High school football: Layton Lancers 2009 preview

LAYTON — There are a lot of question marks surrounding the 2009 Layton Lancers after two highly successful seasons for the program.

But one thing that won't be different for the two-time defending Region 1 champions is their hard-nosed play and the belief that they can keep the league-title trophy in Layton.

"We expect that we're going to go out and compete and try and beat everyone we play," said coach Jim Batchelor. "Our goal is always to win the region championship, and if we don't believe we can do that we've already defeated ourselves."

Although the expectations haven't changed, the Lancers know they have a lot of work to do in order to contend in Region 1.

Only four starters return from last year's team that advanced to the 5A quarterfinals and lost to Skyline. That's a big change from the last couple of seasons when the Lancers brought back a handful of all-state candidates each year.

"We lost a lot of 'blue-chippers' so to speak," Batchelor said. "We don't have a lot of kids who are real well known, but we have kids that work hard, and busted their tails in the weight room all winter long. They came out and had a good 7-on-7 (passing tournament performances) and summer camp. Hopefully they got the confidence in them that they can go out and compete with anyone in our league."

The Lancers' strength on their offensive and defensive lines should help them compete with the region favorites this season. On offense, guards Octavious Dickerson and Colton Odle are returning starters. At one of the tackle positions, the Lancers have a possible standout in Amjad Vongengxay, who is 6-foot-4 and weighs 300 pounds.

Vongengxay is still developing, as he'll be playing just his second season of football.

"He's got good feet and moves well," Batchelor said. "He's new to football, so he's still a little bit trying to figure out what's going on. But physically he's strong, he's fast. Once he gets the game down I think he'll be a real force to contend with."

With the Lancers returning just a little experience, offensive line isn't a bad place to have some of those players.

"We have a couple returning starters," Dickerson said. "We just need them to be leaders and it'll be good."