Africentric Secondary
Visit ThisWeekNews.com for Live Friday Night Football Coverage
Coach Alan Jones begins his fifth season when the 76ers play Friday as host to Beechcroft.
Independence
Senior-laden 76ers plan
to turn around fortunes
By SCOTT GERFEN
ThisWeek Contributor
Independence High School foot-
ball coach Alan Jones admits it’s start-
ing to feel a little strange.
After making a playoff appearance
and finishing 10-3 overall in 2003
with Division II state Offensive Player
of theYear Eric Haw, the 76ers have
finished 4-6 the past three seasons.
This year with 24 seniors and the
return of all-state running back Luther
Nicholas, who rushed more than
1,900 yards a year ago, he’s hoping
for resurgence and a City League-
South Division championship.
Central Ohio High School Football Preview ’07 • August 22, 2007
“We have great leadership this year
and I think that’s something we’ve
been lacking the last three years,”
said Jones, whose team opens Fri-
day against visiting Beechcroft. “I
think we finally have continuity within
our coaching staff so we’re all on the
same page and the kids know exactly
what we want and know what they’re
supposed to do.”
Last season, Independence tied
South at 4-3 in league play behind
Marion-Franklin (7-0), Eastmoor (5-
2) and ahead of West (3-4), Walnut
Ridge (3-4), Africentric (2-5) and
Briggs (0-7).
It opened last season with losses
to Beechcroft (44-19), Upper Arling-
ton (58-0) and Hilliard Davidson (43-
6) and closed with losses to Marion-
Franklin (33-0), South (38-8) and
Walnut Ridge (21-6). UA (Division
I), Davidson (Division I) and Mar-
ion-Franklin (Division II) were play-
off qualifiers, with Davidson winning
a state title and finishing 15-0.
“The kids have been working
58 hard and the coaches have been
At a glance
INDEPENDENCE 76ERS
Colors: Red, white and blue
Coach: Alan Jones, fifth season
Key players: Deon Brown, Terrell Carter,
Ryan Dodson, Andrais Elliott, Jordan Fells,
Brandon Guinn, Wendell Hill, Anthony
Lovelace, Luther Nicholas and Charles
Small
On the Web: columbus.k12.oh.us/inde-
pendence/index.html
2007 SCHEDULE
Aug. 24.......Beechcroft..............Home
Aug. 31.......Northland.................Away
Sept. 7 .......Hilliard Davidson ......Away
Sept. 14 .....South .....................Home
Sept. 21 .....Briggs ......................Away
Sept. 28 .....Africentric ...............Home
Oct. 5 .........West ......................Home
Oct. 12 .......Eastmoor .................Away
Oct. 19 .......Marion-Franklin.........Away
Oct. 26 .......Walnut Ridge ............Away
2006 RESULTS
(4-6 overall, 4-3 City-South)
Beechcroft.............................L, 44-19
Upper Arlington ........................L, 58-0
Hilliard Davidson ......................L, 43-6
Briggs.....................................W, 48-0
Africentric .............................W, 34-20
West ....................................W, 56-20
Eastmoor..............................W, 33-28
Marion-Franklin ........................L, 33-0
South ......................................L, 38-8
Walnut Ridge ...........................L, 21-6
BE THE ONE to
champion
life for patients in need.
1-800-GIVE-LIFE
BloodSavesLives.org
working hard,” Jones said. “It’s just
a matter of fixing the little things
that we didn’t do last year. I think
a lot of our troubles have been
because of inexperience.”
Independence will have plenty of
experience at the skill positions with
Nicholas, senior fullback Jordan Fells
By Chris Parker/ThisWeek
and senior receivers Brandon Guinn
and Terrell Carter. Senior Charles
Small will start at quarterback, but
Jones has three others he’s ready to
throw in the mix.
“I think the biggest change for us
this year is that we’re more like a fam-
ily,” said Nicholas, who rushed for
1,942 yards on 304 carries and scored
14 touchdowns. “I think last year a lot
of the guys were all about them and
only worried about which college they
were going to go to.”
If the 76ers have a weakness this
year, it’s up front where senior Wen-
dell Hill (6-foot-3, 335 pounds) and
junior Andrais Elliott (6-3, 295) will
anchor both the offensive and defen-
sive lines.
“We have guys up front who
haven’t played there before, but we’re
looking for an aggressive kid who
can come off the ball and hit some-
body,” Jones said.
There also is the speed factor with
six players reaching the state track
and field finals last spring.
“Everybody around here knows
we run the ball, but we’ll put a little
wrinkle in there,” Jones said. “We
can throw it. We have somebody to
throw it to and we have somebody
who can put it out there. We’ll take
whatever a defense gives us.”
The defense will be led by all-City
returnees Carter and Fells in the sec-
ondary along with seniors Deon
Brown and Anthony Lovelace. Senior
Ryan Dodson should help with expe-
rience up front at defensive end and
Nicholas will play some at linebacker.
