SPRING JAMBOREE RECAP

Six years ago, Elkmont’s football team won its first playoff game in school history. Since then, Elkmont has won first-round playoff games in 2009 and 2011. 

After losing in the first round last year, Elkmont head coach Sean Holt is eager to take the team even further.  To do that in 2015, a lot of players with little experience will have to grow up in a hurry. The Red Devils lose 16 players to graduation from a team that went 8-3 and finished third in 4A Region 8 in 2014.

“We’ve got a lot of new guys,” said Holt. “We lost 16 seniors and lot of playing time. We had five new guys on the offensive line (against Hatton).”
Elkmont wrapped up its spring season last week with a victory at Hatton in a jamboree game. Elkmont’s varsity led 24-21 after three quarters. The junior varsity beat Hatton 20-7 in the final quarter.

“We just kept it simple, just a few blocking schemes, so not a lot to think about,” said Holt. “We ran a lot to the edges, so they didn’t have to block much up the middle. I’ve got faith that these guys will pick it up.”

While Elkmont will be breaking in a new offensive line, returning are starting running backs Zeb Pankey and Eli Hobbs and quarterback Jordan Nelson.

The Red Devils will be replacing most of their defensive starters as well including All-State linebacker Jared Bailey. Showing promise in the secondary are Grant Murphy and Hunter Pittman. Both had interceptions against Hatton.

“Defensively, it was all new faces,” said Holt. “Even if they played some, they were playing in a position where they hadn’t played before.”

Elkmont opens its season Friday, Aug. 28, at home against Ardmore.

SOURCE: NEWS COURIER

ELKMONT AT THE JAMBOREE

Some fantastic action shots by Down Home Portraits; visit their site to order some of your favorite player or cheerleader.

MOTHER NATURE AT THE YOUTH FOOTBALL JAMBOREE

Mother Nature stole the show at the 2014 Youth Football Jamboree.  Battling a heat index of 105, the Pee Wee Red Devils never found their groove in their first game against East Limestone, falling 13-0 to a bigger and faster team. 

Just prior to the Red Devils'  kickoff against the Clements Colts, the bottom fell out and Mother Nature put on a fabulous lightning show that resulted in the rest of the Jamboree games being cancelled due to weather.  The Youth Football regular season opens on September 6 at Athens Middle School - hopefully to cooler fall weather.

SPRING JAMBOREE THIS FRIDAY

The Elkmont Red Devils football program are in the second week of their spring practice season.  This Friday, we will have the opportunity to get an early preview of our team next fall.

Football Spring Jamboree @ West Morgan
 
4:30 - Elkmont vs Hubbard (2 quarters)
 The county’s longest tenured football coach, R.A. Hubbard’s Nicholas Vinson, enters his fifth season with the Chiefs looking to build on a 2013 campaign that saw his squad capture the Class 1A, Region 8 championship and advance to the second round of the Class 1A playoffs.
 
6 pm- Elkmont vs Tanner    (2 quarters)
Tanner was last year's 2A state champions

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE EAST LAWRENCE EAGLES?

From Alabama to Montana and back.
Ernie Ferguson logged quite a few miles this offseason in his quest for the perfect offensive scheme to fit his East Lawrence High personnel.

More than 4,000 miles later, the East Lawrence High coach believes he has a solution.
At East Lawrence, an option-style offense will remain.
But the scheme and philosophy underwent drastic overhauls.
"This is of a run-pass option with more pre-snap reads," Ferguson said. "I went to Montana to talk to a high school coach who runs this offense, and it's different than anything I've used before. We're changing things up significantly to fit the players we have and don't have."
So why the drastic change?
In high school sports, graduation affects personnel. And East Lawrence's roster lost one of the area's dynamic, and versatile, playmakers: Former quarterback Terrence Deloney, who last season accounted for almost 3,000 yards and 37 touchdowns.
Ferguson said new quarterback Allen West is capable of leading East Lawrence's offense, but has different skill sets than Deloney.
"I started out as a wishbone coach, and then moved to the spread option, so for me as a coach, this is really stepping out of the box," Ferguson said. "We're still going to be a running team, and the veer and counters are still in our package, but overall, it's significantly different and suits the players we have now."

Offense

West enters his debut season with huge shoes to fill. During the last few seasons, Deloney was a fixture for East Lawrence at quarterback, consistently making big plays as both a runner and passer.
Since taking over as East Lawrence's starting quarterback in the spring, West has been one of the busiest players on the Eagles' roster. According to Ferguson, with the new offensive system, West is being asked to do more on the field than any quarterback he has coached.
"With all of the pre-snap reads and post-snap reads, we're throwing a lot of responsibility at Allen," Ferguson said. "He has handled it well, and really has made a lot of progress this offseason."
West already has won the confidence of his teammates.
"Allen isn't as fast as Terrence, but as a quarterback, he does some things better," running back Dakota Millwood said. "For one, he's a better passer, so we're going to be able to spread the ball around more. He's a perfect fit for this system."
With the season quickly approaching, West said he is beginning to gain confidence. Having Millwood returning at running back, along with depth at the running back positions, has helped.
"There has been a lot thrown at me, but I'm catching on," said West, who played some quarterback in 2012 as Deloney's backup. "Some of the reads were difficult at first, but it's like anything else, it gets easier the more you do it."

