the 2013 prep football section for jackson progress-argus

Jackson Progress-Argus • Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Jackson High School Red Devils Football Preview

2 Wednesday, august 28, 2013 • myjpa.com

index2013 football coaching staff ....Page 4

Varsity football schedule ..........Page 5

Junior varsity schedule ............Page 5

Football preview ......................Page 6

Football seniors ......................Page 7

Football juniors .......................Page 8

the dary Myricks File ...............Page 9

Football sophomores ........Page 10-11

Football freshmen ............Page 12-13

Cheerleading preview .............Page 14

Cheerleading coaches ...........Page 14

Junior varsity cheerleaders .....Page 15

Varsity cheerleaders ..............Page 16

Marching band preview .....Page 17-19

Wednesday, august 28, 2013 3 •myjpa.com

2013 red devils football preview

2013 Jackson High School Red Devils

Photo Courtesy of Picture Perfect Photography



Left to right, Bill Glass, Mike Eakin, Brady Johnson, J.W. Lal, Beau Garrett, Josh Pidgeon, Dary Myricks, Barron Hamlin, Corey Johnson, Jeff Myricks, Todd Wells and Eric Ball

2013 JHS Coaching Staff

TEAMWORK

923 S. Mulberry St.Jackson, GA 30233

(770) 775-7857www.cgemc.com

GO RED DEVILS



Date Opponent Location Game timeAug. 30 Mary Persons Away 7:30 p.m.Sept. 6 Eastside Home 7:30 p.m.Sept. 13 Monticello Home 7:30 p.m.Sept. 20 Alcovy Away 7:30 p.m.Sept. 27 Southwest-Macon* Away 7:30 p.m.Oct. 4 (Homecoming) Pike County Home 7:30 p.m.Oct. 11 Peach County* Away 7:30 p.m.Oct. 18 Henry County* Home 7:30 p.m.Nov. 1 Central-Macon* Home 7:30 p.m.Nov. 8 Carver-Columbus* Away 7:30 p.m.

* Region opponents

Date Opponent Location Game timeSept. 5 Pike Away 5:30 p.m.Sept. 12 Upson-Lee Home 5:30 p.m.Sept. 19 Mary Persons Away 6 p.m.Sept. 26 Griffin Home 5 p.m.Oct. 3 Spalding Home 5:30 p.m.Oct. 17 Lamar County Away 5:30 p.m.

2013 Varsity football schedule

2013 Junior Varsity football schedule

The City of Jackson is proud to show their support

134 South Oak St. Jackson

of all these �ne young people:

Good Luck Devils



Offensive options abound for Red DevilsIf 2012 was Jackson’s

Year of the Defense, the 2013 campaign will be about keeping its offensive options open.

With a pair of quarter-backs who could flip-flop starts, a talented and experi-enced receiving group and experience and strength in the offensive backfield, the Jackson High School team will have no shortage of ways to try to put points on the board. The question will be whether the team’s youth is an asset or a burden.

In his first season as head coach, Dary Myricks is looking for ways to get his youthful Red Devils more experience and for ways to plug gaps on the line, particularly on the defensive side, which he coached be-fore being tapped for the top job. Since the 2012 season, some of the Red Devils’ most talented linemen in Jay Woods and Justin Akins have graduated and joined the rosters at Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech, respectively. Linebacker Co Freeman signed to play at Division II Valdosta State.

Graduation has left the defensive line, particularly, with a measure of inexperi-ence, but coaches have high hopes for experienced of-fensive players who will be helping fill gaps on the other side of the ball as part of a rotation.

Myricks has been promoting the idea that his team will operate with “one heartbeat,” a theme from one of Jackson’s most successful past seasons, and working to get his players to think as a team that will win together and lose together.

That unity perhaps was solidified nowhere else more than in a four-day camp at Indian Springs State Park this month.

“We really have stressed to the kids the point of commit-ment to each other,” Myricks said. “We win and we lose together — collectively.”