“I think there’ll be a lot of surprises
in the City League this year, and I
think we’ll be one of them,” Jones
said.
New attitude
boosting hopes
for Nubians
By SCOTT GERFEN
ThisWeek Contributor
Five seniors on the Africentric Sec-
ondary School football team seemed
to know with certainty at this time
last year that their frustration would
come to an end.
In his first season, coach Glenn
Blue had brought a new mindset to
a program that went 0-7 in its first
season in 2003 and 0-10 each of the
next two years.
The no-nonsense Blue understood
the barriers his team would face as a
small school in the City League-South
Division, but knew he had the per-
sonnel to compete with anybody.
In the opener, the Nubians crushed
Dayton Belmont 46-6, then went on
to finish 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the
league behind Marion-Franklin (7-
0), Eastmoor (5-2), South (4-3), Inde-
pendence (4-3), West (3-4) and Wal-
nut Ridge (3-4) and ahead of Briggs
(0-7).
“It’s a whole different mindset this
year,” Blue said. “A lot of kids would
get down real easy last year. This year
they’re confident and they expect to
do well.
“This will be their second season
in the system and they expect to
improve on that this year.”
Africentric will begin the season
with 45 players, 11 more than last
year, and six returning starters.
It must replace Bernie Agnew, who
was first-team all-City and all-dis-
trict and rushed for 525 yards on 75
carries with seven touchdowns and
caught 20 passes for 340 yards and
three touchdowns.
Quarterback Darius Rhodes, who
was second-team all-City and hon-
orable mention all-district after
completing 41 of 91 passes for 612
yards and four touchdowns, also is
gone.
The Nubians look to be strongest
on defense with the return of senior
linebacker Ryan Smoot, the City
League’s second-leading tackler
(105.5) with four sacks and 21 tack-
les for a loss.
He’s joined by senior end Desmond
Thomas (first-team all-City, honor-
able mention all-district), lineman
Zach Williams (second-team all-City,
special mention all-district) and strong
safety Breaker Heller (honorable men-
tion all-City).
“We have just about everybody
back on defense and this will be their
second year in the system so we plan
to start doing a little bit more scheme-
wise,” Blue said.
“Last year we were pretty vanilla,
but I think we’ll be a lot more intri-
cate this year.”
The offensive line, which last sea-
son helped account for 1,800 yards
At a glance
AFRICENTRIC SECONDARY NUBIANS
Colors: Purple and black
Coach: Glenn Blue, second season
Key players: Deshon Best, Victor Gra-
ham, Breaker Heller, Tajh Jones, Ryan
Smoot, Desmond Thomas and Zach
Williams
On the Web: columbus.k12.oh.us/cas
2007 SCHEDULE
Aug. 24.......Cedarville.................Away
Aug. 31.......Centennial..............Home
Sept. 8 .......Canton Timken .........Away
Sept. 14 .....West ......................Home
Sept. 21 .....Marion-Franklin .......Home
Sept. 28 .....Independence ..........Away
Oct. 5 .........South .....................Home
Oct. 12 .......Walnut Ridge ............Away
Oct. 19 .......Briggs ....................Home
Oct. 26 .......Eastmoor .................Away
2006 RESULTS
(4-6 overall, 2-5 City-South)
Dayton Belmont ......................W, 46-6
Linden ....................................W, 38-2
Bexley .....................................L, 47-8
Marion-Franklin ........................L, 40-6
Independence........................L, 34-20
South ....................................L, 32-24
Walnut Ridge.........................W, 16-13
Briggs.....................................W, 35-8
West .......................................L, 16-0
. . . .
Eastmoor...............................L, 49-22
BE THE ONE to
champion
life for patients in need.
1-800-GIVE-LIFE
BloodSavesLives.org
rushing, also remains intact.
Blue expects Smoot to have a
breakout year at running back.
“He leads by example, he’s in shape
and does what he’s supposed to do
and he’s already got three or four
years in so we expect him to do well,”
Blue said.
“It’s tremendous for us to have the
line back because they understand
the blocking schemes and that’s going
to be key.”
At quarterback is Victor Graham,
a Franklin Heights transfer who has
impressed Blue with his speed and
strong arm and leadership in the
spread offense. His targets will be
junior Deshon Best and sophomore
Tajh Jones.
“He’s the perfect quarterback for
the system,” Blue said. “If teams stack
the line and bring eight in the box he
can beat it with the pass.”
Blue’s biggest concern is depth as
a Division V school playing teams
that are mostly Division II.
He believes last year’s record could
have been even better without key
mistakes in two contests.
“In our games against South and
West we just didn’t play well,” Blue
said. “I think it was a lot of inexpe-
rience and not being familiar with
the system. We turned the ball over
nine times against South. When we
put together four quarters, we were
a solid team.”