Byrd to lean on defense as offense gains experience, confidence early in 2019

In any option-oriented offense, the fullback plays a key role in its success. How do you replace a fullback who was a three-year starter and finished his career in the top five among rushers in the 114-year history of a program?

The short answer is, you don’t. That’s the scenario entering the 2019 high school football season for C.E. Byrd head football coach Mike Suggs.

Charlie Barham, who was all of 5’8” inches tall and 180 pounds, finished his brilliant career with 2,361 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns ranking him fifth on the school’s career rushing list. Barham rushed for 1,479 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2018 ranking him fourth on school’s single-season rushing list.

How does Suggs replace this vital cog in the Jackets’ multiple-option attack? Suggs, who begins his 22nd year at the helm of the Byrd football program, will turn to 6-foot, 170-pound senior Jeremy Williams to fuel the Byrd offense. Williams rushed for 245 yards and two touchdowns in nine games last year as Barham’s backup. Despite getting just 36 carries on the year, Williams averaged 6.8 yards per carry.

“You don’t just replace a guy like Charlie Barham,” said Suggs. “He was as tough as they come and ran with an aggressiveness and awareness that’s unique to him. Jeremy (Williams) gives a combination of speed and power that we really like. We had some attrition over the spring and summer where we lost a couple of guys, so other backs will have to step up.”

Two wingbacks Suggs hopes will step up and take some of the load off of Williams are juniors William Berry (5’9”, 153), and Venzell Thompson (6’0”, 170). Another pair of junior Elijah Tilmon (5’5”, 160), and Jamarsha Hughlon (5’8”, 133) will also compete for playing time in the Yellow Jackets’ backfield.

One big asset for Suggs and Byrd is the fact that starting quarterback Cameron Felt returns for his senior season. Felt, (6’1”, 180), has started the better part of his previous two varsity seasons. Last year, Felt rushed 267 yards and three touchdowns. He completed nearly 66 percent of his passes (23-of-35) for 446 yards and three touchdowns against two interceptions.

Felt’s maturity, leadership and experience will be vital for Byrd’s inexperienced offense, which has just three starters returning. How quickly the rest of the offense can grasp the facets of Byrd’s multiple-option offense will be vital to the unit’s success.

“You can open up the playbook with him (Felt), but if the new people around can’t get it then you can’t,” said Suggs. “He (Felt) certainly can with the experience he has but with the inexperience the others have, it’s according to whether or not they can do it.”

The success of Byrd’s multi-option attack will largely depend on the guys up front along the offensive line which has just two players returning in center James Rushing (6’1”, 230, Sr.), and right tackle Calvin “Trey” Lester, III, (6’1”, 276, Sr.). Juniors Josh Courtney (5’11”, 230) and Bobby Simpson (5’10”, 294) are expected to take over at the guard spots. Michael Jenkins (5’11”, 200, Jr.) and Ellis Robertson (5’10”, 192, Sr.) will battle for the left tackle spot in training camp.

When the Jackets utilize a tight-end senior Sumner Scott (6’0”, 180) is expected to be the starter ahead of Tyreke Ruffins (5’8”, 195, Sr.), who tries to battle his way back from a knee injury.

Senior wide receiver Will Jordan (5’9”, 140) started a number of games last year when Carson Dunn had to move back to quarterback after Felt was injured in the middle of the season. Jordan is expected to be the starter but look for backup quarterback Kellum Humphrey (5’11”, 155, Jr.) to see a lot of playing time at receiver according to Suggs.

“Kellum (Humphrey) is too good an athlete to be standing on the sidelines,” Suggs said. “We need to be able to utilize his athletic ability.”

With seven starters returning as well as a number of experienced backups the strength of the 2019 Byrd Yellow Jackets football team is expected to be the “Purple Swarm Defense.” Suggs believes the defense will need to carry the team in the first part of the season as the offense gains valuable experience.

“Starting out in the spring, I think we’ll be better on defense and the offense is going to have to come along,” said Suggs. “We made some pretty good improvements in the spring from where we started to where we ended offensively but we still have a ways to go.”

Juniors Carson Bruno (6’4”, 240) and William Anderson (5’11”, 260) return to their defensive tackle spots. Bruno, who is the son of offensive line coach Lindsey Bruno, started every game last year and finished fifth on the team with 26 tackles, and led the team with three fumble recoveries. Four seniors, James Carinio (5’10”, 190), Logan Aymami (6’0”, 202), Gabe Talley (5’10”, 197), and Cayden Sattler (6’3”, 202), are expected to rotate at the two defensive end spots. Sattler is hoping to be ready for the season after suffering a knee injury in the spring.

