The first of five games in an abbreviated spring football schedule for Howard Payne kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday, as the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs visit Gordon Wood Stadium in head coach Jason Bachtel’s debut with the Yellow Jackets.
Bachtel replaces Braxton Harris, who guided the Yellow Jackets to a 5-5 record – their best since 2006 – last season. Bachtel, an HPU graduate, was offensive coordinator at Class 4A Division I state champion Argyle in the fall.
Bachtel is the son of former Brownwood Lions head coach Mark Bachtel, who is an HPU Hall of Famer along with his brother and Jason’s uncle, Kent.
“Obviously if anybody comes out and says they don’t want to win their first career heading coach start then they’re foolish,” Bachtel said. “I want this win because of what Howard Payne football means to me and the guys that I call mentors, and everyone of my mentors has some type of experience in these halls of Howard Payne football. To honor those guys is one of the biggest things that I want to do. Win, lose or draw that’s probably the most important thing for me. I just want to represent Howard Payne and have them be pleased in what our kids do and how we represent them.”
Bachtel was hired Jan. 7, giving him less than a month to prepare for the spring season and Saturday’s opener with Texas Lutheran.
“One of the biggest things I wanted to do is come in and keep things as similar for all of our kids and staff as possible,” Bachtel said. “Obviously we’re practicing on a schedule that’s a lot different than any years past or anything I’ve ever done. With COVID testing and contact tracing, we have to limit some of our exposure to each other, but overall they’re doing great. The kids have accepted everything that I’ve brought in. We’ve had a good four weeks and you’re seeing some excitement in practice this week because they’re ready to play somebody.”
After missing the traditional fall season due to COVID-19, Bachtel stated the Yellow Jackets are chomping at the bit to finally face an opponent.
“We had a great intrasquad scrimmage Saturday of last week and Sunday we came in and you could feel the excitement in the air, a lot of giddiness like it was Christmas morning,” Bachtel said. “They knew it was game week. There’s been a greater intensity and greater focus in our meetings and in the locker room all week. We had our first practice for the week Wednesday night and it was probably the best practice I’ve been a part of since I’ve been here. We see that we’re heading in the right direction.”
In his brief time at Howard Payne, Bachtel stated there have already been some Yellow Jackets that have made a lasting positive impression.
“I keep going back to this and this is one of the first group of guys I met with when I first got on campus and that was some of our leadership council guys,” Bachtel said. “Defensively you’ve got Jimmy Jakubowski, who is everything he has been billed up to be. He’s coming off a little bit of an injury in our preseason camp but he’ll be fine and ready to go. Adrian Davis has done an outstanding job accepting the role we’ve put him in. Dylan Zeno is the corner that most everybody is going to look to stay away from. You have people like Jake Parker on the offensive side who, when the ball is thrown up in the air, he’s going to find a way to make a play. Unselfish people like Cam Gutierrez who are coming back for their senior year just to play their five final ball games and doing whatever they can to help this program and help this team, that’s the guys we want to build the program around. Those guys are establishing a foundation of what we want this program to be built on, and what it was back in the late 90s and early 2000s when I was around.
“We’ve got some other guys that are stepping up and making plays. We have a transfer receiver coming in, we’ve got a quarterback battle going on and I think you could see a couple of different quarterbacks on Saturday. Both are capable of making plays and taking this offense and scoring every possession we have the ball.”
Regarding the great strengths of this season’s Yellow Jackets, Bachtel cited the offensive line and the defense.
“One of the biggest strengths we have right now is our offensive line,” Bachtel said. “When you look at those guys they have the most career starts among any group. They’re going to have to help control the line of scrimmage and protect some young guys behind them. Defensively you have a group of guys who know how to fly around to the football and you see the defensive side of the ball continue to get better from the time Coach Harris got here til now. We have an experienced kicker and a lot of times people don’t think about the kicker until you need him, and we have an experienced kicker who has been here and played several ball games so that’s a key thing, too.”
Among the concerns for the Yellow Jackets currently are inexperience and depth.
“In most Division III programs right now what you’re going to see is we don’t know a whole lot about our freshmen,” Bachtel said. “I think we’ve got some really good freshmen on campus right now but that’s to be seen and to be determined. The lack of depth is a concern right now in some key areas, and overall you’re looking at a bunch of guys who are 18 and 19 years old who have never made a career start or played in a college football game that are your first back ups.”
As for Texas Lutheran, the Bulldogs are in a similar situation to Howard Payne with a new head coach.
“One of the biggest concerns I have against TLU right now is they are going through a head coaching change from last spring,” Bachtel said. “Coach (Rickey) Matt was their defensive coordinator, now he’s their head coach and he’s hired a new offensive coordinator, so we’re not sure going into this ball game what to expect from TLU offensively. We still think we’re going to see their spread offense, but we don’t know, so we’re kind of going in blind with that. What we’re trying to do is just make sure our guys know how to line up to all different formations and we know how to play the option. We feel like if we do those two things then we can line up and play football.
“Defensively they are very well-coached, one of the top defensive teams in our conference. You look at them and they’re just not ever going to let you have a home run play. They want to keep everything in front and rally to the ball. They’re going to make you earn everything you get. If we’re not willing to take what they give us it could be a long day for us.”
As for what Bachtel hopes to see from the Yellow Jackets Saturday, he said, “More than anything I want to see us play hard, I want to see us be physical, I want to see a united group on the sideline cheering each other on. I want to see a group that is not going to beat ourselves on either side of the ball, not turn the ball over. If we will be patient, and that goes for coaches too, and take what they are giving us, then we’ll be OK. Defensively I want to see a lot of guys rally to the football, try to keep everything in front, and get 11 guys to the football every play. You also have to win the special teams, you can’t have defeats in the special teams, and we have to score some points in the special teams that most people won’t take. But that’s where I feel like we can separate ourselves.”
[Story by Derrick Stuckly]