There was no way of getting around it for Northside coach Mike Falleur.

He knew the Grizzlies were going to be spending the off-season and in spring workouts needing to replace a bevy of defensive standouts from last season’s 7A quarterfinal squad. Not to mention several key offensive contributors as well.

“We’ve got a very, very young group of guys that are inexperienced, and we’ve just got a lot of work in front of us that we’ve got to get done before we get to the season,” Falleur said.

“We have a lot of young players that you can tell it’s their first time. ... We’re having to replace nine starters on defense and four or five on offense, so you’ve just got to go through the growing pains of doing that.”

With that said, even with the inexperience, Falleur liked what he saw from his team during the spring drills.

“The attitude and the effort’s been really good, they’ve just got to play,” he said. “They’ve got to get in there and be in game-type situations, and you learn that by being in a lot of scrimmage-type situations.

“We had a lot of kids that did a really good job. ... There’s a bunch of sophomores coming in that we feel like have a chance to help us on Friday night. Again, it’s one of those deals where it’s just going to be a growing process for the next several weeks.”

But that’s not to say the Grizzlies will be totally devoid of experience once the regular season starts.

The Grizzlies return several offensive linemen with significant playing time a season ago, including Stevie Young, Hunter Linam and Cody Harris. There were other things Falleur liked from his offense this spring.

“I was pleased with the two guys at quarterback in (incoming junior) Deuce Wise and (incoming senior) Josh Douglas, our running backs led by (incoming juniors) Eli Bolton and Jamarri Freeman, and a sophomore, Jackson King, they did a good job,” Falleur said. “Also, (incoming senior) DeAron Robinson leading the young receiver group that I think’s got a chance to be better than what we’ve had.”
