Marion looks to build on exciting 2015
Marion looks to build on exciting 2015
Question marks on offense the story of offseason for Pats
Sports Editor Third-year Marion head football coach Jed Davis has always tried to walk a fine line between success on the football field and success off of it. After the success of “Fight the good fight,” last season’s theme for his Marion Patriots, Davis has built upon that premise in 2016.
This season’s theme is “It’s not about me, it’s about us,” and is intended as a way to get all of his players on the same page and to consider the consequences of every single players’ actions, as well as that effect on the team as a whole.
“You know, when you’ve got a bunch of guys on a football team, a bunch of them won’t actually get to play,” Davis explained one day before practice in his office. “Those guys are still very important to us because they run our scout teams, backups, maybe a special teams player. But every one of them wants to be a starter, there just aren’t enough spots. So it becomes important for everyone to buy into their role, and whatever that role may be, you’d like the kids to embrace it.”
Having too many players hasn’t always been an issue for Marion football. When Davis was hired in March of 2014, the Pats had just a shade over 20 players in their offseason program, a strikingly low number for a Class 6A school.
Once Davis was introduced, the interest rose and the Pats had over 70 players on their varsity roster in 2014, the first year of the Davis regime.
Following a 1-10 mark that season, expectations for the Pats were stymied a bit in the 2015 preseason.
However, Marion won its first three games and qualified for the Class 6A state playoffs, extending its streak of postseason appearances to 11 consecutive years.
That playoff run peaked with a 14-13 first-round playoff victory against Lake Hamilton on the road, and ended in the quarterfinal round with a 42-3 loss to eventual Class 6A state runner- up Greenwood.
Davis thinks that the Greenwood loss was an important stepping stone for the future of his program.
“We used that game in January as a coaching staff. We showed our kids the really small mistakes that they made that wound up having huge consequences in that game,” Davis explains. “The first play of the game, we run a counter play with (2016 graduate) Darius Lathon, and if he hits that instead of bouncing it out wide, he probably goes 96 yards to the house. Another time, a linebacker doesn’t scrape like he’s supposed to, and they convert a third or fourth down. We showed the kids those small mistakes that add up over time. One of them all by itself wouldn’t have been an issue, but when you put together 12 or 15 small mistakes, this is what happens. That’s the difference between a good team and a team that competes for a state championship.”
Davis said that he expects to take around 77 varsity players into the season, which begins on Friday, September 2 on the road against Wynne.
Offense Davis has traditionally favored a pass-happy brand of offense, basically as long as he’s been in the coaching business.
That has been true through his first two seasons at Marion, as well, though the run-pass ratio in 2016 is shaping up as though it’ll be more balanced than either of the previous two years. Gone is 2015 all-conference quarterback Tyler Holmes, as well as three all-league offensive linemen (Grant Bennett, Ben Vaughn and Cameron Kohl), and Landon Wilson who would have been back for his third tour of duty as Marion’s slot receiver.
However, as many names may come and go, Marion’s most productive offensive player from the past two seasons is still on the roster.
Diminutive senior running back Tom Young is a two-time all-state player, and if Davis has his way, then Young will complete the hat trick this fall. “I think you’re gonna see a huge dose of Tom Young, and a huge dose of deep balls,” Davis says of his team’s 2016 offensive philosophy. “Basically, I feel like we have some guys that can go. I feel like, if our offensive line can give Tom a crease just for a second, things will be alright. Jacob Green and Peyton Walker can really spin the football, so we won’t be scared to throw it deep.
“As a coaching staff, it’s more a question of what we can take advantage of,” Davis continues. “If they have eight in the box, we probably will throw it 80 percent of the time. If a team wants to play Cover 4 against us, that’s a game where Tom Young gets 35 touches. As a coach, I don’t worry about where our ratio is, to be honest. I just ask after the game is over, did we take advantage of what they gave us and did we keep them off balance?”
Green and Walker are both juniors, and each had a key role on last season’s team. Green logged the third-most carries on the team, many of which came in the second half as Marion looked to grind on tired defenses and Walker started the first eight regular season games at defensive end. As a freshman, Walker quarterbacked Marion’s junior high to a three-way share of the 6AEast district title. “Those guys are neck-andneck. If we had to play today, we’d go with Jacob because Peyton banged his shoulder up, but we feel good with either one,” Davis says of his signal callers.
The new-look offensive line will be anchored by its only returning starter at that spot, senior Dathen Miller at left tackle. Jackson English looks to be the favorite at the left guard slot. Wes Barrett will likely get the nod at center while Phillip Marconi will play at right guard and right tackle is up in the air but will likely come down to Trexler Proffitt and Cameron Knighten.
Proffitt was injured in week 9 last season and was reinjured during fall camp.
While the offensive line is full of new faces, Marion’s receiving corps will look very similar to the group that finished last season.
