Let me start this by saying I have not seen Jefferson play this season and know absolutely nothing about St. Edward. But, I have plenty of knowledge about the Jefferson since Jeremy Earle has been the offensive play caller.
Now that’s out the way and you have said to yourself, “What the heck am I listening to this guy for”, you may just want to stay tuned. The Dragons will hit the friendly skies today to travel to Lakewood, OH to battle St. Edward. St. Edward is 3-0 and has defeated their competition in convincing fashion, outscoring their opponents 128-47 in 3 games plus the preseason contest.
Jefferson has not shown the dominance we have been accustomed to seeing the past 2 seasons, but they are young and still extremely talented. The 1-1 Dragons have been competitive allowing 59 points and scoring 40. So why would they have a shot at winning this out of state game?
Before Jeremy Earle was named the head coach, he was the offensive coordinator under Mike Fenton for the Dragons. Earle has always been a “big play” type guy. Going for the opponents’ throat early. Trying to hit the homerun, stretch the secondary and boost the confidence of his troops. That was with Guy like QB Quentin Williams (Bethune), WR Andre Davis (USF) and WR Chris Moore (Cincinnati). The trio that helped to set all kinds of state scoring and passing records.
Fast forward to 2011 and this year’s team. Having attended a few Dragon practices and have seen their skill guys perform at a few 7 on 7 tournaments; the Dragons do some things extremely well. Because Jefferson is highly skillful on the perimeter, it does not matter who they are playing, the WR screen and smoke passes will allow the Dragons to get their guys in space. They won’t hit a 40 yard gain every time, but they will use a horizontal screen just like a toss (run). Get 5 yards here, get 3 yards there, one miss tackle and the Dragons are off to the races. Because the offensive line is young and inexperienced, the screens will not require the offensive line to block long or change blocking protections. The QB can get the ball out fast and let his guys do what they do best. Juwann Coffee leads all Dragon receivers with 132 yards on 8 receptions and averaging 16.5 yards per catch. Tyriq McCord has provided steady production as a TE, 5 grabs, 79 yards, averaging 15.8 yards a catch. Marquile Jackson is a guy that will stretch the secondary. His name does not get thrown around a lot, but I have seen him run and catch. He can burn a secondary. If the Dragons can hit 1 or 2 deep balls early, the underneath zones will soften up for possession receiver, Adrian Jenkins.
The run game has always been productive for Jefferson, even though the passing game is what the squad is known for. RB, Shaq Speights has not been excellent, but he has been real good. Currently he is averaging 90 yards per game. That’s 5 yards per carry, which equals a first down every other snap for the Dragons. As the St. Edward defense begins to spread to cover the screen game and put two safeties over the top, to slow down the vertical game, Speights will thrive. He is a good inside and outside runner, has good vision and gets stronger with each carry.
Deiondre Porter is the Dragon’s young sophomore QB. Surprisingly, he has been pretty solid for the Dragons and is continually gaining the trust of the coaches and teammates. By the numbers, he is completing 50% of his passes and has thrown for 440 yards, 3TDs and only 2 INTs. That is darn good for a 1st year varsity starting, sophomore QB. Porter will obviously be the key to the offense. Coach Earle will not ask him to win the game for the Dragons, but he will be required not to lose the game for the Dragons.
Allowing 29.5 points per game can’t solely be blamed on the defense. Special teams and bad field position created by an unsuccessful offensive passion can put the defense in a bind. This ultimately inflates the points allowed by a team/defense. Because I have no knowledge and could find any stats on St. Edward, I can’t say what the Dragons will do or can do to help on defensive side of the ball. But, it still comes down to fundamentals and adjustments; tackle, fly to the football, don’t give up the big play and adjust to what your opponent is doing well on offense. Easier said than done, but must be done for Jefferson to be successful. What has been working for the Dragons is the moving senior DE, Tyriq McCord, around. The Dragons play him at defensive end and stand him up at outside line backer on both sides of the ball. McCord has thrived with 7 tackles per game and 3 sacks.
Before the Dragons depart a few members of the team expressed their excitement for the game:
WR, Adrian Jenkins, “We are very excited about this opportunity. We have a chance to show that Tampa football is the best in Florida. St. Edwards is a very talented team. They have some hard nose players that love contact”.
CB, Charles Booth, “Real excited about playing a team out of the norm especially from the North, much different athletes from us. Impressed with some skill position players but think we have good match ups all over”.
CB, Will Watson, “I’m very excited. I always wanted to play an out of state team since I was 12 to prove Florida has the best talent As far as the plane ride, I know about half the team has never been on one. Our opponent is very discipline and runs the ball a lot. It’s going to be a physical game. This game should prepare us for district play vs. Armwood next week”.