DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — The Sharyland Pioneer football team’s goal chart consists of six categories, ranging from explosive plays to third-down conversions. The idea is to be on the plus side of each category coming out of every game.
At the top of the chart is turnover margin, the difference between a team’s takeaway total and its giveaway total. Since he was an assistant coach under Scott Ford at Los Fresnos in 2008, coach Jason Wheeler has become a student of the stat. He even conducted a clinic in Corpus Christi on its influence.
Wheeler studies college and professional teams and how turnover margin correlates to winning. For instance, Wheeler said it is not a coincidence that the top two college football teams in turnover margin (Washington at plus-14 and Western Michigan at plus-12) are undefeated. Washington State (5-2) and Colorado (6-2) also are in the top five in turnover margin.
He also doesn’t think it’s random that the Dallas Cowboys are enjoying a successful season, with a plus-4 turnover margin through six games, after posting a minus-22 last season.
“What I started realizing is plus-15 and above is where you need to be to have a great year,” Wheeler said.
This season, the Diamondbacks (6-2, 5-1 District 31-5A), who are in line for at least a share of the 31-5A title heading into Friday’s game at Laredo Martin, are a plus-17. They have 27 takeaways to 10 giveaways.
“Turnovers are big for us,” said senior defensive back Anthony Jimenez, who leads the team with four interceptions. “It’s a big factor. Plus-17 … we want to get it higher. We want to go deep in the playoffs, and winning the turnover battle will get us there. They change the momentum of the game. It brings everybody up. We get a turnover, the offense comes out and scores and gets us back on the field. It keeps us all energized.”
Wheeler aims for a plus-2 advantage in turnover margin every game. Entering this season, he had a team with speed and quickness but not as much size, so he changed the defense from a 4-3 to a 3-4 to accommodate personnel.
The Diamondbacks still run the same coverages under the different alignment. And with an experienced secondary led by Jimenez, Albert Ruiz, Tyler Bulthuis, Richard Mata and others, Pioneer is not susceptible to the big play. Pioneer defensive backs have 16 interceptions.
“They were a big reason we went to state in 7-on-7, and you could see their confidence just grow from there,” linebacker Jesus Sanchez said of the defensive backfield. “But even before that, they were working out together, always talking, always around each other, and they just have that bond of having been there.”
Wheeler said that experience is critical.
“We’ve got three or four kids that have played since they were sophomores, so when you play a lot of football and you’re comfortable with your position, that’s when you create turnovers,” he said. “Everyone reps creating turnovers, but the teams that actually do that during games have players that are comfortable with what they’re doing.”
But as much as defense is central to turnover margin, offense plays just as big of a role.
Sophomore quarterback Jacob Rosales has done an impressive job of directing an offense that doesn’t turn the ball over much. Rosales has 15 touchdown passes to two interceptions and has also rushed for eight touchdowns.
He is a big part of a dominant rushing attack that had been nonexistent for Pioneer in the previous two years. Before, the Diamondbacks relied exclusively on defense. Now they have an offense that give defensive players rest and capitalize off opponents’ mistakes.
“Last year, we did a good job creating turnovers (plus-7), but just couldn’t get the ball into the end zone,” Wheeler said. “We didn’t get into the playoffs because we couldn’t score off turnovers. This year, because we have leads in games now, we can even be more aggressive with zone blitzes and really play all out.”
Pioneer has been able to get up early on teams. With that, the Diamondbacks run the ball and control clock, forcing opponents to panic and start throwing the ball even if they don’t want to.
Many of the Diamondbacks’ interceptions have come during the second half with teams trying to catch up. That’s when Wheeler has his defense drop into zones and only rush three or four players to the quarterback.
“We don’t go out there with the mindset of getting a turnover,” Sanchez said. “We just play ball. We read the offense and take what it gives us. As long as we rally and hustle to the ball, we’re doing our jobs.”