Grace Community's Garrett Newman (left) and Blake White are competing for the Cougars' starting quarterback job, but the two could split time under center this season. (Sarah A. Miller | Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Hard hit by graduation, Grace Community began football practice two weeks ago with five all-state players among 18 seniors from last year now gone.

The Cougars are focusing on ensuring they reload instead of rebuild.

Entering his sixth year at Grace, head coach Mike Maddox has worked to build his program to withstand the loss of so many vital players.

“Since we don’t recruit like some schools, we coach our own kids, grow our own kids and basically we come in and we’re working really hard,” Maddox said.

The Cougars have split up into platoons — a blue team and a white team — without any set starters to help raise the intensity of play among all levels of the team.

“(We’re) giving our JV as much quality time as we are giving our varsity kids because we’re always building those kids,” Maddox said. “That continuity is so important in our program.”

Grace must replace quarterback Tayler Stanley (3,968 yards, 46 TDs, 10 INTs) as well as receivers Craig Schambach and Scott Snyder (100 receptions for 2,029 yard, 25 TDs combined), not to mention running back Cameron Broderhausen (860 yards, 13 TDs).

Friends since first grade, Blake White and Garrett Newman are competing with each other at the quarterback position. Maddox said he’s looking to name a No. 1 signal caller but the quarterbacks could split time like Stanley and Grant Ingram did two years ago.

Thus far during two-a-days the Cougars have focused on the kicking game, depth and developing a good worth ethic and practice routine, Maddox said. Grace began practicing in the afternoon (3-8 p.m.) but has since switched to mornings (7 a.m.-noon) with the recent extreme heat.

“When you hear of coaches falling out and kids not making it, you just have to say, maybe we need to reevaluate what we’re doing,” Maddox said. “I’d much rather go in the afternoon to get them accustomed to the heat for when they start school. It just seemed with an unusually consistent hot weather — we’ve had this kind of hot weather before, it just hasn’t been on a consistent basis — that it was the safest thing to do.”

The Cougars open the season in the Tyler Football Classic against Winnsboro on Aug. 25, at T.K. Gorman’s McCallum Stadium. Grace has one fewer district game on the schedule this year after Dallas First Baptist opted out of TAPPS Div. II-District 2 to go the independent route. The teams will still play as scheduled, however.

District play begins at home with Trinity Christian-Cedar Hill on Oct. 7. The Cougars close the season on the road at Waco Reicher on Nov. 4.