EAST COWETA INDIANS INDIANS
2B — The Newnan Times-Herald | Wednesday, August 17, 2016
EC Indians prepare to take the next step By JEFF ARMSTRONG jarmstrong@newnan.com The East Coweta Indians football team could very well be on the warpath this season. The Indians are a trendy pick to do very well this season, having completed back-toback 8-3 seasons under third-year head football coach Steve Pardue. The coaching staff has been intact for three consecutive summers now and with that continuity and chemistry, the Indians could be a team on the rise in 2016, even with a move to the highest classification in the state (AAAAAAA). It won’t be easy for EC at all, not when they’re going to Region 2-AAAAAAA with perennial contender Westlake High, which went 10-3 last year and advanced to the state Sweet 16. And of course EC has to contend with a certain county rival named Newnan High, wh ich went 9-3 last season a nd advanced to the second round of the state playoffs. Newnan also ended EC’s two-year win streak in the series with a 21-17 home win over the Indians last year. “The way the region looks now, we will have our hands full with Westlake and Newnan, and it pains me to have to put Newnan that high up, but they are good,” said Pardue. “It’s nice to hear that we are on the high school football radar, but we have to play one game at a time and see where it all goes. We can’t worry about press clippings and the other teams now — we’ve got to get our team together and prepare to win every game on the schedule.” In order for the Indians to win as many games as possible, the team will need another special season out of senior linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel. Gemmel was the bellcow for the Indians last year, leading the team with 104 tackles (73 solo), 11 tackles for loss and he even blocked three kicks as well. The North Carolina commit had a great junior year, Pardue said. “And the great thing about Jeremiah is that he hasn’t stopped improving,” said Pardue. “He just keeps on working and getting better.” Pardue and Indians’ defensive coordinator Rusty Easom both agreed on the one thing about Gemmel that makes him stand out. “Speed,” they both said in unison. “I say he has functional speed, to be honest. Pads just don’t slow Jeremiah down. He really flies to the football,” Pardue said. “And what makes him even more special is he doesn’t get caught up in the glitz and glamour; he is a quiet, laid-back kid — until he hits the field.” The EC offense will rely on junior quarterback Christian Reid, who passed for 591 yards and four touchdowns in limited duty last season. With a full season under his belt, the coaching staff feels Reid will work the Hybrid Wing-T very well. Key Indians linemen charged with protecting Reid will be junior tackle Evan Field and seniors Stephen Gardner and Charlie Gochenour. Pardue said they will sometimes line up in the shotgun with three wide receivers and will also set up in the backfield with two run-
ning backs. One of the backs who will line up and dish out punishment will be 5-foot10, 260-pound fullback Ca rlos Ford, who’s at h let ic enoug h
to hurdle a would-be tackler and strong enough to stiffarm one to the ground and run over several others. “Carlos has been working hard to get in shape and I’m proud to see that,” Pardue said. Also taking turns in the backfield will be junior DeVante Ford and senior Devonte Brown. Brown is the jack-of-all-trades for the Indians — he also plays safety and he even punts for EC. Defensively, the Indians should be pretty stout as they will start 11 seniors on that side of the football, led by Gemmel. They will run a 4-2-5 base defense and there will be a lot more secondary coverages than they have employed in the past. Others besides Gemmel to watch for on defense will be senior defensive end Logan Dockery, senior defensive tackle Coleman Wood and senior defensive tackle Mark Wilson, who transferred to EC from South Carolina. And the kicking game, which is big for Pardue since he really values that part of the sport, will be handled by junior kicker Wyatt Palmer. Pardue said Palmer had a terrific sophomore season and excelled in kickoffs and extra points. He only missed one extra point in 2015. East Coweta begins the 2016 in a special way. They host the Lovejoy Wildcats on Aug. 19 and they will dedicate the fieldhouse next to Garland Shoemake Stadium to former longtime EC head football coach Danny Cronic that day. After that game, EC hosts Maynard Jackson before hitting the road to play a big game against LaGrange High on Sept. 9. Pardue coached at LaGrange for 20 years and led the Grangers to consecutive state titles. “It will be different going to play at LaGrange, especially having to go to the visitors locker room,” he said. The LaGrange game will be followed by two more non-region contests, and then EC will start Region 2-AAAAAAA play at Westlake on Oct. 7. The Indians end the regular season with their big rival showdown against Newnan on Nov. 4 at Garland Shoemake Stadium.
