by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com
Great athletes and coaches, stellar facilities, hard work and plain-old good fortune allows football teams to be successful every season.
But one thing may be more important than the aforementioned traits.
Tradition.
When a program becomes used to being successful and everyone involved with the program is accustomed to it as well, winning is almost a given.
John Marshall is trying to get back to that point. The Justices posted back-to-back 4-6 seasons before registering a 6-4 mark in 2007, their first season over .500 since most of their players were just getting out of their Huggies.
That has brought out more personnel, more enthusiasm and more belief on Old Brook Road.
“That season last year was very special for us,” fourth-year Jayem coach Marvin Bridges said. “The guys were determined to do well. We were one game shy of basically getting into the playoffs.
“Our goal now is to get there. 6-4 last year, our goal is really to surpass that. That’s going to come from hard work and determination.”
And it’s going to come from a mostly new group. The Justices just saw one of, if not the, most successful football classes – in terms of going on to play in college – in the school’s illustrious history.
JM’s staff helped 11 players move on to the next level.
“A lot of people think we’re not going to be very good,” Bridges said. “We lost [Jayvon] Brownlee. We lost all of our linemen. We lost Demos [Moore]. But we’re going to be all right.”
Offensively is where JM was hit by graduation the most, but tons of athleticism remains.
Watch out for basketball stand out Maurice Johnson, who moves outside from tight end. His 6-5 frame, good speed and now sharper vision should enable him to be one of the top targets in the area.
“For me being a receiver, I’m going to run a lot of fade routes,” said Johnson, who got contacts for his eyes before John Marshall’s Central Region championship run in basketball. “And I don’t think anybody in our district can jump with me. It’s going to be all year.”
Arnold Harris steps in at QB and has the tools, including elite decision making. He’ll stand behind a young offensive line, led by junior Brandon Brooks, a 350-pounder who can move.
A myriad of backs and receivers are available to keep defenses off balance.
Speaking of defense, most of JM’s whole unit returns, led by LB Randall Braxton. Johnson will play safety, and look out for Ernest Brown, another basketball player. He’ll be around the ball a bunch.
2007 record: 3-4 Colonial District, 6-4 Overall
2008 schedule
2007 result
(all games at 7:30 p.m., unless
noted)
Aug. 28, at Armstrong, 4 p.m. W, 38-6
Sept. 6, vs. Huguenot, 1 W, 48-13
Sept. 12, at Hopewell W,
26-14
Sept. 26, at Deep Run L, 26-35
Oct. 3, at Hermitage
L, 14-56
Oct. 10, at Patrick Henry L, 6-28
Oct. 18, vs. Mills Godwin, 1 L, 14-26
Oct. 25, vs. J.R. Tucker, 1 W, 56-0
Nov. 1, vs. D. Freeman, 1 W, 21-14
Nov. 8, vs. T. Jefferson, 1 W, 26-12
Big games: The Big Four. JM did not handle its tough four-game stretch versus Colonial opponents Deep Run, Hermitage, Patrick Henry and Mills Godwin, losing by a combined an average of over 21 points per contest. They have to do better in that stretch to make a playoff run.
Key players: Randall Braxton, LB/TE, Sr.; Maurice Johnson, WR/SS, Jr.; Arnold Harris, QB, Sr.; Brandon Brooks, OG, Jr.; Kenny Collins, RB; Artis Street, C, Sr.; Ernest Brown, DE/LB, Sr.
Key
losses: Click here to visit JM’s alumni. There are too many to name, but we’ll mention Darius Jackson (QB) and Jalal Gee (OT), who are both at Hampton, and RB Jayvon Brownlee.
Top
newcomers: Kyle Jackson and Quentin Ward, offensive line coaches. Jackson starred at JM before going to Virginia State. He previously coached Henrico’s line. Ward is a former Marshall-Walker star and played with the Seattle Seahawks.
The skinny: JM lost a lot, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The defense should be able to keep them afloat while the offense catches up, enabling JM to have another successful run. How successful? We’ll see if the tradition is back.
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