That commitment will get its first test Friday, Aug. 30 when the Red Devils visit rival Mary Persons High School for the annual Back-yard Brawl, a contest the Red Devils were never able to win when Myricks was a player for Jackson, but a win he’s hoping to kick off his head coaching career with.OffenseOn the offensive side of

the ball, the Red Devils’ core line has perhaps the most experience of any group on the team. The returning center, junior Rob Reeves, will be supported by leaders like senior Levie Heath and junior Tevin Usher. Returning defensive lineman Michaill Carter, a sophomore, is also expected to bring with him size and the experience he gained last season.

Heath, according to Myricks, has become a leader on the team, and as

such will likely see time on both sides of the ball. “He sets the attitude for what I want our line to be on both sides of the ball …” Myricks said. “He’s really turning into a role model for what we want in physicality.”

Another physical player, senior running back De’Eric Bell, will also likely see playing time on the defen-sive side of the ball, Myricks said. “We have a lot of numbers. We just don’t have a lot of player experience and depth and the only way to create that is using players in multiple roles,” he said.

In addition to Bell in the backfield along with talented sophomore back Ira Sheppard, who Of-fensive Coordinator Todd Wells noted might not be as strong as Bell but is just as shifty, the Devils also have freshman Antavius Grier as a third running threat in the arsenal. “He’s another guy that’s going to have to be reckoned with … He’s got extreme speed. He’s got good moves, good hands,” Wells said. “We’re going to move him around from posi-tion to position.”

But Red Devils quarter-backs will also have experi-enced targets to throw to in

wide receivers Juan Sims, a junior, and Rontavious Miller, a senior.

Wells said both Miller and Sims are big threats, and that Miller in particular brings size to the position.

“I told my quarterbacks, I said listen, you’ve got good guys on both sides,” Wells said. “We’ve even got our package where we line both of them up on the same side … and we hope we get a matchup problem where a linebacker’s trying to guard Rontavious or something like that.”

“That’s what I always tell them: Give our guys a chance to make a play,” Wells said.

At the quarterback posi-tion, freshman Trent Davis and junior Everett Pope have both been groomed over the summer to take charge.

Wells said Davis and Pope, while competing against each other for play-ing time and starts, are also motivating each other to improve. “They’re compet-ing against each other but they’re also for one another,” Wells said. “They’re the first two on the field every day. They motivate each other and push each other to get better.”

Wells said Davis is con-sidered to be more athletic, while Pope, whose playing time at the varsity level is negligible, is considered to have the stronger arm.

“Both kids have worked extremely hard. Both of them have done everything we’ve asked them to do to try and get better,” Myricks said. “Neither kid has started a varsity football game … They’ll have to learn the speed of the game. They’ll have to learn to make deci-sions and deal with the pres-sures of being a quarterback in a high school system.”DefenseOn the defensive side of

the ball, the Red Devils will be largely untested. Accord-ing to Defensive Coordi-nator and Assistant Head Coach Mike Eakin, only two defensive players with any 2012 starts at all under their belts are returning for the 2013 season — Michaill Carter and senior Aaron Schwartz.

“We’re basically replacing nine starters or 10 starters, and I don’t think we’ve ever had to do that,” Eakin said. “We’re going to be inexpe-rienced and we’re going to have some growing pains.”

But Eakin said he sees

promise in the younger players on the squad. “The one thing I’m excited about is we’ve got good young players. Our young players are going to be good players. It’s going to take them some time. They’re not there yet, but I’ve been really happy with that,” he said.

Some of the defense’s key starting players have also suffered pre-season injuries that knocked them out of the Aug. 16 scrimmage game and their return is expected to bolster the defense.

“We don’t have enough linemen to go around, we really don’t,” Eakin said. “As we go along we’re going to have to figure out a rotation to keep people fresh … And we’re going to have growing pains on that because we’ve never done it before.”

Eakin said senior inside linebacker Ladarian Barlow, along with Carter, Schwartz, and sometimes even Bell, will likely make up the core of the Red Devils’ defensive side. “But you know, the truth of the matter is, we don’t know yet,” Eakin said. “One thing about when you’ve got a bunch of brand new starters, everybody’s got an opportunity to be the next guy and I kind of like that.”