Defense

Because so much time this offseason was devoted to the new offensive scheme, Ferguson said since fall practice began in August, more emphasis has been placed on improving East Lawrence's defense.
On defense, East Lawrence returns just four starters. In 2012, the Eagles gave up 26.2 points per game.
"My coaching background has always been on offense, but I would rather us be better on defense," Ferguson said. "I would rather win 2-0 than 99-98 any day of the week. We're devoting a lot of time to getting better on that side of the ball, working on fundamentals, tackling, etc."
Ferguson said linebacker Ben Copeland and defensive back Tyler Mitchell have filled leadership roles on East Lawrence's defense.

Prognosis

With just nine returning starters — five on offense, and four on defense — East Lawrence's offseason had a rebuilding theme. The Eagles finished the 2012 season with a 4-6 record and missed the Class 4A playoffs.
Ferguson said the players made progress in the weight room, gaining size and strength, and on the practice field, that's translating into positive signs.
"Strength wise, we had nowhere to go but up," Ferguson said. "And we had a very good offseason in that aspect. I can see signs of progress, but because we don't have a lot of depth, a lot of how successful we are is going to depend on keeping everyone healthy and on the field. If we can stay healthy, I think we could be better."
Despite having so many new starters on the field, East Lawrence's players enter the season with optimism.
"We've definitely improved," Millwood said. "I can see it. All of us can see it. A lot of people already are writing us off, and that's fine, because we all feel like we're going to surprise a lot of people this year."

East Lawrence at a glance

Coach: Ernie Ferguson; third season
2012 results: 4-6; 2-5 in Class 4A, Region 8.
Jamboree:  Elkmont
Region 8 Season opener: Aug. 30 vs. Lawrence County
Returning starters: Four on offense; four on defense.
Big games: Aug. 30 vs. Lawrence County; Sept. 20 vs. West Limestone; Oct. 4 vs. Priceville.

Source:  Decatur Daily

ELKMONT FOOTBALL ONLY 6 WEEKS AWAY

Football info... Work day is August 3rd, the hamburger supper and steak & weenie game is being moved to Saturday August 17th @ 7:00 instead of Friday August 16 and the Jamboree is August 22 at East Lawrence.

If your child plays for Elkmont High Varsity football, please contact Leigh Kennedy Thomas.  She has some great ideas to make this season exciting.  You can message her on facebook.
Leigh's facebook page link:

ELKMONT SCORES 23 POINTS IN FOURTH QUARTER

Jonathan Deal chose our game to cover last night.  Please send him an email telling him how much you appreciate him coming.  Be sure to grab a copy of today's paper for those scrapbooks

By Jonathan Dealjonathan@athensnews-courier.com

ELKMONT — It was too little to late for Elkmont Thursday night as the Red Devils dropped a preseason game to East Lawrence 26-23 on their home field. The Eagles led 26-0 after three quarters before a furious Elkmont nearly paid off with a win.

It was Elkmont’s inexperienced, younger players that nearly pulled off the dramatic comeback. Entering the game with a chance to show out and earn some playing time, Elkmont’s youngsters did not disappoint.

“We’re just young, no way around it,” said Elkmont head coach Sean Holt. “We’ve got to grow, but the good things is we can get better. It gives me hope that we’ve got some people that can push each other in practice maybe. Everybody is working to get better. We stated earlier this week that we’re hunting 11 players. We don’t care who the 11 are.”

With little to play for but pride, Elkmont finally got on the board mid way through the fourth quarter when a pair of freshman hooked up for an 11-yard touchdown.  Quarterback Jordan Nelson rolled out to his right and lobbed a ball to Aaron Moss, who made a juggling catch it the goal line for the score.

Click on the video below for 2 minutes of Elkmont football

After Elkmont’s defense forced its second consecutive three-and-out, running back Mike Tucker marched the Red Devils down the field with several hard runs for first downs. Tucker finished as the team’s leading rusher with seven carries for 72 yards, all in the second half. Holt said he challenged his team at halftime to run the ball better in the second half.

“First half, our kids were a little shell-shocked,” Holt said. “They handed it to us, but we came back out with our starters versus theirs and ran the ball in the third quarter. We purposely said we are going to try and run the ball and we did.”

Elkmont finished the drive with an Alexis Hernandez 27-yard field goal in what seemed like nothing more than a special teams exercise, trailing 26-9 with four minutes remaining in the game.

Three plays later and the game were flipped upside down as Elkmont scored two defensive touchdowns in less than a minute. The first from a Bradley Broadway 60-yard interception return for a touchdown. Broadway caught the ball near the visiting sideline and streaked down the field to pull the Red Devils within two scores.

