CITY L EAGUE -N ORTH D IVISION
Columbus East
Tigers building habits that can lead to victories
By JARROD ULREY THISWEEKSPORTS.COM
Senior Tyree Sutton, who was second-team all-City last season, will see an increase in his workload after splitting time with 2016 graduate Tyler Patterson a year ago. PAUL VERNON/THISWEEK
Centennial
Stars adjust defense to better suit players By BRAD EMERINE THISWEEKSPORTS.COM
Centennial High School football coach Donte Goosby has addressed his team’s defensive woes since the Stars finished 37 overall last season. “Defense was the primary area of needed improvement going into the offseason,” the fourth-year coach said. “We stressed consistency and accountability. We preached knowing your job and making sure you show up and do it on a play-in and play-out basis for the good of the team. Hopefully that will lead to us playing better on the defensive side of the ball this year.” To help his players, Goosby changed the base defense from a 4-3 to a 4-2-5 scheme. “We made the switch to give us more stability and to allow us to use our athleticism in the back,” Goosby said. “We didn’t have a lot of guys who were willing to make plays in the defenses we were in last year. “The purpose of going to this defense is to try to make things as simple as possible, allow our athleticism to be an asset for us. Hopefully the changes will pay of big for us.” The Stars allowed 30.5 points per game last season when they finished 1-5 in the City LeagueNorth Division. “We face a lot of spread offenses and passing teams in the City, and in this defense you can adjust on the fly to different types of motion, shifts and those things. It helps schematically, but we still have to have the guys to go out there and get the job done.”
At a glance 2016 SCHEDULE Aug. 26 ...................vs. Grandview Sept. 2 ..............at Columbus West Sept. 9 ..........................vs. Bexley *Sept. 16.........................at Mifflin *Sept. 23 ..................vs. Northland Sept. 30...........vs. Reigning Sports Academy *Oct. 7 ...............at Columbus East *Oct. 14 ..................vs. Beechcroft *Oct. 21...........at Linden-McKinley *Oct. 28...................vs. Whetstone 2015 RESULTS (3-7 overall, 1-5 City-North) Grandview .......................L, 38-14 Columbus West...............W, 34-14 Bexley ...............................L, 49-0 *Mifflin ............................L, 23-14 *Northland.......................L, 41-12 Landmark Eagles ..............W, 46-6
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was second-team all-league last year when he shared time at running back with graduate Tyler Patterson, will be asked to carry more of the offense. “We’re going to depend on him and our quarterback to bring us some explosive plays in our running game,” Goosby said. “Tyree had a good year last year, so his expectations were high anyway. He had 600 or 700 yards, but we’re really expecting him to be the guy this year. “Tyler Patterson was such a big part of everything we did last year. Everyone is going to have to step up. I don’t think we have a single person who can replace his productivity. He OFFENSE was our top receiver and runSenior Tyree Sutton, who ning back.”
August 25, 2016
*Columbus East ...............L, 44-26 *Beechcroft .......................L, 37-6 *Linden-McKinley............W, 40-27 *Whetstone........................L, 26-0 *League contest INSIDE THE STARS •Coach: Donte Goosby, fourth season •Top players: Darius Echols (OL/LB), Kylen Gilber (WR/LB), Rodney Groves (TE/DE),Timmy Leach (OL/DL), Brian Lindsey (OL/DB), Terrance McCoy (WR/DB), Tyree Sutton (RB/LB) and Coreion Watts (RB/DB) •Key losses: Joe Cooper (LB),Tyrique Crusoe (OL/DL), Luke Fallon (WR), Tyler Patterson (SB/DB), Marquise St. John (OL/MLB), JaCree Tyler (OL) and Dimitri Warner (QB)
Junior Craig Burt will start at quarterback in the spread offense, with seniors Terrance McCoy and Kylen Gilbert at receivers and junior Coreion Watts and sophomore Chris Street at slotbacks. The Stars, who averaged 19.2 points per game, are expected to have a line anchored by senior Darius Echols at center, with senior Timmy Leach and junior Myles Spence-Bills at tackle and seniors Brian Lindsey and Charlie Ventura at guard.
DEFENSE
Centennial returns five starters on defense, including senior Rodney Groves at end and Echols at linebacker.
