By Matt Turer – mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Heading into last fall, Jon Guidie felt his group might struggle a bit in the COC-Large. Didn’t happen. Carthage took home the conference crown on its way to a 10-2 season and state quarterfinals berth.
The Tigers head into 2017 with a chance to repeat as conference champs despite losing all-conference selections Keith Guest (QB/P), Trey Collins (RB/OLB), Shane Becker (WR), Tucker Edmonson (OL/DT) and Logan Kabance (ILB).
The success Carthage had last year being able to carry over to this season is in part due to all-state wide receiver Arkell Smith returning, in part due to four offensive line starters returning, in part due to a pair of promising new running backs, in part due to a still strong defense, and in part to a quarterback who led Carthage’s JV squad to a perfect record in 2016.
After never having played football before last fall, Smith finished his rookie season with 47 catches for 881 yards and 11 touchdowns, tallying over half the yards (1,720) and touchdowns (20) tossed by Guest. Guidie said himself he had “an outstanding season” while balancing that praise with an understanding of where Smith still is in his fledgling football career.
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL OF THE FALL SPORTS PREVIEWS
“It was all kind of new to him,” Guidie said. “Now he’s finally beginning to understand how to run routes. How to get himself open. How to attack the ball in the air.
“We knew he was an athlete, but it takes a special kind of talent to be able to get yourself open, and he’s learning how to do that. He still has some area for improvement, but he’s already night-and-day from last year.”
Day-and-night. Night-and-day. Either way, if the 6-foot-1 Smith has improved to any great extent from a season ago, that’s scary for the COC-Large. And great for Zeke Sappington.
Standing at 6’2”, 190 pounds, Sappington is Carthage’s new quarterback. He has good height, good legs and a good arm, and he led Carthage’s JV team to a perfect record in 2016.
“He has a lot of good experience in his two years on JV,” Guidie said. “He can run the offense real well, he can throw the deep ball well and we’ve got a guy who can go get it in Arkell Smith. He’s made good reads and hasn’t taken unnecessary chances.”
All-state lineman Tucker Edmonson (Northeastern State) has graduated, but all-conference selection William Prince and the rest of last year’s offensive line all return. That experience will be a luxury for Sappington and running backs Dillon Lancaster and Clay Newman.
“I think both those guys (Lancaster and Newman) will be as good as we’ve had in awhile,” Guidie said.
“This offense has the chance to be really good,” Smith said of a team that averaged 32.6 points per game in 2016. “Our defense can shut people down and our offense can score every possession, it seems like.”
CLICK HERE TO RANK THE AREA’S FOOTBALL CONFERENCES
Lancaster (Sr.) is coming off a 108-tackle season that followed up a 90-tackle sophomore year. He picked off four passes last year and will be a disrupter again in the defensive backfield.
Keilan Moore (Sr.) is back as well. Moore finished 2016 with five interceptions. His length is a constant challenge for opposing quarterbacks.
“This season is a success if we all just keep working hard together and do the little things we’re supposed to do,” Guidie said. “It all adds up. Just keep on building and getting better every single practice.”
It’s a simple equation, put that way. And under Friday night’s lights in a brand new multi-million dollar stadium in Carthage on Aug. 18, the test begins.