Makarios “Junior” Brown (5’11”, 181, Jr.) and Chris Booras (6’1”, 155, Sr.) return to man the two linebacker spots. Brown finished third on the 2018 team with 40 tackles, including a team high nine tackles-for-loss. Booras was right behind Brown in total tackles with 32. Senior Osirus Graham (5’6”, 173) is expected to be the linebacker rotation.

In Byrd’s 4-2-5 defensive scheme the “buck” linebacker is a hybrid mixture of a linebacker and defensive back. The “buck” linebacker is a position that Suggs says is “open for battle” in training camp.

In the secondary, seniors Kyree Buck (5’9″, 146) and R.J. Poland (5’11”, 160) return at the corner back spots. Buck and Poland finished the 2018 season with 22 and 21 tackles, respectively. Buck led the team with five pass breakups.

Junior free safety Braydon Hermes (6’3″, 183) had an outstanding sophomore season in 2018. He led the team with 66 tackles and two interceptions. Hermes’ late-game interception and return set up Scotty Roblow’s game-winning field goal as Byrd beat Bishop Dunne (Dallas, Texas) 17-14 in the Battle on the Border VIII. Chris Grieder (5’11”, 152), who saw a lot of playing time in 2018 both at free safety and weak safety, returns. Senior Teyari Kelly (5’8”, 166) and a trio of sophomores – John Jordan, Tyler Poland and Ryan Todd – will battle for the weak safety starting job.

In Mike Suggs’ 21 years as the Byrd head coach, he’s been blessed with a plethora of outstanding place-kickers and punters. Roblow, a Northwestern State signee, was an All-State place-kicker last year for Yellow Jackets. Roblow went 6-of-7 on field goals, including two game winners, 30-of-32 on PAT kicks, averaged 50.4 yards per kickoff with 34% of his kicks resulting in touchbacks. He also had 21 punts for a 38.3 average with a long of 64, and five of his punts were downed inside the 20. Suggs will turn to seniors Levi Holley (6’3″, 164) and Landon Moushon (5’6”, 171) to try to fill the tremendous void left by Roblow. Suggs says he sees using the duo on short field goals and PATs, but that Byrd fans may see Hermes kickoff, punt and long-range field goals.

Suggs wasn’t quite sure who will return kicks, but expects Hermes and Grieder, who returned punts last year, to assume the duties again this year.

The dean of area coaches, Suggs, who’s entering his 30th year at the Line Avenue school, has never shied away from playing tough competition. He believes that playing good teams prepares his team for the tough competition the Jackets will face throughout the year.

“The schedule is tough, but I like it that way,” said Suggs. “You want good challenges early. You want them battle tested. I just think you get more out of that then playing a bad team and beating the hell out of them. Playing a real good team and winning a close ballgame or even if you get beat gives you a better idea of what type of football team you’ve got, and it gets them in the mode of being competitive right off the bat.”

Byrd’s 2019 schedule is a perfect representation of that philosophy. The Jackets begin the season in New Orleans against Brother Martin. In week two, Byrd will make its ninth appearance (7-1 record) in the Battle on the Border High School Football Showcase against perennial powerhouse West Monroe. Week three features the seventh straight meeting between Byrd and the Calvary Cavaliers, who will be one of the top teams in Div. IV.

In week four, the Jackets begin District 1-5A play on the road against the Haughton Buccaneers, who are one of the preseason favorites to win the district. Haughton returns all of its skilled position players to its explosive offense. The trip to Haughton is the first of three jaunts across the Red River to Bossier Parish for the Yellow Jackets. Byrd plays at Parkway and at Airline in weeks six and eight, respectively.

In between the trips to Bossier Parish, the Jackets will entertain an old District 1-5A rival back into the mix when the Natchitoches Central Chiefs visit Lee Hedges Stadium in week five. Byrd and Natchitoches had many of epic battles during the 1990s and early 2000s when the Chiefs and Jackets were in the same district.

Week seven, the Byrd Yellow Jackets and Benton Tigers will meet for the first time in history. Benton makes the move up in class to 5A. The Tigers have made the playoffs six consecutive years.

Arguably the best rivalry in Shreveport, the annual “Backyard Brawl” between Byrd and Captain Shreve will have the added thrill of playing on Halloween night. The Gators return the majority of their starters from last year’s team and will be looking to stymie the Jackets’ dominance in the series. Shreve is also one of the preseason favorites in the district.

For the first time since 2016 Byrd will be playing in week 10 as the Jackets will face off against crosstown rival Southwood in the regular season finale.

Byrd will looking to improve on its 7-3 record and No. 4-seed in the LHSAA Division I playoffs from a year ago.

“We’ll be better defensively, especially in the secondary, and I think we’ll be alright offensively,” said Suggs.