JOURNAL SPORTS
Coming into the season, coaches know who they can rely upon to lead the way. But often, players or position groups not expected to shine rise to the occasion and make great impact on a team’s success.
What players or position groups did the unexpected things that have lifted up their teams? That’s the topic for this week’s Shreveport-Bossier Journal Coaches Roundtable.
JUSTIN SCOGIN, Airline: “We knew what we had in our veteran offensive line but Abdel Abdelatif has been great for us at center.
“We knew we had some great players in Chase Williams, Justin Woodfork, Preston Hughes, Terrance Hays and Chris Hart. Caleb Nunn, Nathan White and Sir Charles Marshall have really grown up these last few weeks and I couldn’t be more proud.
“We were thrilled with Drew Warren before his injury. Losing Preston was a big hit but Marshall has proved ready.
“Defensively we knew we had some great players in Pierre Watson, Matthew Moore, Joshua Papion, Abreion Cooper and Desmian Curry but Caden Reed has proven to be better than we ever thought and could be a big time player.
“TJ Heard solidified his spot at the other corner and has been great. Nico Boudreaux has played a pivotal role off the bench. Ja’Miran Davis has been an absolute beast along with Curry, who I think is one of the best secondary guys in the state. Kicker Dylan Johnson has also been great in special teams.
STEPHEN DENNIS, Benton: “It has been a good year of growth for the Benton Tigers as we continue to build the next phase of Tiger Pride Football!
“I am particularly proud of Madden Raymond. We knew we would build around his ability to do multiple things, but he has truly been a little bit of everything for us.
“Malachi Zeigler’s leadership this year has been tremendous. As much as he’s grown as a quarterback, he has worked really hard at trying to truly lead the offense on and off the field. I’m really excited to see what the future holds for him at SMU.
“On the defensive side of the ball, I’d have to say the consistency of our defensive line all year long has probably been a really big bright spot. Led by John Thomas Young, Carson Stubbs and Xavier Villamor (Air Force commit), they have truly set the tone week in and week out, with Stubbs and Young also pulling double duty on our Diesel package.
“On the back end of our defense, I have been really surprised with the development of Jordan Winn, a junior corner who has really developed into probably our most consistent defender against the pass. A lot of hard work by him and his position coach, Chase Thompson, has really led to results on the field.”
MATTHEW SEWELL, Haughton: “I would definitely say our offensive line has been the most pleasant surprise. After our scrimmage and jamboree, I thought it was the weakest part of our team.
“It has become a strength.
“Our offensive line coaches, Kyle Washington and Cody Taylor, have a done a fantastic job getting those guys to gel and play together. Jaxon Raley, Jaden Keith, and Jakob Frasier were returners, but Hugh Turnage, Grant Gullo, and Greysen Daugherty are first-timers and they’ve all had really good seasons.
“We are running for 263 yards a game so they have definitely gotten it figured out.”