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During the preseason, Columbus East High School football coach Eric Smith talked to his players as he did a year ago about setting a structure and building a tradition for a program that has had little success. What was different this year was the reaction he got from the small group of players who had returned following the Tigers’ 1-9 season in 2015. “They know my quotes now and they’re repeating stuff I say,” Smith said. “That shows that you’re buying into what I say. I was teaching them how athletes are creatures of habit. They didn’t have any habits before.” The Tigers had about 30 athletes out during summer workouts but had seen their numbers drop to the 20s and sometimes below that once official coaching started Aug. 1. Smith – whose program hasn’t produced a winning record since going 8-3 and making its lone playoff appearance in 1999 – took over after East went 1-9 in 2014 as well. The Tigers’ last season without a losing record came in 2012, when they went 5-5. Smith, who picked up his first coaching win in week 7 a year ago when the Tigers beat Centennial 44-26, expected the rebuilding process to take time. Last season, East endured tight losses to Liberty Union (29-26) and Northland (20-14) and showed some positive signs offensively by averaging 18.4 points. “It was a struggling program when I came in here last July, so I knew it was an uphill battle to begin with,” Smith said. “They learned that they’re not as bad as they thought they were. Of our nine losses, seven were games we were in. Not understanding how to win prevented them from winning those games. “In the past you’d see Beechcroft on the schedule and you already lost. It was tough with us playing ironman football, having only about 20 or 25 kids last year, but I chose this for a reason. Can I take something that people feel is broken and get it to be competitive? That builds me up as a coach. It was a great experience and I learned really what it takes to call yourself a head coach.”
At a glance 2016 SCHEDULE Aug. 26...........vs. Columbus South Sept. 2..................at Liberty Union Sept. 9 .............vs. Columbus West *Sept. 16 ..................vs. Northland *Sept. 23 .................vs. Whetstone *Sept. 30..................at Beechcroft *Oct. 7.....................vs. Centennial Oct. 14.........................at Norwalk *Oct. 21...........................at Mifflin *Oct. 28...........at Linden-McKinley 2015 RESULTS (1-9 overall, 1-5 City-North) Briggs .............................L, 49-28 Liberty Union ...................L, 29-26 Columbus West................L, 38-14 *Northland.......................L, 20-14 *Whetstone......................L, 38-12 *Beechcroft .......................L, 44-6 *Centennial.....................W, 44-26
Norwalk.............................L, 41-6 *Mifflin ..............................L, 20-8 *Linden-McKinley ............L, 40-26 *League contest INSIDE THE TIGERS •Coach: Eric Smith, second season •Top players: Rae’on Arrington (OL/DL), Kaizon Brown (QB), Aaron Cordell (LB/RB), Shahqim Edwards (WR/DB), Thomas Featherstone (WR/LB/QB), DeAndre Mankins (WR/DB), Curtis Robinson (RB/LB) and Cam’Ron Williams (WR/DB) •Key losses: Asa Burke (TE/DB), William Evans (WR/DB),Andre Daniels (WR/DB), Deltrin Kimbro (RB), Dwayne Logan (OL/DL), A’Kesch Ross (LB), Juwaun Smith (QB) and Orpheus Twyman (OL/DL)
Want extra copies of this Preview Guide? Pick it up at Find a location near you: ThisWeekSports.com/fnl uation were quarterback Juwaun Smith and running back Deltrin Kimbro. Smith was second-team all-league and Division IV honorable mention all-district and Kimbro was honorable mention allleague. Smith will play for West Virginia Wesleyan this fall, according to Smith. Sophomore Kaizon Brown, who is the program’s tallest player at 6-foot-5, has taken over at quarterback. “The numbers are low, but sometimes you can expect that with us having such a rough past,” Featherstone said. “Our leadership is much better this year. The freshmen look up to us. I want to help them be better players. I want to be that
person they look up to.” Junior Rae’on Arrington added 30 pounds since last season and again will lead the offensive line after making second-team all-league. Senior Curtis Robinson, who was honorable mention allleague a year ago, is the top running back in a spread offense, and Smith said a number of players are competing for time at receiver.
DEFENSE
Senior Aaron Cordell, who was second-team all-league on the line but should start at linebacker this season, joins Arrington, Featherstone and
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OFFENSE
Senior Thomas Featherstone, who was honorable mention all-City League-North Division as the Tigers went 1-5 in the league, has attempted to do his part to step into a leadership role this season. Two key players lost to grad-
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