Grace King, Glover settle in searching for success

When you think of Grace King sports, you think of soccer and, on occasion, basketball. Football has never really enjoyed success since the school went coed in the 1980’s and started playing the sport.

Part of the reason is not having enough talent and part of it is not having any consistency in coaching.

Brian Glover is providing stability, entering his third year on the job with the Fighting Irish.

“I knew when I took the job it had been a revolving door,” Glover said. “I knew that it was going to take a while to get where we wanted, four to five years. We had a setback with COVID but I see us getting a little better and the talent pool coming in is a little better. I see us as being on the right track.”

While the first two seasons have produced just two wins, there has been measurable progress made, with two wins last season.

Grace King must replace five key players who graduated, including a first-team All-District performer in offensive lineman Kevin Chung and four players named second team All-District, including defensive lineman Sidney Andrews, linebacker Haywood Sutton and a pair of good athletes in Maiyan Barnes and Steven Knight.

The Fighting Irish return 10 starters, including five on each side of the ball.

Most importantly, senior quarterback Tyler Pascua (5-10, 181) is back to run things. Last season, Pascua completed 35 of 79 passes for 476 yards and seven touchdowns with six interceptions.

“That is an excellent place to start,” Glover said. “Tyler is a four-year starter now. He and I are in lock-step with what I call. He can audible into different plays. It’s great to have that kind of leadership returning.”

Sophomore running back Paul Jones (6-0, 185) returns as well. Jones had 13 carries for 140 yards in 2021.

“Paul will play running back for the first time,” Glover said. “He played wide receiver for us and got a few carries. He filled a need last year but he is a natural running back, a great downhill runner. He is a good mixture of size and speed. He is going to be a goo done.”

Senior wide receiver Eric Nicholas (6-0, 185) is back after catching 29 passes for 603 yards and five touchdowns last season. The other receivers are sophomores Malcolm Jones (5-10, 151) and DeQuawn Nicholas (5-8, 134).

“Eric is our lone returning starter on the outside,” Glover said. “He is our big playmaker, our go-to guy. We are going to find ways to get the ball in his hands. We will move him around to get him the ball and to get good matchups. He’s electric with the ball in his hands.”

Up front, both starting tackles are back in seniors Brenan Hickerson (6-1, 203) and Arthur Burton (5-11, 244). The center is freshman David Melendez (5-11, 250) while the guards include juniors Cristian Cruz (5-10 254) and Jeffer Johnson (5-10, 258).

“The two senior tackles are important to what we want to accomplish,” Glover said. “They are bookends and they do a good job in all aspects. We are young, otherwise, but the others have physical ability. They just need experience after a good spring.”

Defensively, the front is a real strength with three of four starters back, all seniors.

That includes ends Davon Knight (5-10, 258) and Diego Molina (6-4, 210), along with senior nose guard David Gray (6-0, 300). The fourth starter is sophomore Leonard Riverio (5-8, 220). Knight had 33 tackles, including three sacks last season. Molina has 22 tackles, including three sacks and two fumble recoveries in 2021.

“Our defensive line will be the strength of the defense,” Glover said. “We have two senior starters in Knight and Molina and Gray is also an experienced senior. We are stout up front.”

At linebacker, sophomore Cody Jones (5-10, 185) returns to anchor the second level on the strong side. Jones had 21 tackles and forces a fumble last season.

Jones is joined by sophomore Kendall Turner (5-10, 183) on the weak side and by senior Evangelos Chung (5-9, 188) in the middle.

“Chung is a senior while Jones is a returning starter and while he is still young, he is a good one,” Glover said. “He played a lot last year and he is ready to go.”

There is one starter back in the secondary with strong safety Eric Nicholas returning to start both ways. Nicholas had 30 tackles last season. He is joined by Malcolm Jones at free safety, who will also play both ways. The corners are sophomores Maniecko Rickman (5-10, 128) and DeQuawn Nicholas, another two-way player.

“Eric plays on both sides of the ball but we will use him in certain situations on defense,” Glover said. “He needs some rest. The others are inexperienced and three are sophomores. All three had a great offseason.”

Sophomore Francisco Vazquez (5-6, 144) will handle kicking and punting duties.

The schedule opens at home on September 1 against Patrick Taylor before the Irish host Haynes Academy and Kenner Discovery. Then comes a matchup with rival Riverdale. The final non-district game is at home against Northlake Christian.

“Our mission was to schedule our non-district games as those we can compete well in,” Glover said. “We feel we can be competitive with all five opponents. We have to learn how to win and hopefully, can do so and get our confidence up for district play.”

District 8-5A play begins on October 6 against John Ehret, followed by another home game with Chalmette, the two best teams in the league. Then comes a battle with Bonnabel before the Irish close at West Jefferson and against East Jefferson.

“I think the league is going to be very good, better than last year,” Glover said. “I think it will be more competitive from top to bottom. Chalmette is good at what it does. West Jeff will be better. John Ehret is always powerful. East Jeff, Bonnabel and our team all figure to be a little better than last year.”

Armed with nine senior starters, Grace King has some experience and finally has some stability. More success could follow as early as this season.

“Realistically, what we are trying to do, the goal we have set is to do some things that haven’t been done in Grace King history,” Glover said. “We’re looking to set a mark for wins in a season. We want to be better than last year. Hopefully, we will not have any natural disasters and get a chance to play a full 10-game season. We want to make the playoffs.”

Click here for more CCS Prep Football team previews (including archives of past season previews).