ASHDOWN PANTHERS
PANTHERS HAVE MIXTURE OF YOUTH, EXPERIENCE
The Ashdown Panthers plan to take advantage of their youth against teams, as the Panthers eye a playoff push this upcoming season.
Last season, the Panthers were what many would deem a young and inexperienced team. Matt Richardson is entering his 10th season at Ashdown and he plans to use his team’s experience for team success in 2020.
“I’m really excited,” Richardson said. “Last season, we had a young group and now we have a group with some good varsity experience. Last year, we
had a young group that had to play due to injuries and graduation. Now that same group has the reps and they’re ready to play.”
OFFENSE
Junior Alex Keilbach returns to lead the Panthers at quarterback.
“Alex started all 10 games for us last year,” Richardson said. “Unfortunately, last season he took a beaten. He never once complained and he kept getting up. I never once heard him say anything to the offensive line. He took ownership himself of whatever was happening in the games. That’s a leader.”
Senior Jacolby Williams, junior Xavier Sanders and sophomore Jayden Fricks will rotate snaps in the backfield for Ashdown.
Seniors Memphis Holland, Blake Ritter and Christian Reed will provide depth for the Panthers at receiver. Junior Jaxon Jeter will also vie for time at receiver for Ashdown, along with sophomore Shemar Easter.
Seniors Alex Paredes, Jaylen Belcher and Will Ford returns on the offensive line for the Panthers. Juniors Jacob Formby, Jaxxson McCormick and Spencer Patterson will rotate the remaining offensive line positions for Ashdown in 2020.
“We have a ton of underclassmen but we feel like they’re coming along on schedule,” Richardson said. “We’ll be running a Gun Wing-T. We plan to get some good matchups and we also want to put our kids in the best position to be successful.”
DEFENSE
Seniors Vincent Jones, D.J. Goffin, Vontre O’Guinn, and Kameron Benton will interchange on the Panthers’ defensive line. Jones had 14 sacks and 14 tackles for loss last season.
“It all starts upfront with us defensively,” Richardson said. “Vincent is probably one of the best defensive linemen in the state and he’s also in the best shape of his life.
“Our defensive line is as good as it’s ever been since I’ve been here,” Richardson said. “I’m pretty excited about our defensive line. The good thing about this group is that we have enough depth that they can just play one side of the ball. We want to have fresh legs as much as we can against our opponents.”
Juniors Merrick Miller, Trent Roberts and McCormick are expected to fill the spots on the second level on the Ashdown defense. Senior Rhys Parker returns to the linebacker corps in 2020. Sophomore Marty Lansdell will also rotate in at linebacker this upcoming season.
Williams, senior Kyron Benton and senior Devonte Carpenter will fill the secondary spots for Ashdown. Juniors Javon Hart and Ford Young are also expected to make contributions in the defensive backfield this season for the Panthers.
“We have a few track guys in our secondary, so I don’t expect for too many teams to be running past us,” Richardson said. “Our safeties have been getting better everyday. There’s a learning curve but they come out with great effort every single practice.”