|
|
|
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Super Six
Greater Louisville, KY
|
|
|
VYPE found six promising players in Class 1A – 4A schools in the Louisville area, plus Charlestown, Indiana, whom we’ll all want to watch this season. When these players take the field, their skills and talent cannot be ignored.
Gerwan Brewer – Valley High School
Try finding Gerwan Brewer on the football field, it isn't easy.
That's because he's always moving around. Every now and then you'll catch a glimpse of a blur--it's most likely Brewer.
On the offense he might be at running back one play, then at wide receiver the next. You’ll also see him at defensive back for a while, then you’ll find him returning kicks. And when he isn't returning kicks, he's making them.
"He won't come off the field--he even kicks extra points for us," Valley High School coach Roger Deskins says.
Brewer, a senior-to-be, led 4-A in scoring last year during the regular season (16.4 points per game) with 19 touchdowns and 13 conversions. Not too bad for a guy who was an undersized waterboy when he was younger.
“I was just the guy carrying the water,” Brewer recalls. “Nobody would let me play because I was too young.”
Ever since then football has been the love of Brewer’s life.
“It’s my heart, my soul, it’s all I do,” he said.
Brewer has been the heart and soul of the Vikings’ back-to-back nine-win seasons. A remarkable turnaround for a team that won just four games his freshman year and a program that won a total of three games from 2000-03.
"He's been our best player," Deskins says. "Eighteen wins in two years, he's been a major part of that. We'll see what his senior year brings."
This season, the 5-foot-8 athlete will likely spend most of his time at running back where he can utilize his speed (he runs a 4.6 40-yard dash).
"One of his specialties is his return abilities on kickoffs and punts, he's real quick, (and) he's one of the better defensive backs in the area," Deskins said. "He's quick, he's fast and he knows the game of football.
He's got some good football instincts."
But don't blink, you might miss him.
Dalton Cissell – North Bullitt High School
The first time Dalton Cissell touched a football in a varsity game as a freshman, he returned a kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown.
It seems like he's been running ever since.
Now a senior, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound running back has put up huge numbers in his first three seasons at North Bullitt, rushing for more than 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns. Last fall he led Class 4-A in rushing (142.2 yards per game) and was fifth in scoring (13.2 points per game) during the regular season.
To many it probably seems that Cissell has been running for the Eagles forever. But in actuality, he has only been a fixture at the school for about a decade.
"I can remember him when he was a little 7 or 8-year-old running around and getting in everybody's way," North Bullitt coach Brett Newton says.
Cissell grew up the youngest of three football-playing brothers (Joe and Preston were the others). His father, Steve, was his little league coach, and his mom, Kelly, is his No. 1 cheerleader.
"My daddy probably put a football in my hands when I was in the crib," says Cissell, who has a better than 3.6 grade-point average. "It's been football as long as I can remember, I love it."
Playing with, and trying to keep up with, his older brothers has paid off in the long run for Cissell, who ranks 28th on the all-time state rushing list entering this season.
"He's a great leader with a great work ethic," Newton said. "He has a good combination of strength and speed and good field vision, which makes it easier to do the job he does."
And that job has been the same since his freshman year—run, run to the end zone.
Cameron Metzger – Charlestown High School
After Jason Hawkins became the head football coach at Charlestown, he watched film of some of the returning players he'd have on his first team.
He was amazed at what he saw.
"I said, 'Boys, I got a stud nobody knows about,'" Hawkins recalled telling anyone who would listen.
Well the secret got out last year--everyone knows about Cameron Metzger now. But that's what happens when you rush for 1,884 yards--ninth in Indiana last season in rushing yards per game (171.3), and 25 TDs.
"He's probably the best overall football player, as far as every aspect (of the game), that I've ever seen," said Hawkins, the second-year coach, who has been in, and around, football most of his life since his father (Dennis) was the long-time coach at Clarksville. "He's a very hard runner and he breaks a lot of tackles, his vision is great. He's got fancy feet, he makes the cuts where he needs to go, then his feet can take him there."
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior, who also had seven receptions for 102 yards and a TD, was one of the primary reasons that the Pirates had one of their best seasons in school history last year (10-1). Charlestown lost to eventual state semifinalist Heritage Hills in the semifinals of its Class 3-A Sectional.
"If I had a breakout year and we wouldn't have won as many games, it wouldn't have mattered," Metzger said. "If I rushed for 200 yards and we would've lost, it wouldn't have mattered, it still goes down as a loss."
