Team photo: FROM LEFT Row 1: David Smith, Jorge O'Henry, Zachary Penrice, Damon Straker, Kwame Carruthers, Stephen Watson, Darion Dillard, K'Juan Chandler, Castillo Gurtzweiler, Jahneil Douglas, Charlie Hereford, Aaron Ellis, Joseph Burns, Marquis Tucker.
Row 2: Kenny Franklin, Norman Jamison, Kevon Silas, Reuben Penrice, Devon Ragland, Jacob Boling, Chris Hale, Jeremy Collier Jr., Nakai Brock, Rueben J. Maga Jr., Quintin Donly, Deontae Hill.
Row 3: De'shawntae Madson, Genesis Brooks, Teondre' Patterson, Valjon Foster, Keion Devalt II, Travis Edwards, Caleb Coyne, Tayon Roach, Noah Boykin, Teague Tafelski.
Row 4: Jah'Myrre Carrington, Terryon Owens, Legend Tucker, Brock Vargas, Jacob Weiden, Jacob DeVaul, Isaac Momenee, Blake Thomas.
Row 5: Seth Gray, Jonathan Booker, Darrell McMilliam, Ke'Juan Lucas, TaVeion McDonald, Logan Hill, Dylan Rogers.
Row 6: Coaches Ric Turner, Cameron McCualsky, Robert Bailey, head coach Tyson Harder, Gardner Howard, Tyler Ritter, Brian Lee, Rob Cameron.
Coach: Tyson Harder, sixth year
Last season: 9-2, 5-0 CL
Returning letter winners: 20
Returning starters: Offense 5, defense 6
Schemes: Spread/3-4
Top players: Seniors Jahniel Douglas, 6-4, 245, OL-DE; Stephon Watson, 5-10, 200, RB; Castillo Gurtzweiler, 5-11, 225, OL; K’juan Chandler, 5-11, 205, RB-LB; David Smith, 5-9, 200, LB.
Outlook: The defending league champions are coming off a stellar season that included an undefeated league record and a playoff berth.
The Spartans have enough experience to perhaps duplicate the kind of season they had a year ago. A total of 21 seniors are on the roster and give Harder plenty of veteran leadership to work with. It’s also a group that returns to the field having experienced what it takes win and earn a postseason berth.
On the downside, Start must replace graduated quarterback Brandon Winters (65-for-134 1,095 yards, 13 TDs).
“We have to improve week to week in order to win the league and return to the state playoffs,” Harder said.
Watson has excelled during his career as a ball carrier, and shown how important he is to the success of the Spartans program. The top-returning tailback in the CL, Watson (273 carries for 1,652 yards) runs with speed and power, and is one of the most difficult running backs to tackle. He’s capable of outdoing what he did last season. A fast start for Watson could be the beginning of run toward a 2,000-yard rushing season.
Chandler, who saw limited action in the backfield a year ago, could provide a nice change-of-pace in the Spartans’ dominant running attack.
Douglas, Gurtzweiler and Smith provide the Spartans with plenty of experience in the trenches on both sides of the football.
Perhaps the biggest challenge the Spartans will face during league play will be playing with the rest of the league targeting them as the No. 1 team to beat. No team in the CL figures to be challenged more this fall than the defending City League champions.
On the web: bcsn.tv/start
First Published August 24, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