Eakin said the team has had a successful summer boosted by the success of the four-day camp earlier this month, the first such off-site camp in years for the Red Devils.

“We’ve got to embrace the process of trying to get to where we want to get — getting a little bit better every day, and getting a little bit better every game,” Eakin said. “Our kids have bought into the process so that’s a plus.”

By Michael [email protected]


2013 red devil seniors

Ladarian BarLowrB/LB

Levie HeatHoL/dL

BrasHun tayLorwr/dB

de’eric BeLLrB/dB

curran LacHappeLLewr/dB

roctavious wattsoL/dL

Joe BosweLLoL/dL

rontavious MiLLerwr/dB

deMario wHiteoL/dL

Kerontae dougLaswr/dB

aaron scHwartzLB


2013 red devil juniors

DemonD ChessonWR/DB

DeAnDRe JACksonWR

Justin smithoL/DL

CADe CheWningPk

AJ mADonnALB

JoRDAn sPRuiLLLB/RB

shA’CoLBiAn gRieRWR

eveRett PoPeQB/DB

JAtAviAn tysonWR/DB

heRston hALLWR/DB

RoB ReevesoL/DL

eQuAvius WAtsonoL/DL

skyLeR hAmmonDPk

JuAn simsWR/DB

gARRiCk stALnAkeRWR

tevin usheRoL/DL



The Dary Myricks File

Pro Football• 1999: Signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars but released before the start of the season.• 2000-2006: Seven seasons in the Arena Football League.• 2000: Played in four games with Caro-lina after being traded by Florida.• 2001: Named the Cobras’ most im-proved player after leading linemen in tackles with 17 1/2.• 2002: A career best season with 25 tack-les, one sack, one fumble recovery and three pass breakups with Carolina.• 2003: With the Detroit Fury, posted four receptions for 49 yards of offense along

with 10 1/2 tackles and one sack.• 2004: Signed as a free agent with the Georgia Force, recording eight tackles in nine games that season.College Football• Four-year letterman for The Citadel, 1995-98• 178 career tackles• Six career sacks• Named First Team All-Southern ConferenceHigh School• Four-year letterman in football, Jackson High School• Three-year letterman in basketball, Jack-son High School

Tapped as Jackson High School’s head football coach Feb. 27, Dary Myricks is launching his first season in the top job on the Red Devils’ coaching staff. He is also a 1995 graduate of Jackson High, where he is a counselor. Here are some of the highlights of Myricks’ football career.


RobeRt bennettoL/DL

ALLen HeRtoL/DL

WADe CHRistiAnC

CHARLes CARLyLeLb

QuinteRious FReemAnoL/DL

CoLby DougLAsDb/WR

JAmes CARLyLeLb

AnDReW KisHPK

Justin FinneyLb

miCHAiLL CARteRte/De

miCHAeL mALoneyLb

CHRis HeADDL

AntHony FResHWAteRoL/DL

2013 red devil sophomores


Kealin MannOl/Dl

Julian WalKerOl/Dl

ira ShepparDrB/DB

WeSt MOStellerOl/Dl

JuWan WatKinSOl/Dl

ny’J SMithWr/DB

tavariOuS phillipSOl/Dl

Jerry WattSOl/Dl

tyler SingletOnDB/Wr

taylOr SingletOnDB/Wr

OteriuS WhiteOl/Dl

JOrDan tySOnlB/rB

tyreKe thurManlB

2013 red devil sophomores


2013 red devil freshmen

Jeffery BurleyOl/Dl

CamerO evanslB

BranDOn HamBylB

austin BurgamyOl/Dl

levi frienDlB

tristOn HertOl/Dl

lOrenzO HigHWr

sHaDeriOus CrOWDerWr/DB

antavius grierWr/DB

DOrian JOHnsOnrB

trent DavisQB

antOniO grierte/De

tyQueze JOHnsOnWr/DB

tyreke mitCHellDB/Wr

James ODOmWr


2013 red devil freshmen

Jacob PettusLb

tyLer seagraveste/DL

PauL shaferoL/DL

corDeLL smithoL

ryan WiLLiamsDL

By Beverly [email protected]



Cheerleaders bring spirit to Friday nights

What would football sea-son be without the Jackson High School cheerleaders?

