Every athlete has to start somewhere. Seasoned veterans who have logged more than their fair share of time under the stadium lights all had to step on the field and earn their stripes as first-timers competing at the varsity level.
It’s not unusual to dress two or three — maybe even a handful — of newcomers on either side of the ball for a high school varsity football team. Often, the more experienced players in each unit take those rookies under their wings and help them develop and grow acclimated to the talent they’ll face as well as the pace of the game.
For the Carroll football team’s defensive corps, experience is a luxury the Dragons must learn to do without this season. It’s not a matter for three or four new faces suiting up for the varsity team this fall. This year, 11 defensive newbies are leading the charge.
“We’re replacing all 11, which is very unheard of,” says Dragons’ Riley Dodge, who enters his third year as head coach after posting two consecutive 13-1 seasons. “We’ve got a lot of guys that haven’t played under the Friday night lights. But I feel like we have a lot of young talent, and seniors that have been journeymen are getting opportunities this year.
“It’s kind of been our calling card at this place that guys that get their opportunities make the most of them. From what I’ve seen so far, we’ve got a long ways to go, but so far so good.”
It’s the polar opposite of the situation Carroll found itself in last year. Coaches and players alike could draw comfort in knowing that seven returning defensive starters with big-game experience would lead them to battle. What’s more, all 11 starters were seniors in 2019.
This year’s group is a mix of juniors and seniors, all eager to play a part in helping establish what coming into the season was a relatively unknown and unproven defensive unit. After a rough defensive start against some tough opponents in the first two games of the season, that hunger to prove their worth should only grow stronger.
A delayed chance to start on varsity serves as additional motivation for senior cornerback Cinque Williams. Williams was not allowed to compete on varsity his junior season after transferring to Carroll from Mansfield Legacy, spending last season on the Dragons JV team.
“I finally get to show everybody what I’m really made of now,” says Williams, a highly touted athlete who has committed to play college ball at Hawaii. “I bring the energy as far as making sure that the defense is where we need to be on the field, making sure we fly around the ball.
“We’re just a young group, we’re pretty much slept on, but we’ve got to wake people up and show them what we’re made of.”
Entering the season, the unheralded defense was expected to be the strongest in the secondary, due to the talent of Williams, as well as junior cornerback Avyonne Jones and the play of defensive backs such as Mason Grawe, Max Reyes, Parker Schnieders and Jon Cox. After two games, the unit compiled 73 tackles (19 from Williams), one interception (Jones), 10 passes defended (Jones with six), a fumble caused and one returned for a touchdown (scored by Williams).
“During the quarantine, a lot of us would still work out together and go do drills together outside,” says Schnieders, a senior. “I feel like that really helped us as a team compared to other teams. I feel like we’re more prepared for the season and ready to take on anyone.”
As usual, Carroll’s linebackers look extremely ready and active in their pursuit of the ball and appear set to make an impact for the defense as well. Light on seniors but heavy on juniors, the linebackers are already showing their ability to wrap up opponents and have registered a large number of tackles for the team.
Two junior linebackers in particular — Benecio Porras and Nate Gall — look to patrol the middle and keep opposing offenses in check. Gall says that even though it’s their first go-around as varsity starters, they learned a lot while observing Dragon predecessors such as Graham Faloona and Preston Forney when they led the linebacking charge last season.
“Just from watching those guys in the playoffs — they taught us and really cared about us, they wanted to leave a future for us,” says Gall, who had 18 tackles including one for a loss in Carroll’s first two games this season. “We’re getting after it every day. We might be young, but we’re really putting the work in to help our offense out this year.”
Porras, who led the team with 28 tackles in the first two games, says it’s the bond they’ve developed as a defense and a team in general that gives the Dragons an edge. Their strength also steams from a drive to be their best on every play.
“One of the things we like to say is, ‘It’s your team against our family,’” Porras says. “I don’t think there’s anything stronger than this brotherhood we have here. On defense, in every single position, we’ve got playmakers that hustle to the ball. Your guys might be bigger than us, faster than us and stronger than us, but we out-hustle you on every single play. Nobody will ever beat us in that.”
Sweat and effort in the trenches is the norm for the defensive line, and Carroll’s young group must continue to push themselves and develop as the season progresses. Winning the battle at the line could be a key to the Dragons’ defense transitioning from an unproven unit lined with question marks to one of consistency and power.
Led by junior and captain Travis Kenner (13 tackles in the first two games), the D-line is working to establish itself. The development of a strong pass rush and keeping opponents’ running game in check could provide extra relief to Carroll’s pass coverage and linebacking corps.
But the Dragons’ biggest step in overcoming the challenges of a young and inexperienced defense, Dodge says, is their ability to work as a unit from from to back.
“On the defensive side of the ball, we’ve got to communicate. That’s the biggest thing when you’re young,” Dodge says. “We don’t necessarily have any bell cows on that side of the ball yet. They’re trying to find their voice. So we need guys that are going to communicate on defense.
“When defenses don’t communicate, it’s usually bad news. We need to do a great job communicating, but we’ve got guys that are capable of doing that, and we just need to keep practicing that. That’s going to be a big key for us this year.”