Jacket Football Pre-Season Preview

Austin Scott, Sports Editor
August 20, 2009
Filed under Fall Sports

Jacket Football Pre-Season Preview

The whistle blows. “It’s gonna be a great day,” shouts Coach Pippen as the players stretch. The first day of spring practice has begun and the Jackets are ready to go.

“The first day of spring training was very exciting. Everyone worked hard and came out with a lot of energy,” said the rising senior safety Cam Alston.

Rising senior receiver Matt Hazel said, “I’m ready for spring practice. It’s been a long time since football ended and spring practice will help get us ready for the season.”

You can never be sure how good your team is until after the summer, but it’s never too early to make some projections and stir up some excitement for the upcoming season.

Offense

Starting with the offensive side of the ball, look for the Jackets to air it out next season with Lorenzo Hammonds under center. He has a great arm and the speed to avoid the pass rush. His main targets will probably be Matt Hazel, Jessie Purnell, and Jaylon Myers.

The team has the players necessary to run an effective West Coast style offense. The West Coast offense uses a short passing attack to spread out the defense and open up some running lanes for rising junior running back, Demarcus Rouse and rising sophomores, Vinny Miller and Ka’horie Johnson.

The Jackets have a solid offensive line under the senior leadership of Charles Coleman and Pace Anderson. The offensive line’s success is in the hands of the younger linemen who need to step up and give the Jackets the edge against teams like Irmo and Aiken.

Defense

North Augusta’s defense should be incredibly deep talent wise, despite the losses of Brett Johnson, Chris Rouse, and Daunte Calhoun. The Yellow Jackets are returning all of their starters on the defensive line including, Emeka Okafor, Brandon Bright, Richard Meyers, Ricky Cervantes, and Jimmy Stallings. If anybody happens to get past the D line, seniors Dillon Temples, Montel Hughes, and LJ Perry will be there to clean up the mess at the linebacker position. Opposing teams will think twice about running up the middle against the Jacket’s strong interior defense. The only question on defense is at the cornerback position. The starters will most likely come out of a fierce position battle between Jermayne Waltower, Clay Kincaid, Justin Millege, and Keith Sullivan.

Key Losses

RB- Tidy Johnson

LB- Brett Johnson

QB- Travis Murphy

CB- Chris Rouse

CB- Daunte Calhoun

New Leadership

LB- LJ Perry

OL- Charles Coleman

FS- Cam Alston

WR- Matt Hazel

QB- Lorenzo Hammonds

DL- Jimmy Stallings

SS- Rick Griffin

It’s year four in the Dan Pippen Era and there’s no doubt that the Yellow Jackets have what it takes to win their region this year. Rising senior Charles Coleman said, “Our first goal is to be region champs and then we’re looking to win state.” The words “state championship” are words unheard of since the 80’s in North Augusta, but with the talent on this year’s team, the dream could possibly become a reality.