By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
This is the third and final of three stories previewing the 2019 high school football season in the Pine Belt. Today’s story features the area’s four small schools: Lumberton, North Forrest, Presbyterian Christian and Sacred Heart.
The first story focused on the area’s large schools: Hattiesburg, Oak Grove and Petal, with the second story highlighting the area’s Class 4A programs: Forrest County AHS, Purvis and Sumrall.
LUMBERTON
Lumberton’s season was derailed last season earlier than expected, with an upset loss to East Marion in the second round of the Class 1A playoffs.
But the Panthers generally reload, rather than rebuild, and head coach Zach Jones believes he has another championship contender in 2019, after last year’s 11-2 season that included a Region 4-1A championship.
“It will be challenging,” said Jones. “We’ve got a lot of good athletes coming back, some kids who played a lot, some who’ve played a little, and we think they’re going to step in do the job for us.”
Topping the list of returnees for Lumberton is junior tailback Robert Henry (5-10, 185), who rushed for 2,075 yards on 223 carries – a 9.3-yard average – and scored 20 touchdowns.
There is no question that the Panthers will go as far as their talented tailback can carry them.
“He can be as good as he wants to be,” said Jones. “Lumberton has a long tradition of really good running backs, and he has a chance to be right in that group with the best of them.
“He’s worked extremely hard; he had a good summer. He’s put on some muscle, gotten stronger, picked up his practice habits, which comes with maturity. He’ll run over you and he’ll run around you.”
Henry’s contribution will be especially critical early in the season, because Lumberton does have some significant holes to fill in their offense, chiefly at quarterback, where three-year starter Jared Tribett has graduated.
Jones believes sophomore Rodney Parker (5-7, 156) will be the man to take the snaps for the Panthers. Parker didn’t play much on offense last season, but he started at strong safety, and he’ll move over to run the offense.
“We’re excited about him,” said Jones. “I think he give us a threat we maybe haven’t had in the past, in that he’s not afraid to run it. We’re going to put him in situations where he can be successful, and so far, he’s handled it.”
Lumberton will also make liberal use of multi-talented junior Trevon Jessie (5-9, 161) on both sides of the ball, and the Panthers also have their second-leading receiver returning in junior K’nylan Willis (6-1, 154), who caught 17 passes for 253 yards and two scores.
“Trevon is a kid who is going to line up all over the field,” said Jones. “He’ll line up at linebacker, some at safety, he’ll line up in the backfield, in the slot. For us to be what we want to be, he’s got to be a 100-tackle guy, have 800 yards of offense and score 10 to 12 touchdowns.”
Last season, Jessie had 98 tackles, 14½ for loss, 4½ sacks, an interception, two fumble recoveries, and 175 yards rushing on 20 carries and two touchdowns.
Lumberton’s offensive talent will operate behind an offensive line that returns three starters in seniors Ashton Anderson (6-1, 260) and Devon Spinner (6-1, 190), and junior Steven Lonadier (6-0, 254). Anderson and Spinner are both in their third season as starters up front.
The defense will be anchored by senior defensive end Augustus Sandifer (5-10, 227), who had 84 tackles last season, 14 for loss.
Overall, it’s a new world in 1A football, and in Region 4-1A. Richton has replaced East Marion in the region, Sebastopol and Leake County have moved over to 4-1A, and realignment has put the likes of Simmons in the way of a trip to Roberts Stadium for the state finals.
“I hear people fussing about all of the travel,” said Jones. “It is what it is. If they tell us we’re playing Simmons (in the playoffs), wherever they tell us to play, we’ll be happy to be at that place.”
NORTH FORREST
Coming out of the 2018 season, North Forrest had a couple of reasons to expect that 2019 might be an improvement over the 5-7 record the Eagles posted last year.
But those reasons, talented junior Rhyen Brisco and senior Eric Robinson, departed in the spring for other schools, Brisco to Hattiesburg and Robinson to Oak Grove, taking with them more than 2,600 all-purpose yards from last season.
“We did have high expectations,” said veteran coach Anthony Dillon. “But when you lose your two best playmakers, it hurts. We’ll be very young at a lot of position, and those kids are going to have to step up to fill the shoes of those kids who are gone.”
Dillon said the Eagles will build behind a relatively experienced line, where four starters return. The best of that group is junior Mike Martin (6-2, 318), who also had 55 tackles for North Forrest last season.
“We know we’re going to have to come in each Friday and compete,” said Dillon. “We just want them to leave it all on the field, let’s work very hard and we can handle whatever the results may be.”
PRESBYTERIAN CHRISTIAN
Presbyterian Christian suffered some severe growing pains in Derek White’s first season as head coach, a 1-10 campaign that was a cold shock after several seasons of success.
The good news, though, was the Bobcats only had five seniors on that squad, and plenty of youngsters got plenty of experience that White believes will serve his team well in 2019.
“We’ve gotten bigger, faster, stronger and older,” said White. “Our guys have matured. We played a lot of young guys last year, and we’ve had some kids move in here that will help us.”
Topping that group are junior tight end Cameron Shaw (6-1, 210) and sophomore nose guard Christopher Buckhalter (5-11, 270), whose fathers Harold Shaw and Chris Buckhalter were teammates at Southern Miss in the early 1990s.
Another newcomer is junior running back Marquis Crosby (5-10, 171), and he’ll team with returning senior Jake Sumrall (5-10, 185) in the backfield.
The quarterback position is expected to be manned by sophomore Collin Necaise (6-0, 175), with senior Rico Dorsey as the top wideout.
Up front, PCS is big and experienced, with senior Andrew Stayer (5-10, 204) as the top returning lineman, but White is also excited about sophomore Carter Edwards (6-5, 245), who will play on both sides of the ball.
Also returning to lead the defense is senior Gray Phillips (5-10, 220), and the Bobcats will welcome senior Jake-Riley Gunn (6-2, 165), a PCS baseball standout who is out for football and figures to play a lot at free safety.
“It’s about competing,” said White. “We competed last year, and we never quit through a lot of adversity. Every day, I tell my kids, we have to earn the right to win. We just want to keep getting better every week.”
SACRED HEART
After getting Sacred Heart football through the rough waters of building a program virtually from scratch, Lonny Schraeder has passed the torch to veteran Ed Smith
Smith is a former longtime Jones County Junior College assistant coach who went into administration but stayed close to the JCJC program doing radio for the college broadcasts. A few years ago, he volunteered to help Sacred Heart on the side.
“I’ve been working with Coach Schraeder the past two years, and when he hung them up, the opportunity opened up,” said Smith. “I already knew a lot of the kids, so that was a big factor in the decision.”
Smith, though, isn’t starting out with much in the cupboard after graduation took a lot of the talent from last season.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys, and not many who’ve taken snaps,” said Smith. “We’ve got one senior and I think we’ve got three juniors who actually played from last year. We’ve picked up some juniors who haven’t played in a while.”
Senior Jud Treganowen will be counted on to anchor the offensive and defensive lines after playing a lot last season in a variety of roles. Also returning is junior Ethan Mistich (6-4, 200), who is expected to play on both sides of the line and some as a tight end.
Sophomore Nick Pipkins (5-9, 185) is expected to be the Crusaders’ leading back.
“We’re just going to work on trying to get better every game,” said Smith. “We’re young, but we’ve got some good kids and they’re working hard.”
