The Clarke Central High School varsity football team plays a preseason game against T.L. Hanna High School on Aug. 8. CCHS head varsity football coach David Perno has identified areas of improvement before the regular season kicks off on Aug. 18. “Penalties, that’s what we have to clean up. I’ll double check things by watching film, but everything should be good by next week,” Perno said. Photo by Krista Shumaker
The Clarke Central High School varsity football team looks to improve in their upcoming season.
The Clarke Central High School varsity football team played in its first preseason scrimmage on Aug. 8, losing 12-7 against T.L. Hanna High School.
CCHS head varsity football coach David Perno believes the game revealed what skills the team needs to work on to perform better this season.
“We have to get better offensively. To their credit, (TLHHS) kept us off the field,” Perno said. “I thought our defense had some great stands, but we gave up way too many penalties. We kept them out of the end zone pretty well and our young guys did a good job.”
Quarterbacks: On offense last season, the Gladiators were led by three-year starting quarterback Jack Mangel, who threw for 1,838 yards and 13 touchdowns. Junior Isaac Ward is the team’s new quarterback this season.
“Isaac is our starter. He’s our quarterback and we got other options if we need to, but right now, Isaac is our starter,” Perno said.
In his role as backup QB last year, Ward completed six out of 13 passes for 37 yards and one touchdown. According to Perno, sophomore Will Robinson and sophomore Greg Huggs, a transfer from East Jackson High School, are the backups for Ward.
“I think we can play really well. We have two very good running backs, which will help the cause, so the defense will be focusing on them. That will open more things up for us in the passing game,” Ward said.
Running Backs: Senior running back Jonathan Sewell is coming off a season with 138 carries for 1,148 yards and 9 touchdowns. Sewell’s backup is junior O’Brien Barnett, who went for 448 yards on 81 carries last year.
“I believe we can make it to the (Georgia AAAAA) state championship. I think we can beat Buford (High School), Thompson (High School) and Lake Lanier (High School). I think we can beat everyone on our schedule, but we just have to do our part as a team,” Sewell said. “We have to come together as a brotherhood to do the small things and the big things, as well.”
Wide Receivers: Last season, 2018 senior Tre Johnson was the Gladiators’ leading wide receiver with 22 receptions for 278 yards. Johnson will look to be a viable target for Ward alongside of senior receiver Ja’quarus Grant, who went for 136 yards on 12 catches.
Offensive Line: This year’s offensive line will be made up of senior left tackle Chase Freeman, senior left guard Zach Donegan, senior center Tavis Elder, senior right guard Kanzavion Watson and senior right tackle Ja’Morris Hart.
“I think we are going to be a lot better than last year. Out great running backs are gonna make us look really good because we have some of the two best running backs in the state. That is gonna help us out a lot. Chase Freeman will be the leader of our offensive line this year,” Donegan said.
Defensive Line: On the other side of the ball, the defensive line lost 2018 senior Sam Tardits, who tied for first in sacks on the team with 2018 senior Daiquan Brown, completing six sacks. Brown looks to lead this year’s defensive line with senior Rodney Wright and junior Kasey Cowan.
Defensive back coach Jeff Finch and offensive line coach Demetrius Edwards speak on this year’s defensive line.
Linebackers: The Gladiator linebacking core lost 2018 graduate Elijah Smith, a veteran outside linebacker, who finished last season with 73 total tackles. This year’s senior middle linebackers Quay Teasley and Wayne Malcolm look to lead this year’s defense.
“Both sides are strong, but our defense is our strong suit and it shows. Our home record last season was 9-1 and we are one of the top turnover defenses in the state. Quay Teasley and I are the duo at middle linebacker when it comes doing everything,” Malcolm said.
Defensive backs: According to defensive back coach Jeff Finch, CCHS is deep at defensive back this season with multiple players who can play either safety or cornerback. They will likely be led by senior Edwin Summerour, who had 30 total tackles last season.
“We gotta a couple of seniors like my brother (Edrin Summerour) and Derrick Johnson that are starting. We have a lot of potential and experience in our secondary so we should be really good,” Summerour said.
Special Teams: Junior kicker Christian Bryan and sophomore punter Walker Bradberry make up the kicking team. Running back Jonathan Sewell will return kick offs.
The Gladiators will kick off their first regular season game against Winder-Barrow High School on Friday, Aug. 17 at 7:30 p.m.
