts, there are five assistant coaches who teach at the high school. One of them is former Ogden High coach Dennis Dalton, who will be Ben Lomond's defensive coordinator. Now, instead of worrying about how many coaches he'll have at practice, Kilts can focus on his players and his team.

As a result, the Scots should be much improved from their 2-10 record a year ago.

That's not to say there aren't some holes. There are only 10 seniors on the team, as well as zero returning starters on the offensive line and questions at quarterback. Predictably, the Scots will have to win with defense early.

"We're putting a lot of focus on defense right now because we need to be good on defense early to let the offense kind of catch up with the quarterback thing and the line," said Kilts. "But once we get there, I'm expecting some good things."

Max Walling is the front-runner to start at quarterback after gaining valuable experience filling in for the injured Chase Moore for last year. Even though the team was 0-7 with Walling under center and 2-3 with Moore under center, Moore is now a senior at Roy High School.

"The year of maturity is going to be good for Max, and we've got a couple guys pushing him," said Kilts. "We're kind of up in the air what we're going to do there."

Whatever direction the team goes at quarterback, Kilts said the weapons are in place for anyone to be successful. Not only will the offensive line be good once they gain a little experience, but Ben Lomond's strength is undoubtedly in the receiving corps — a plus with the spread offense.