12 • Thursday, August 25, 2016
John Carroll
OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal
Photo special to the Journal
Members of the 2016 John Carroll High School team include: Alex Mitchell, Redmon Ransom, Kenyetta Williams, Dilan Sherrod, Malcolm Russell, Matthew Hector, Chris Burrell, Bailey Mara, Demetrius Battle, Isiah Ambrose, Zach Elliot, Malik Williams, Jeremiah Fuller, Dwuan Williams, Conner Bader, Will Chamoun, Sam Reed, Jeremy Spencer, Lucas Stachan, Gyasi Hill, Dequan Ball, Chris Hector, Brandon Woodard, Jackson Jeffries, Braxton Buckner, K’shawn Mackie, Dekelian Hall, Sam Chamoun, Mark Richard, Quince Ngo, Caleb Mills, Cydrick Walker, Ethan Scholtz, Michael Watts, John Werszner, Shakir Hasan, Rahael Poe, Alex Sabri, Anthony Bostany, Asad Muhammed, Sam Lynch, Michael Musso, Ricky Zimmerman, Romel Jones, Kingston Lampley, Graham Russell and Bennett Buckner.
Making Changes
John Carroll’s New Coach Isn’t Afraid to Take Risks in His First Season By Tyler Waldrep
Journal photo by Jordan Wald
John Carroll coach Logan Colafrancesco felt a little nervous about how the players would receive him when he met with them for the first time in the spring. Turns out, he didn’t have anything to worry about. “Sometimes I’ll sit there with my hands on my hips in practice not paying attention and somebody will come hit me, and I’ll look and it will be a kid, like, ‘Hey, coach, get your hands off your hips.’ And I’m, like, ‘You’re right.’ And that tells me that they’re starting to buy in,” Colafrancesco said. As a John Carroll alumnus who has watched most of his immediate family graduate from the school and even marry other alumni, Colafrancesco had high expectations for the program. But first, things had to change. Some changes were small, such as encouraging players to sit together at lunch or adjust their body language to keep their hands off their hips. Other changes were more noticeable. Colafrancesco’s predecessor, Tim Sanders believed in playing the best guy available at every position even if the team’s lack of depth meant some players had to start on both offense and defense. Colafrancesco has decided to play 11 unique starters on each side of the ball. “We started this spring with 39 kids nine through 12. I mean, Homewood probably has 39 seniors,” he said. “But now we’re up to 52 kids, so we’ve gained 13 or 14 kids (and) we’ve lost a couple.” John Carroll’s depth problems aren’t going away anytime soon, but Colafrancesco is confident there will be a time in the future when his players won’t have to learn a second position and play as a backup on the other side of the ball.
Colafrancesco said the strength of his defense probably is with linebackers such as Ransom Redmon and Kenyetta Williams. He said Williams “can run sideline to sideline. He’s our jack-backer. We do some one-onone stuff. He’s always in on the tackle or around the ball and he’s got a great motor.” John Carroll will employ a three-man
defensive line, to help the linebackers up front, consisting of Michael Watts, Rahael Poe and Dequan Ball. Zach Elliot, C.J. Burrell, Will Chamoun, Jeremy Spencer and Dwuan Williams are all in the mix to start in John Carroll’s secondary. “Dwuan Williams is a shutdown corner,” Colafrancesco said. “He started as a freshman
John Carroll
at a Glance
2015 record: 0-10 Head coach: Logan Colafrancesco Region: Class 6A, Region 5 Homewood, Hueytown, Jackson-Olin, Parker, Ramsay, Shades Valley. Stadium: Carroll Field (4,000)
last year, and he’s very, very athletic.” When it came time to pick a starting quarterback, Dwuan Williams found himself in a two-man competition with junior Bailey Mara. Colafrancesco said things probably worked out for the best considering Williams’ ability to contribute so much on the defensive side of things. “I mean, Bailey’s 6 feet 3 inches and Duawn’s 5 feet 6 inches, so he’s more of a sprint out guy and all that, and Bailey’s more of a dropback pure passer. … He fits more of the mold of what we’re trying to do,” Colafrancesco said. Left tackle Anthony Bostany is new to the program, but he has played basketball for the school in the past. Joining him on the offensive line are Shakir Hasan, Cydrick Walker, John Werszner, Ethan Scholtz and Asad Muhammed. They will be tasked with clearing the way for a couple of running backs, including Demetrius Battle, Dekelian Hall and Gyasi Hill. “For us to move the football, we’ve got key players to run the football and I love Coach Logan Colafrancesco with, throwing it,” from left, Bailey Mara, Colafrancesco Kenyada “King” said. “I’d throw Williams, Demetrius it every down if Battle and Alex we could, I love Mitchell. (Washington