For starters, no one would be on the sidelines calling out cheers to the fans and pumping up the morale of the players.

Football games would be a lot less entertaining with-out the cheerleaders, too. No one would be there to per-form a pregame dance show or build human pyramids.

Every year, Jackson High School football cheerleaders have been a part of the expe-rience of Friday nights under the lights on Red Devil Hill.

The 2013 football season will be no different.

After attending the Universal Cheerleaders Association Camp at Lake Lanier Islands Resort over the summer, the Red Devil cheerleading squad has new cheers and dance routines for the football season.

The squad will be doing more stunting, also called pyramids, this year, JHS Head Cheerleading Coach Shonta’ Sims said. Cheer-leaders will also be doing more crowd cheers to get the fans in the stands involved, she said.

The cheerleaders are working to have signs made to hold up on the sidelines in front of the home-team crowd with words such as “Go Devils,” “Defense” and “Touchdown” printed on them, Sims said.

They will have a pregame dance show at every home game this year, too, Sims said.

The cheerleading squad will bring back the inflatable tunnel JHS football players

run through when they take the field at home games. Last year was the first year the tunnel was used.

“The students loved it,” Sims said. Before the final game of the 2012 season, the JHS senior football cheerleaders also got to run through the tunnel, she said.

They will also use the break-away vinyl banners before most games, Sims said. The banners save time and money, she said. The

reusable football banners were introduced last year.

The cheerleading squad will use a limited number of paper banners this year. Paper banners take time to paint and require the purchase of a lot of tape, Sims said.

The time the cheerlead-ers save by not making pa-per banners this year can be spent practicing their dance routines instead, she said.

Each year, the cheerlead-ers sell ads in the football

program, which is one of their largest fundraising endeavors, Sims said.

Proceeds from sales of football programs sold at varsity home games will go toward the purchasing needs for the cheerleading squad throughout the year, which includes an end-of-year banquet.

Last year, the funds helped the cheerlead-ing squad purchase pink T-shirts, hair bows and socks to wear for the “Pink

Out” game during October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This is the first year they sold space in the football program for a patrons’ list of area businesses, indi-viduals, family and friends as a fundraiser to help pay for cheerleading camp this summer.

Sims offered her thanks to the community for sup-porting the cheerleading squad with the fundraiser that allowed them to attend

the four-day camp.More fundraisers will be

held throughout the 2013-2014 school year. They would like to raise funds this year to purchase new basketball cheerleading uniforms, Sims said.

For the football season, there are 24 varsity cheer-leaders and 20 junior varsity cheerleaders.

JV football cheerleading coaches for the high school are Corendishe Watts and Chiquita Taylor.

2013 Red Devils cheerleading coaches

Shonta’ Sims (left), Chiquita Taylor


2013 red devils junior varsity cheerleaders

JanellyaDuffy

MollyParson

MackenziewilliaMs

cory-lynnDuncuM

sakoryasiMs

Macie wooDruff

HeatHerGraGG

cHance’stoDGHill

asHley wriGHt

kaleekitcHens

callielatHaM

DelaneylunsforD

MorGan arruDa

kaitlynBriDGes

BrittanyBrooks

alikBrowninG

alycyacoleMan

MaDDieDrake

JorDanDruMMonD

rileyMccravy


2013 red devils varsity cheerleaders

Destineebryant

jessicachambers

katelinDigby

jorDangoolsby

haley gragg

samariahenDerson

aungelichughes

kimberlypeeples

hannahrigsby

breannarogers

michaelarowlanD

morganslaton

marissastarling

shakeriasmith

branDeemann

ramirramarshall

carniciamoore

taylormorton

alyssapartain

DeunDrapickarD

whitneywalker

shianne witcher


2013 red devils marching band

Red Regiment has new show, new look for 2013

Jackson High School Band Director Tim Pietro-fere is calling this year’s marching band “Red Regi-ment 2.0.” It’s new and improved — with empha-sis on the new.

