1) What will new head coach Jerry Fletcher bring to the table?: There’s a lot of unknown going into the 2022 season for both Fletcher and the Eagles. Because of things outside of his control, he didn’t even get to meet his players until late June, giving the Eagles and him a very short runway going into the season. He’ll be going into his first game still learning some of his players’ names, let alone what they’re capable of on the field.
But he does seem to have one thing going for him — his preferred offensive system melds well with East Marion’s talent. The Eagles are never short on athletes who can make things happen in space, and this year is no different with Ka’Ron Weary, Jadarrius Mallard, Cory Johnson and Chris Magee returning to join quarterback LJ Andrews. That kind of talent screams spread offense, and that’s exactly what Fletcher has in mind.
Yet, there’s no substitute for experience, and that’s something Fletcher doesn’t have with his team. Most new coaches get to start with their squad during the spring and get to go through a spring game and a full offseason of practices and 7-on-7 scrimmages. Fletcher didn’t get that, through no fault of his own. It will be key for Fletcher and the Eagles to get on the same page quickly for East Marion to have a good season.
2) Functional passing game: Since Andrews first became the starter, it has seemed like the passing game for the Eagles just wasn’t organized or well-tuned. Whether it was because he was being asked to make full-field reads from day one or he was having to run for his life in the backfield, he really hasn’t had much opportunity to showcase his ability.
But that doesn’t appear to be the case any longer. With more cohesion within the system and a superb offensive line, this could be a big year for Andrews and the Eagles offense. The senior is coming off a serious knee injury, which occurred in East Marion’s first actual game, but is back to 100% going into the season. All the talent is there for him — he’s mobile, has a prototypical quarterback build and possesses a howitzer of an arm. If everything falls into place, and the Eagles mix in several pre-snap reads along with schemed shots down the field, he could assert himself as Marion County’s best quarterback by year’s end.
It will certainly help having a weapon like Weary around. When he was given the opportunity to make plays last season, there was no questioning who the best player on the field was for the Eagles — it was Weary. With excellent speed and leaping ability coupled with a large catch radius and natural ball skills, it’s like he was designed in a lab to be a No. 1 receiver.
But there were too many times in 2021 that East Marion completely abandoned the passing game and instead forced Weary to block on the edge. It was a strategy of former head coach Brad Hughes’ to play the first half in the spread and the entire second half in the Wing T. It actually did work to keep defenses guessing, but it excluded Weary and the passing game. If he’s given the opportunity to shine with a lot of targets, there is no ceiling for the type of season Weary can have.
3) Offensive line: It’s very uncommon in high school football for the entire starting offensive line to return for a second season. The Eagles did it a year ago with five sophomores in the starting lineup, and they are returning four of those five starters to create an experienced group in the trenches.
Lozavious Armstrong, Alex Miller, Kyler Collins and LaDarien Haynes each return as third-year starters on the best offensive line in Marion County, and they are only going to continue to get better. Ahmud Moses and Richodrick Pace are battling it out to be the fifth starter.
As frustrating as it was at times for the Eagles not to feature Weary in the passing game last season, it did make sense to at least feature the best position group they had and that was this offensive line. They’re big, athletic, disciplined and play with a real mean streak.
It’s not often that an offensive line is the strength of a high school football team, but that is the case at East Marion.
