Email
Print
Warriors conclude another Jamboree
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: June 30, 2009
As is tradition at the end of June, West Iredell's football program held its annual 7-on-7 Jamboree on Saturday.
South Iredell, Statesville and Surry Central participated this year, giving each team three separate hour-long games as coaches got an early glimpse of their 2009 football teams.
"We've been doing this for 13, 14 years," Warriors football coach and athletic director Mark Weycker said. "I think all four teams got good work in."
Below is a look at the three county teams that participated:
SOUTH IREDELL
It was defense first for South Iredell on Saturday.
The Vikings have eight starters returning from last year's playoff squad. Defensive coordinator Scott Miller is turning to two guys more known for their skills on offense to fill in the gaps.
"Believe it or not, Quincy Davenport has stepped in and is wanting to play linebacker," Miller said. "He's gotten even stronger than last year, and you can just see him progressing. He's been great."
Davenport was the fullback in South's double wing offense last year.
He will continue to play offense, but the addition of North Iredell transfer Chris Knox — also a fullback — means Davenport can focus a lot of his energies on the other side of the ball.
The addition of Knox also gives head coach and offensive mastermind Ed Masterton some fresh ideas.
"We're going to run some sets with both Quincy and Chris lined up together," Masterton said. "We don't need them both on the sidelines."
Quataye Smyre, a rising sophomore with blazing speed, has stepped in at the cornerback spot vacated by Tevin Ikard. Combined with several returners, as well as a transfer from heralded Independence High School in Charlotte, South will fly to the ball.
"We're fast," Miller said. "Our guys are flying to the ball and working hard every day. They want to be good."
STATESVILLE
After back-to-back banner campaigns, Statesville coaches will rely on a handful of young players to replenish the program after 28 seniors graduated.
One of the more notable faces missing Saturday was T.J. McCombs, who started at quarterback for three seasons. His likely successor, though, appeared to be in top form.
"Our quarterback situation looked pretty good Saturday," Greyhounds coach Randall Gusler said. "We have a young man in Tevin King that played two years of JV ball and was our backup on varsity as a junior. He is looking good right now."
The Greyhounds have also been working three freshmen at quarterback. Davin King got some reps behind center in Saturday's events. Josh Gaither and Carlos Parker did not attend due to an AAU basketball event but have practiced as signal-callers during the summer.
A run-first team that operates out of the Wing-T, the Greyhounds spent the day working on both basic routes and its two-minute, spread offense.
"We wanted to complete some footballs at a high percentage and work on our passing game," Gusler said. "We probably put more emphasis on defense in these 7-on-7s."
The secondary is in strong shape early with Tevin Carr and Jordan Darty returning.
WEST IREDELL
Head coach Mark Weycker was relaxing at the pool hours after Saturday's 7-on-7 was completed.
His daughter, Lindsey, also spent the day watching football and made an astute observation.
"We were talking about P.J. Clyburn, and my daughter said 'He's just a man among boys out there,' " Weycker said with a chuckle. "He's gone to a lot of camps this summer, and those coaches say that physically, he's ahead of the typical rising senior."
Clyburn, who played both wide receiver and safety Saturday, was named to the Associated Press all-state team as a kick returner last year and is Iredell County's most heavily recruited football player.
He will be the focus of the Warriors offense this year, and West Iredell is finding ways to get him the ball.
"Over the summer, you want to look at some things and see if they'll work for the personnel you'll think you have," Weycker said. "We worked on about seven routes all week, three out of trips and four out of our doubles package.
"We're working with our young quarterbacks to get reads, so when they get out there in the fall, they've had enough repetitions."
Even with Clyburn returning on defense, the Warriors will see the addition of several new faces.
Weycker is hopeful that getting some of his JV players some varsity experience late in the season last year will benefit the squad in 2009.
"In the secondary, we're looking for eight or nine kids," Weycker said. "The good thing with us, seven or eight of our JV kids played a good bit and got some varsity experience through the last three or four games last year. For us, this group over the summer is back to that great work ethic. Kids are showing up as a team and working over the summer. We've had outstanding turnouts."
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