Two plays later and Josue Ferrazas found the ball at his feet from after an East Lawrence fumble. The junior scooped it up and carried it 26 yards for another Elkmont touchdown with 3:01 remaining in the game.

The Eagles were able to hang onto the ball and the game on the next possession as they ran out the clock. Despite the loss, Holt said his team should learn from the highs and the lows of the preseason game.

“We just have to have some kids that finally realize that they can’t say ‘who’s going to do it other than me?’ They know now that, ‘It’s got to be me and I’ve got to get it done,’” said Holt.

Elkmont committed six turnovers in the game while forcing three of its own.  Hayden Renew carried the ball 10 times for 50 yards in the loss.

East Lawrence was led by quarterback Terrance Deloney who carried the ball 15 times for 124 yards and two touchdowns. Carrington Coffey had six carries for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win.

East Lawrence will open its season at Lawrence County while Elkmont travels to Ardmore. Both games are at 7 p.m. Friday August 31.

Great pictures of the East Lawrence vs Elkmont Jamboree can be found at  Down Home Portraits

JAMBOREE - EAST LAWRENCE COMES TO ELKMONT

Eagles open at Elkmont

BY CHRIS YOW STAFF WRITER - MOULTON ADVERTISER

Published: Thursday, August 23, 2012 9:44 AM CDT

It took a last-second interception to secure a 19-16 win in last year's jamboree against Elkmont for East Lawrence.

This year, the Eagles hope a veteran offense and revamped defense can overcome the Red Devils once again.

Elkmont returns just five starters from last season. The Devils lost do-it-all quarterback Hayden Huseth to graduation, and will likely rely on sophomore Jared Bailey to pick up where Huseth left off.  In addition to losing Huseth, Elkmont must replace leading receiver Cole Glass, something the Red Devils may find more challenging than they would like.  East Lawrence will counter the Red Devils youth with experience.  The Eagles return five starting offensive linemen, all seniors. Something head coach Ernie Feguson is very excited about.

In addition to the linemen, 2011 Advertiser Player of the Year Terrance Deloney returns, giving the Eagles an offensive weapon not many teams will be able to defend.  Defensively, East Lawrence coaches are optimistic about this season, much more so than last. The numbers are up, although depth might be a problem. Counteracting the Red Devils' Wing-T offense will be the true test.  Elkmont runs their offense out of shotgun, much like the Eagles.

Ferguson knows his team will need to be focused and disciplined to slow down Elkmont, but feels like his team is prepared.

Game Time:  August 23 - 6:30 pm      
Location: Elkmont High School

East Lawrence Team Roster
Jersey Num Name Position Grade Height Weight 1 Malik Garth WR/DB 10 6'0" 162 2 Carrington Coffey RB/LB 12 6'0" 170 3 Skye Flynn WR/DB 9 5'6" 150 4 Ben Copeland WR/LB 10 5'10" 165 5 Allen West QB/DB 11 6'0" 142 7 Brian Kemper WR/LB 12 6'1" 170 8 Levi Garner RB/LB 11 5'7" 175 9 Justin Dotson QB/DB 9 5'6" 130 10 Arin Jones WR/DB 9 5'6" 125 12 Adam Terry WR/LB 9 5'10" 140 13 Dustin Hooie WR/DB 12 5'8" 131400 15 Tyler Nitchen WR/DB 10 5'5" 115 16 Austin Hooie WR/DB 12 5'11" 155 17 Eli Nolen WR/LB 10 5'9" 145 20 Brian Swain RB/LB 10 5'9" 156 21 Zachary Nitchens WR/DB 12 5'5" 140 22 Terrence Deloney QB/DB 12 5'9" 195 24 Jeffery Millwood RB/LB 11 5'9" 165 31 Amadi Bolden RB/DB 9 5'6" 130 33 Joe Hardison WR/DB 12 5'11" 140 34 Ryan Dillard WR/DB 11 5'10" 180 35 Timus Lowe RB/LB 9 5'10" 160 50 Ryan Carr OL/DL 11 6'0" 190220 51 Brandon Towe OL/DL 12 6'1" 235 55 Hunter Reeves OL/DL 10 5'10" 256 56 Zeke Sherrell OL/DL 12 6'0" 285 57 Zachary Sherrell OL/DL 12 6'0" 305 60 Tyler Face OL/DL 9 5'9" 180 62 Joe Bailey OL/DL 10 5'8" 215 63 David Chadwick OL/DL 11 5'8" 155 64 Canaan Brooks OL/DL 11 6'0" 215 65 Quamell Fuqua OL/DL 12 6'1" 230 66 Curtis Brown OL/DL 12 6'2" 225 70 Joseph Bailey OL/DL 12 5'9" 250 71 James Robinson OL/DL 10 6'0" 225 74 Joseph Burks OL/DL 10 6'0" 285 75 Terrance Thomas OL/DL 11 5'10" 278 80 Tristan Harris TE/DB 10 5'10" 170 88 Blake Harris WR/DB 9 5'4" 127