But win or lose this season, football will likely provide a future for Metzger. He has a 3.97 grade-point average, which has drawn interest from almost every Ivy League school.
"I don't plan to play professional football, so that would give me the best start to a career path," Metzger said.
Metzger's fancy feet are taking him places.
Jimmy “Jimbo” Nauert - Holy Cross High School
Holy Cross coach Dave Weston had a simple goal for his quarterback/defensive back over the offseason. He wanted Jimmy "Jimbo" Nauert to get jumbo.
So Nauert, who played for the Cougars basketball team in the winter, would hit the weight room with his football teammates after hoops practice, or he'd come in early for some 6 am lifting sessions.
"He really got ripped, physically he looks really good," Weston says. "He's lived in the weight room the offseason and I think it's going to pay off."
The 5-foot-10 Nauert, now 10 pounds heavier at 165, did plenty of heavy lifting last season--his second as a starter--when he ranked ninth in Class A in passing yards per game (107.7) during the regular season. "I just tried to stay dedicated," says Nauert, who passed for more than 1,100 yards and rushed for over 400. "That's what it takes to win state championships."
And that's the goal this season at Holy Cross, which lost to eventual Class A state champ Beechwood in the state quarterfinals last season, where the Cougars' motto this fall is "Good to Great." And Nauert hopes to be the triggerman of that transition.
"He's got a good arm, real strong arm...and he's a football-smart kid," Weston says. "He's an important asset to our offense."
Nauert will have plenty of playmakers to pass to too, including his top target, Chad Hazelwood.
"I’m looking forward to this year, we return a lot," Nauert says. "Obviously we want to win state, win our district, but the main thing is to get that ring, that's what we've all wanted since we were freshmen."
Justin Powell – DeSales High School
Justin Powell is, literally, the big man on DeSales' campus.
At 6-foot-3 and 320 pounds, Powell not only blocks out the sun, he blocks for the Colts' ball carriers, too.
"I don't think there's anybody he can't block," DeSales coach Mark Sander says.
No matter where he is on the field.
Sometimes when Sander and his staff are watching game film they'll see Powell 15 to 20 yards down the field, on the opposite side of where the play began, delivering bulldozing blocks for DeSales' running backs.
"He's got quickness, size and power," Sander says. "He's got very good feet and very good footwork for a big guy."
Not to mention a love of the game.
“It’s what I do for fun,” Powell said of football.
Powell's strength and fleet feet helped him open plenty of holes last season for the Colts, who were ranked ninth in Class 2A in rushing in the regular season and ran their way to the state semifinals. This season the goal is to take it one step further.
“Get back to the Final Four and try to win state,” said Powell, whose penchant for doing the dirty work of an offensive lineman was also one of the reasons he won DeSales' "Best Sportsmanship" award last season.
"Even though he's a big guy he does his job. His attitude to play the game is good, he's playing it the way it needs to be played, and he doesn't lose control out there," Sander said. "He doesn't say too much, but just his physical presence alone make him a big leader for us."
Ridge Wilson – Central High School
The defining moment of Central's 2007 football season may have come when then-junior Ridge Wilson called out a senior teammate for his lackadasical work ethic just a few days before the second round of the Class 3-A state playoffs.
The Yellowjackets went on to win that game, and three more on the way to their first-ever state championship. You see, when Wilson speaks, his teammates listen. And his attitude rubs off, too.
"His ability to communicate with people is probably his best characteristic," Central coach Ty Scroggins says.
And when the 6-foot-3 1/2, 210-pound Wilson isn't leading with his words, he's doing it with his actions. Last season the linebacker amassed 87 tackles.
"With his work ethic, if you don't find him in his books, then he's going to be in the gym," Scroggins says of Wilson, who has a better than 3.4 grade-point average. "He's got drive and he knows what he wants to do, and he's staying on that path."
This summer when Wilson isn't at home you'll likely find him working at a local daycare (he loves kids), or working out.
"I don't feel right if I'm not doing extra stuff after practice or at home," Wilson said. "I give 110 percent every day. My coach always told me to do the little things then the big things will happen."
Wilson has big aspirations, and big colleges after him. Right now he's considering Kentucky, Louisville, Auburn, Arkansas and Tennessee.
But first he wants to win another state title.
"We've got a long way to go, but we're going to get another one," Wilson said. "I want to leave behind a legacy at Central High School. I want people to say, 'He was not just a football player, he was a good person.'"
Josh Cook is a freelance writer living in the Louisville area.
|
|
|
|
™
®
™
™
