Jordan Monroe, a junior and outside linebacker, holds a football while Nehemiah Jones, a CCHS sophomore and wide receiver, stands behind him on Sept. 3. Despite a 0-2 opening record, the team has been working hard for the season ahead of them. “Football will be the last ship that hits the water, and so we’re excited and we hope that we have a fantastic season, and hope that the school and community can come out and experience some normalcy,” CCHS Athletic Director Jonathan Ward said. Photo by Lucas Donnelly
The Clarke Central High School varsity football team is striving for team bonding and success throughout the 2021-22 season.
Despite the struggles of 2020, the CCHS varsity football team is focused on building their strengths and fighting for the sense of community they did not experience during the 2020-21 season.
According to CCHS Athletic Director Jonathan Ward, COVID-19 has not impacted the scheduling process for football. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines will be followed and school policy will not change, thus allowing the strive for normalcy to continue.
“We went through (struggles with COVID-19) last year, and with most of our sports, we had to take breaks during the season. We had to quarantine teams and unfortunately, with football, we had to do it right off the bat this year,” Ward said. “Hopefully it’s a situation where that’s the only time, but whatever we need to do to follow the COVID guidelines is what we’ll do.”
While still adhering to COVID-19 guidelines, CCHS head football coach David Perno is excited about the team’s opportunities this season. On defense, he feels good about his defensive front seven.
“We hope that our strength in our defense is our front seven. I feel very good about them. Offensively, I think we have really good players, but our strength is the ability to run the ball,” Perno said.”
“We hope that our strength in our defense is our front seven. I feel very good about them. Offensively, I think we have really good players, but our strength is the ability to run the ball.”
— David Perno,
head football coach
However, it is offense where Perno has found a strong running attack, which he says will be key to this season.
“Our two running backs (are) Will Richardson and Felix Braddy Jr., and then also we can use Kendrick Curry. He was a starting middle linebacker for us, but he’s low running the ball as well, so we kind of got a three-headed monster there, hopefully,” Perno said. “And I feel good about our (offensive) line, being able to move some people around and create some space for our running backs.”
Junior Michael Campbell, safety, believes the team will be able to overcome the difficulties created by COVID-19 and virtual learning so they can play well as a team.
“I think we’re just not clicking right now, but I think we definitely will. We didn’t have that (first) scrimmage (of the season because of COVID-19), and defense is a little different,” Campbell said. “You can go out there and play regardless of how much time you’ve missed, but often there’s more strategy (to think about).”
