The East Marion Eagles got their first taste of another opponent this spring last week, playing two teams at Mount Olive.
East Marion played Wingfield (5A) and Lawrence County (4A) with 20-play scripts for both offense and defense May 10 and played up to the level of competition.
The Eagles scored three touchdowns against Wingfield and allowed one then scored one and allowed one against Lawrence County.
Head coach Kevin Jackson said the Eagles had a really good spring and preached needing to see effort and players knowing their assignments going into the games.
“We did both of those things very well,” he said. “Lawrence Lambert had a good day. He had two scores on the day, caught a pass for a touchdown then ran one for a touchdown. Wanya (Cook) carried the ball for us and had some good, powerful runs. Devin (Daniels), of course, had a good outing. He completed a few passes, one for a touchdown, and had a couple nice runs.”
Cook is likely to receive the bulk of the carries with Jarveon Howard heading to Syracuse. The 6-foot, 235-pound rising senior will bring a different style and edge to the running game as a true power back with Lambert, a rising sophomore, complimenting him as a scat back and Daniels, a rising junior, serving as a dual-threat quarterback.
On the other side of the ball the same names popped up when Jackson talked about his defense.
“Defensively, of course, Wanya anchored the defense at nose guard,” he said. “(Charles) ‘CJ’ Coward had a good game at defensive tackle. We’re young at linebacker; they have a lot of work to do. Our secondary held up pretty good. Lawrence and Darrin Haines, who had a decent spring outing, played well. Overall, from my perspective and our coaches’ perspective, we had a good spring.”
When asked about any new leaders stepping up this spring, Jackson was quick to say, “Oh yeah” and offered a full explanation.
“Of course, Wanya, we’re definitely expecting that from him, and he’s held up. Lawrence Lambert has really stepped it up a lot. He competes in all three sports — football, basketball and baseball — and hasn’t been in the weight room much, but he has come on his own to work out. He has really impressed me on the field this spring, catching the ball out of the backfield running the ball, and we even worked him some at quarterback,” Jackson said. “He’s looked good at all those positions. His leadership has stepped up, and he’s a young guy. Devin had a really good spring as a leader and getting everyone lined up. Then Darrin has been with us all of the winter trying to get better.”
The Eagles will be looking to improve on a 5-7 record and a first-round playoff exit next season and will host Amite County Aug. 17 to begin the year.
Pictured Above: East Marion’s Lawrence Lambert attempts to corral West Marion’s Ketarious Cotton in this file photo. | Photo by Mark Rogers