2016 East Coweta Indians Schedule Aug. 19 Lovejoy Sept. 2 Jackson-Atlanta Sept. 9 at LaGrange Sept. 16 North Cobb Sept. 23 Arabia Mountain
*Oct. 7 at Westlake *Oct. 14 Wheeer *Oct. 21 at Pebblebrook *Oct. 28 at Campbell *Nov. 4 Newnan
2016 East Coweta Indians Roster 1 Christian Reid 5’11 163 JR 2 Matthew Bush 5’11 192 SR 3 DeVante Ford 5’8 174 JR 4 Justin Crump 5’7 155 SR 5 Dantarius Chunn 5’7 156 SO 6 Devonte Brown 5’9.5 172 SR 7 Reggie Jones 5’10.5 163 SR 8 Juan Calipolitti 5’8.5 159 JR 9 Logan Dockery 6’0 217 SR 10 Jake Goodman 5’11.5 153 JR 11 Jovan Rembert 6’0 181 SR 12 Andreco Ingram 5’9.5 157 SR 13 Josh Martin 5’10 152 JR 14 Jonah Steerman 6’0 175 SR 15 Brayden Carey 5’10.5 158 SO 16 Blake McMahan 5’8 163 JR 17 Jonathan Hudson 5’10.5 213 SO 18 Harris Maloy 6’1 197 SR 19 Braden Blevins 5’9 167 JR 20 Jacob Gill 5’10 163 JR 21 Aaron Singleton 5’5.5 155 SR 22 Bryan Crow 5’8.5 138 SO 23 Calvin Kirby 5’8 164 SR 24 Jaylen Ingram 5’9 155 JR 25 Carlos Ford 5’10 268 SR 26 Chris Moore 5’11 199 FR 27 Deon Woods 6’0 154 JR 28 Wyatt Palmer 5’9 135 JR 29 Thomas Murphy 5’9.5 137 SO 30 Ramal Holston 5’8 130 SO 31 Lamund Alexander 5’6 174 JR 32 Gerald Green 5’8.5 171 SO
33 Jeremiah Gemmel 6’1 200 SR 34 Trevor Crowdis 5’6 135 SO 36 Gavin Hall 5’8.5 166 SO 37 Bradley Waczkowski 5’7 142 SR 38 Jack Newton 5’8 167 JR 39 Kenneth Bullard 5’3.5 118 SO 40 Marc Wilson 6’0 246 SR 41 David Sanchez 5’4 156 SO 42 DeAngelo Evans 5’6 131 SO 43 Jalen Whisby 6’0 155 SO 44 Ethan Martin 6’1 188 JR 45 Jayleen Heard 5’9 194 SO 46 Khalil Woodward 5’7.5 168 SO 47 Rayshaud Brown 5’10 172 SO 48 Andrew Murphy 6’3.5 180 JR 49 Tray Martin 5’9 186 JR 50 Will Underwood 6’2 288 JR 51 Tucker Cortez 6’2 212 SO 52 Cameron Childers 6’0 246 SO 53 Bubba Hill 5’8 257 SO 54 Kamron Reese 6’2 249 SR 55 Tyler Hughie 5’9.5 247 SO 56 Riley Jewett 6’3 215 SO 57 Ja’Kolby Smith 5’8 264 SO 58 Rodrigo Salas 6’3 280 JR 59 Ron Pettaway 5’11.5 235 SO 60 Avery Brook 5’9 192 SO 61 Charlie Gochenour 5’11 261 SR 62 Chris Tornatore 5’10 186 JR 63 Daecian Cox 6’0 221 JR 64 Jacob Shaneyfelt 5’11 237 SR 65 Landon Mathis 5’11 220 JR
66 Titus Aun 5’6.5 206 SO 67 Dooley Bunn 5’8 179 JR 68 Robert Jones 5’11.5 229 SO 70 Stephen Gardner 5’9 203 SR 71 Evan Fields 6’5.5 260 JR 72 Coleman Wood 6’1 253 SR 73 Jaylin Davis 6’0 356 SR 74 Jaylon Thomas 5’7 227 JR 75 Joshua Vincent 6’5.5 265 JR 76 Joshua Render 5’10 289 JR 78 Jarmaine Elder 5’5 215 JR 79 Noah Adams 6’1 173 JR 80 Deyatti Heard 5’7.5 158 SR 81 Christian Pace 5’10.5 140 JR 82 Julian Connell 6’2 160 JR 83 Devin Langley 5’8 135 SO 84 Ryan Griffin 5’11 162 JR 85 Ronald Baker 6’2 228 JR 86 Jalen Smith 5’9 230 JR 87 Darius Gates 6’0 181 SO 88 Sean Helmeczy 6’0 167 SR 89 Samuel Farrell 5’6 127 SO 90 Alex Derico 5’10 171 SO 91 Jacob O’Brien 5’6.5 211 SO 92 Jake Clark 6’0 195 SO 93 Peter Walker 5’11 151 JR 94 Ahumad Williams 5’9 135 SO 95 Zekkhi Selby 5’3 157 SO 96 Austin Dees 6’1.5 167 SO 97 Zion Selby 5’2 147 SO 98 Blake Lindler 5’10 154 SO 99 Tomas Robledo 5’11 196 SO