As soon as the JHS marching band steps onto the field at football games this year, the first thing Red Devil fans will notice will be the band’s new uniforms.

The uniforms feature dark blue cavalier-style hats with white feather plumes, bright red coats with dark blue and white trim, dark blue bibbers, and white gloves with white gauntlets.

The plumes have thin strips of silver mylar in them to make the hats sparkle when band members march under the Friday night lights.

The halftime show — “Styx and Stones” — per-formed by the marching band and the color guard will be all new for the 2013 football season. The show will feature medleys of songs by rock bands Styx and The Rolling Stones.

“This show kind of just came about. The kids wanted to do a tribute to the classic rock groups,” said Pietrofere, who started planning and preparing the show in December.

The “Styx and Stones” halftime show will have a “fuller and richer” sound from the band and showcase band members’ strengths, he said.

Each performance by the Red Regiment March-

ing Band during foot-ball games will be a bit different from the others. No two shows will be the same.

“We’ll always be adding something to make each show different,” Pietrofere said, adding that it might be the band or the color guard that adds something new.

The music Red Devil fans will hear from the stands will be new this

year, too. The march-ing band will play from a ‘stands tunes’ song list that includes classic rock, modern rock, hip hop and pop music selections.

Sometime around the start of the school year, the Red Regiment March-ing Band is getting a new sound system complete with amps, speakers, soundboard and wireless microphones.

The wireless micro-

phones can be attached to individual band members and make the solo per-formances on the football field stand out.

The band will be get-ting new instruments this school year — in-cluding flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets, trombones and percussion equipment — thanks to money set aside from the special purpose local op-tion sales tax by the Butts

County Board of Educa-tion.

Back in the Jackson High School band room, the band department will also be getting new chairs and music stands to be used by all of the bands at the high school.

On the last day of 2013, the Red Regiment will trade the field at Red Devil Hill for the turf at the Georgia Dome when it performs during halftime

at the Chick-fil-A Bowl.The bowl trip and relat-

ed festivities will be a new opportunity and experience for JHS band members.

“The kids are excited. The parents are excited. It’s just very exciting,” Pietrofere said of the school’s chance to be one of approximately 40 bands from across the nation to perform at the college football event that will be broadcast by ESPN.

By Beverly [email protected]



Left to right Terrell Banks, Quin Bostwick, Teri Lewis,

Brett Wise, Collin PentrackLeft to right, Kimberly Bowen (from left), Timothy Pietrofere, Katie Stewart, Jill Munoz

MacKenzi Costley (front), Anthony

Pacchioli (back, from left), Brett

Wise, Collin Pentrack

Thorne Anderson (front, left), Sean Kirby, Buford Chastain (back, from left), Jonathan Powell, Terrell Banks, Sam Costley, Quin Bostwick, Sam Greene, Greg Yasinski, Teri Lewis

Heather Burger

seniors

drumline

drum major

instructors

trumpets



Angel Mann (front, from left), Kristen Spence, Lauren Love, Jayci Fitzmayer, Sidney Pace

(back, from left), Mikeyrah Stewart, Haylee Goolsby, Amari Holmes, Emily Dittmar, Katherine Medina, Leanna Todd

Caitlyn Hildebrand (back, from left),

Taylor Gould, Jasmine Orr (front)

Dylan Grandstaff (from left), Katie Cook, Jacob Dinkins, Brandon Young,

Zack Young, Lewis Dunson

Cody McCloud (from left), Matt Jewkes, Quin Weaver,

Casey Martin

Angel Alexander (back, from left), Ashley Johnson, Christine Kizzire, Malan Wilder, Joba Duke (front)

color guard

saxophones

low brassclarinets

flutes

the 2013 prep football section for jackson progress-argus

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