By Sam Davis
Triad Sports Weekly
Second-year head coach Laymarr Marshall has high expectations for Mount Tabor in 2009. The Spartans lost a lot of outstanding talent from last year’s team, but said there is still lots left at the school.
“We’ve had a very good summer and pre-season,” Marshall said. “We’ve had good competition for every position. Right now we’re worrying about getting better every day. We want to be playing our best football in November.
“I feel really good about what we have coming back,” Marshall added. “I think we have some great skill players and we have some good linemen.”
The Spartans won the Central Piedmont 4-A Conference title in Marshall’s first year at the helm. The Spartans lost Hunter Furr, who led the county in rushing and scoring last season. However, there are lots of players waiting in the wings.
Bradley Morton returns as the starter at quarterback. Morton stepped into that role as a sophomore last season and led the Spartans to their conference title. With a year of experience under his belt, the Spartans should be a well-tuned offensive unit.
“We have lots of running backs,” Marshall said. “We have some guys who were on the varsity last year and a talented group up from the JV (which went 10-0 in 2008).”
Mount Tabor has several talented wide receivers. Among the top ones is Willie Ashford III at wide receiver. Ashford gives the Spartans the quick-strike. Lawson Furr also saw spot duty their last year. Furr is one of the most talented players on the team and will serve as the team’s backup quarterback, play in the secondary and handle all of the Spartans kicking chores.
“Lawson will be wearing many hats this season,” Marshall said.
The offensive line is perhaps the Spartans biggest concern. They return only two players with experience there, Thomas Warren and Brandon Scott. Scott, who played center last year, will line up at tackle this season. Tanner Vogler will fill in at center and be joined by Chris Mann, and Michael Jackson or Ed Rodriguez.
The Spartans lost most of their defensive starters. However, Marshall said he believes Mount Tabor has the tools to be a factor in the conference race this season.
Mann and Matt Turner headline the list of starters returning to the defensive unit. That duo helped hold down the defensive line last season. Dawson and Seth Spencer are also expected to see playing time along the defensive front. The Spartans won’t have the services of Shawn Adams, who transferred from West Forsyth in January and had worked out hard with the Spartans.
“He caught a tough break,” Marshall said. “He tore an ACL and is out for the season. He came in January and had become close with our players. We don’t have anybody who worked harder than him. You hate to see that happen to a senior.”
Trey Crosby headlines the secondary from his free safety position.
“Trey is our quarterback out there on defense,” Marshall said. “He makes a lot of the calls and provides a lot of leadership.”
Other starters in the secondary include Blyre Stokes, whom Marshall callsa “lockdown” cornerback.
“He’s one of the best defensive backs in the county,” Marshall said. “He started most of last year and did a good job for us.”
The other cornerback is Shabazz Fareed, who was forced into a staring role last season.
Marshall said the CPC, which picked up Reagan and lost North Forsyth, will be a tough conference and competition should be fierce every game.
“There are so many natural rivalries,” he said. “The only team we dropped in the conference was North Forsyth, but they are still on our schedule. I think it is a complete toss up over who’s going to win it.”
This is a young team but we have a chance to be in the mix.”
