As good as the Greenbrier East Spartans were on offense last season, the defense had their ups and downs consistently from week to week.
That is not to say East was not good, but just inconsistent.
For example, over the first four games of the year, Defensive coordinator Aaron Baker’s bunch were as good as they have been in a long time and gave up just an average of 11 points. But the last four contests, East allowed 51 points per game and played shootouts in each one.
The level of competition stepped a notch and was a big component for those large numbers as modern-day football is geared now more towards favoring the offense with all the spread schemes and so forth.
This season, the Spartans defense may actually be a strength and surprise a lot of people as they are very experienced at almost every position.
Luke Carola and JT Spencer will man the defensive tackle positions and Jacob Wickline will play nose tackle. Carola and Wickline are first year starters, but have experience. Wickline is one of the better offensive linemen in the state and Carola is a quick and smart player that will be where he needs to be each play. Spencer will be starting for the third season and has turned into a very good player for the Spartans. Last season he had 65 tackles and five sacks and will look to add even more to both of those columns.
“Our defensive line is quick and agile. Each one of these guys brings a tough, hard-nosed approach to our scheme up front. JT was very solid for us last season on the defensive line and now adding Wickline and Carola in there to help him, we expect big things out of all three of these guys,” Coach Ray Lee said.
The linebacking corps will be a huge asset on paper as both inside and outside spots feature multi-year starters.
Braden Bragg and Jarett McHale will be on the outside with Garrett Bennett and Kamon Anderson on the inside. Anderson had 57 tackles and three sacks a year ago. Bennett had 55 tackles and five sacks. McHale also got 38 stops and Bragg had 29 so it is easy to see why Coach Lee lights up when speaking of the position.
“Our linebacking group is very active and all four of these guys play downhill. The group feeds off the energy and enthusiasm that Kamon brings every day in practice. Kamon is our leader on defense and really does a nice job of getting us in the right spots and making great adjustments on the run. All these guys have experience and are athletic for the spot they are in. McHale can run with anyone on the outside and is an excellent pass defender. Bennett makes the move from D-line to linebacker, and we couldn’t be more pleased. Bragg makes great decisions in both protecting the edge as well as dropping into coverage,” Lee stated.
Finally, the secondary is not only loaded with good skill and cover guys, but if they happen to recover a fumble or intercept a pass it may be six points every time.
Levi Wagner and Bryson Ormsbee are the starting cornerbacks, and both are explosive with the ball in their hands as evidenced by the way they play offense. Ian Cline (40 tackles in 2020) is the free safety and Lucas McCallister (team-leading 3 interceptions last year) will man the strong safety spot. Like the corners, these two are also fast and explosive with the football and the Spartans may have one of the more exciting defensive backfields in the area.
“Our secondary has been great so far in the preseason. Each player brings experience, and all these guys can tackle in the open field. All are aggressive and have the ability to take an interception to the end zone when they get their hands on one,” Lee said.
Noah Dotson is back to handle both the kicking and punting duties this season. Last year he connected on 30-of-38 extra points and 2-of-3 field goals. The younger brother of WVU women’s soccer player and East grad, Emma Dotson, Noah naturally works hard at his craft.
“Noah has to be one of the hardest working special teams’ guys I’ve ever had the pleasure of coaching. He works very hard at perfecting his skill set and puts in a ton of time and effort to making sure he is good at what he does. His improvement over the last two seasons has been tremendous and we feel very confident in Noah’s abilities to put the ball through the uprights,” Lee said about his kicker.
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