Head Coach Ron Gartrell has led Stephenson for the past 15 years and the one thing missing on the program’s long list of accomplishments is a state title.
The Jaguars return 15 of the 22 starters, giving this team a one up on the teams who have to rebuild from the ground up. Stephenson prides themselves on the hard work the coaches and players have put in during the offseason, and the bevy of returning starters this offseason has built momentum heading into 2013.
“We pride ourselves on our work ethic and also on our coaches. We are all in it together and we as coaches try to prepare ourselves as well as we can and we try to pass that on to the players and try to motivate them to do the best they can on the field. Its fortunate that they have kind of bought into what we do and we have been pretty good at it,” said Gartrell.
Experience plays a key role in having a season go the distance. Losses to key players adversity, and injury can rain on the parade, but the Jaguars are prepared to attack the season with high hopes that each starter will play his role to perfection.
“The talent is there, we just need to get the chemistry right. Everybody with the same goal and the same mindset and working together to accomplish that. We feel like we are in pretty good shape to accomplish our goals,” said Gartrell.
Every team has weaknesses they stress to improve on before the game opener and Stephenson is no exception. QB Justin Homan (now at Central Florida), DE Jonathan Wynn (Vanderbilt) and DB Ali Groves were all key players for the Jaguars and contributed greatly to the program. These positions and five more on offense and defense are roles Gartrell and his coaching staff have to fill in.
“Well we have a new quarterback, we have two guys that are competing hard for that position. We also have to rebuild our defense, [but] we do have some high quality players returning from last year. Special teams we are trying to create some depth at some key positionsm and hope our defense can perform at the level it has been performing for the past few years,” said Gartrell.
The Friday Night spotlight will continue to shine on the Jaguars. Six out of the 20 college prospects have already committed to various DI and DII schools, making the losses from 2012 a restock instead of a rebuild of talent. DB Jared Tucker, OL Tyler Hall, OL Jovan Barnes, OL Jordan Harris, WR Dexter Neal, WR Isaiah Zuber and K/P Wisdom Nzidee will return. The Jaguars added defensive assistant Doc Rivers from Tucker.
“There is no reason why we shouldn’t appear in the state playoffs,” said Gartrell. “We feel like we had a good team last year and we feel like our team will be a little better than last year. But we also feel that other teams are better as well. I take it one week at a time and hopefully by the end of the year we will be in the state playoffs. We have done it for the last 15 years.”
Stephenson plays in always-tough Region 6-AAAAA and will face region-rivlas M.L. King, Tucker and Miller Grove this year.
“We still feel like we have one of the toughest schedules in the state this year. We have our work cut out for us this year. We have been region runner up for the past two to three years; we haven’t been the best team in our region. With added people in our region, a realignment to include Tucker and M.L.King and Miller Grove and Mays the schedule is pretty tough. We are just gong to play hard and try to prepare as best we can,” said Gartrell.
The Jaguars will open at home vs Norland, Fla (Hallford) on Aug. 23
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