Looking to turn the corner
St. Charles seeking first playoff berth
Heading into his fourth season as the only head football coach St. Charles High School has had since it opened, Avery Williams admitted his team’s goals were all centered around an opening foe the Spartans did not face one year ago.
St. Charles will open the 2017 season at home tonight against Thomas Stone, a team the Spartans scrimmaged last fall but did not face in a regulation contest. Williams noted that his entire focus was not on upending the Cougars per se as much was it was about his players seeking to attain their shortterm goals each week.
“For us, it’s all about getting better with every practice and every game,” said Williams, whose team went 4-6 overall a season ago, tying Great Mills for third in the SMAC Potomac Division at 3-3, They were 5-5 in 2015 after going winless in their inaugural campaign in 2014. “We just want to get better week to week. We always focus on short-term goals. We’re looking at doing better every game and we just go one game at a time.”
St. Charles graduated seven players who earned a spot on college rosters this fall, including running back Jeffery Hughes (Bluefield College, W.Va.) and Merwan Mourtaj (Delaware State University). But that only serves as motivation for current Spartans to fill the void, including several who are now in their fourth season with the program.
“Guys like Paul Massey Jr., have been with me all four years and he’s been our middle linebacker,” Williams said. “But this year he can do a lot of things for us, play inside linebacker and strong safety. Jeffery Hughes could do everything for us, so now it will be up to Jonte Thomas and Raday Burrell to step up as our running backs and Tyrell Lee will take over this year at quarterback.”
St. Charles will also have several players whose older brothers came through the program, including Donovan Edelen, whose older brother Dante Edelen played for the Spartans in 2016 and Mehdi Mourtaj, whose older brother Merwan played the previous two falls for the Spartans and garnered an athletic scholarship to Delaware State.
Other potential impact players for the Spartans this fall include junior Kameron Blount and sophomore Konner Blount-Jackson, running back/defensive back Jonte Thomas, senior wide receiver linebacker Jonathan Ross, senior outside linebacker Douglas Pelt and junior wide receiver/defensive back Frank Owens.
“Our long-term goals basically center around our short term goals,” Williams
said. “We know that if we continue to get better with every practice and every game and just take things one week at a time then we’ll become a better football team. But right now we’re not looking past our opening game. After that, we’ll start getting ready for week two.”
St. Charles will face McDonough again in week two this season, a team
the Spartans defeated 14-0 last season. But before the season elapsed, St. Charles was stripped of that victory for having an ineligible player on the roster that game and that prevented the Spartans from reaching the postseason while enabling the Rams to earn a berth in the Class 1A North Region playoffs.