High School Football Previews: Elmore County & Robert E. Lee (Percy Julian)
High School Football
Elmore County
Last season the Elmore County Panthers ended the season with a 7-3 record in the regular season and lost in the first round of the playoffs. This year’s team is ready to get back out on the field as the Panthers have a large roster this year with 77 players.
“They are playing with confidence and playing with aggression. They are ready to put pads on and start thumping. They’re tired of just helmets. They’re excited and they’ve been working hard,” says Head Coach Kyle Caldwell.
Not only do the Panthers have a large roster of players this season, but they also bring back a lot of talent from last year’s team.
“We have five seniors across the front with experience, and then, also a sophomore that started last year on the offensive line. And then, a couple of seniors at receiver, and then a senior at running back as well. We have a lot of experience coming back even though we lost our quarterback, but there is a lot of leadership still on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, we still have two returning tacklers from last year and we’ve added some pieces in the secondary that will be able to help out. Up front, we still return a lot of leadership with juniors and seniors as well,” says Caldwell.
According to two senior offensive lineman, Trevor Brown and Jonathan Thames, the Panthers are not looking to only play ten games this season, or even stop in the first round of the post season, their goal is 16 games.
“We look at 7-4 and we want to be better than 7-4, like coach said, play 16 games, play in December,” says Brown.
“We already learned what winning feels like and we like that feeling. We’re hungry for more and we want to go all the way to December,” says Thames.
Elmore County kicks off the 2023 season on August 25th on the road at Marbury.
Robert E. Lee (Percy Julian)
This season the Robert E. Lee General will begin going by their new name, the Percy Julian Phoenix. However, last season the General finished up 1-9, but are feeling optimistic as they head into the 2023 season.
“It was a large transition coming from 6A to 7A in one of the toughest regions in the state. We are built for the test and I’m excited to continue to see the growth. We are working everyday… the sky is the limit. We are going to go as far as our leaders take us and I’m excited,” says Head Coach Drequay Everett.
Percy Julian returns their quarterback from last season, Bryson McGrew, and Coach Everett has been impressed with his growth specifically over the offseason.
“He’s growing, he’s developing, he’s growing and he understands what we’re trying to accomplish concept wise and offensively,” says Everett.
Two things that Coach Everett has been trying to drive home to his guys
over the offseason is that they’re going to have to play fast and play smart.
“We’ve got the talent, we’ve got the ability, we’ve got the mental capacity, and we’ve been here before. It’s nothing new that we’ve seen. We’ve seen the Auburn’s, the Opelika’s, the Smiths Station’s, and the Central Phenix Cities and we’re ready to play ball,” says Coach Everett.
The Phoenix kicks off the 2023 season on August 25th against Sidney Lanier at Wetumpka.
