THREE RIVERS AREA — It was a roller coaster season for the Augusta Red Devils in 2008, with the mid-season lows of losing four games in a row to finishing with a three-game winning streak and pushing their way into the playoffs. Close losses to Marked Tree, Cross County and McCrory could have made 2008 a season to remember. In fact, the one-point loss to eventual conference champion Cross County showed how close Augusta came to battling for the 2A-3 crown.
But with 12 starters returning, Augusta could see those fortunes turn back around again. What the Red
Devils get is a new head coach and achance to turn those close losses into wins.
New head coach Roosevelt Turner takes over for Reginald Murphy, who led the Red Devils for three seasons, two of those into the playoffs. Turner brings a wealth of experience as an assistant at El Dorado, Clarendon and Marianna. Turner said he is ready for his athletic team to get out and show how good they are.
"We may not have a lot of numbers, but the guys we have are very good athletes, and we are going to put them in a position to excel," Turner said. "We'll just take the best ones and get them out on the field." What the Red Devils may have a problem with is keeping the number of healthy bodies high. Turner acknowledges that low numbers plagued the team in 2008, and in order for the Red Devils to compete, more than 20 players need to be ready to go when the season starts.
What Augusta will have to deal with is the loss of its star running back, DeMarcus Spears, who placed the team on his legs during the Red Devils' winning streak last season. With his graduation, Augusta will have to turn its attention to junior running back Ishma Clark, who saw substantial playing time last year in Spears' shadow.
He was also strong on kickoff returns. Besides Clark, every other running back candidate is a bit of an unknown, but sophomore Kyle Williams was a star for the junior high team last season.
Leading the charge for the offense will be returning quarterback Brandon Briscoe, but in the words of Turner, Augusta has a number of good athletes, and that position could rotate among Briscoe and
junior Jordan Moore.
While depth may be an issue, the bulk of the starters on the
offensive line will return, and if they can stay healthy, Augusta
may be able to score at will. The line should be anchored by two
seniors, Mason Carter, who will return at center, and Zach Martin,
who take his spot at guard. Filling out the line will be three juniors:
Nathan Arnett, Jake Ford and Austin Hannah.
The Red Devils also have experience in the receiving corps with
seniors Jermaine Kendall and Matt Bowen nailing down their spots.
What little depth there is could come from sophomores Jaylon
Watson and Tim Finley.
"If we can stay healthy, I feel real good about what our offense
can do," Turner said.
Turner should be happy with the players on offense, but be
cause of low numbers, most of them will be the same players on
defense.
Sophomore Jonas Palton will join the already solidified line
made up of Carter, Mason, Arnett and Hannah. Martin will move
back into the linebacking corps, and he should be joined by Finley
and junior Octavius Lockhart, who could also contribute at run
ning back.
The safety positions are firmly in place with Clark and Martin
returning from last season.
BREAKING DOWN
THE RED DEVILS4-6 record for 20085
2008 finish in conference6 returning starters on both sides of the line
AUGUSTA RED DEVILS
Sept. 4 ...................at Hazen
Sept. 11 ............... at Rector*
Sept. 18 East Poinsett County*
Sept. 25 ..........Marked Tree*
Oct. 2 ........ at Cross County*
Oct. 9 ........................OPEN
Oct. 16 ................ McCrory*
Oct. 23 ...........Cedar Ridge*
Oct. 30 ................ at Salem*
Nov. 6 .......... Walnut Ridge*
Special, Pages 192, 193 on 08/23/2009