Seniors Devin Blakely and Di Granger duke it out for the starting spot at the X-receiver spot, while Ryan Robins and Taylor Brown are also involved in a heated competition for the nod at the inside receiver. Collin Chambers enters his third year as a starter at the Z-receiver spot for the Pats.
Defense Marion’s offense has made strides in the first two seasons of the Davis era, but the defense came a long way between 2014 and 2015.
For example, over the first five weeks of the 2014 season, Marion had allowed the most points in the entire state. The pace slowed down after that, but were still gashed by the big play.
Last year, the defense was tough in victories against Wynne, Nettleton and Blytheville, and kept them in losses against North Little Rock and Little Rock Central.
Like its offensive counterpart, the Marion defense lost key players in 2015 Class 6A-East defensive lineman of the year Jerry Boatman, Cale Lepard, Jonathan Yankaway, but Davis believes that his defense may be better, at least in spots.
“You’ve got some new faces out there, but they all have the same mentality,” Davis says of the defense. “Coach (Justin) Smith isn’t letting them make any sort of excuses out there. They’re still getting after it, going full speed all the time.”
Marion is entering its third season in a 3-4 defensive alignment and Zekele Hardaway will be the starting nose tackle. He’ll be flanked by Cam Knighton and Kias Knox at the defensive end positions.
“We’re a little undersized up front, except for Zekele, but it’ll help us with some of the quickness that we’ve struggled with in the past,” Davis says of the D-line.
Where Tom Young is the goto guy on the Marion offense, Michael McNeeley is the defensive version. McNeeley is entering his third year as a starter at linebacker, following an all-conference campaign in 2015.
The other inside linebacker spot should be manned by either Quinton Wilson, Tanner King or Curtis Hill.
Walker will start at one of the outside linebacker slots, but four Patriots are engaged in a battle for the other starting slot. Those four players are Bailey McGee, Kade Triplett, Jamal Pearson and Timone Aikens. “Every day it’s a different guy going out there first,” Davis says of the outside linebacker quandary.
While youth dominates the front seven, Marion is a little more settled in the defensive backfield, namely at the safety spots where senior playmakers Kuriston Hill and Kabryn “K.B.” Williams are slotted in as starters. Hill moves to safety after posting an all-conference season at cornerback in 2015. Williams made the same move prior to the 2015 season and raced 99 yards with a gamechanging scoop-and-score against Wynne in Week 1 last season.
“Our thinking is that you can run away or throw away from a corner,” Davis says. “When you’ve got two safeties in the middle, it doesn’t matter which side you pick. You may try and pick on a corner, but they’ll always have help from a safety. We feel like we have our two best guys in the middle.”
Sophomore Kenta Jones should start Week 1 at Wynne at one cornerback, while Tyler Willis and Marquand Malone battle at the other corner spot.
Special teams
Davis hasn’t been known for leaning on the kicking game much, but that could change this season with the addition of Bradford Doherty.
Doherty, a good soccer player who scored a goal against West Memphis in the spring, will handle the kicking and punting duties for the Pats this fall.
“I was kind of worried about our kicking game in the spring, but I think we’re gonna be alright because Bradford can really kick the football,” Davis says. “I’ve been a head coach 10 years this year and Bradford is the first kid I’ve had that can kick it into the end zone on kickoffs. I think that’s a huge advantage for us.
“I sometimes opt for an onside kick, because there’s at least the possibility of us getting the ball back, but anytime you can make a team start at the 20yard line, that’s huge benefit.”
Conference outlook
After playing in the 7A/6AEast for the past four seasons, Marion transitions into the 6AEast
this fall.
As a result, the Pats are in a conference with familiar faces such as West Memphis, Jonesboro, Mountain Home and Searcy.
However, gone are the Class 7A schools such as Cabot, North Little Rock and Little Rock Central.
Replacing those three heavyhitters is another juggernaut in two-time Class 6A state champion Pine Bluff, as well as Little Rock Hall and Jacksonville. “I see this being very competitive,” Davis said of the fresh league. “Aside from maybe the bottom two teams, I feel like anybody can win a game on any Friday night. Obviously, Pine Bluff is the champ until somebody knocks them off, but I love the competitiveness.”
Davis points to the lack of competition of the old blended conferences as one of the main reasons that this change is good for football.
“Take Jonesboro for example,” says the coach. “They’ve been to the semis the past four or five years. Basically, they’re a good 6A program. But they still never beat Cabot or North Little Rock in the old league. That was always going to be tough to do, no matter what. But now, every game is winnable for all of the schools.”
Marion’s non-conference schedule will consist of Wynne, Jackson, Missouri and Blytheville.
The Wynne game is scheduled for Friday, September 2 at 7 p.m. in Wynne, while the Jackson game will be the home opener on Friday, September 9,
also at 7 p.m.
By Chuck Livingston
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