RIDGELAND PANTHERS
If you plan to attend a Ridgeland Panthers game this fall, make sure you get your hands on a program. It might be the only way to tell who is in the game.
In years past, it was much easier to know who was who as the majority of the players wore their last names on the back of their jerseys, a reward for summer workout attendance.
However, the 2019 team is taking a different approach this season as the space below the back collar on all of the players’ jerseys will simply say one word: “Panthers”. It was a choice offered by new head coach Kip Klein and quickly adopted by the entire team.
“I had put it out there because I’ve always said, you play for the name on the jersey, not for your own personal name, but the kids even took it a step further,” said Klein, making his debut as Ridgeland head coach after more than two decades as an assistant. “They believe they play for the school, the community and everything else, so they wanted to do that and we decided that was the best thing we could possibly do.”
For Ridgeland, the jerseys are a symbolic gesture of the total family atmosphere Klein is focusing on with the Panther program.
“The kids love to be here and they want to be here,” he explained. “They are taking pride in the program and we are working doubly hard to get the guys that came before them and who have been the catalysts for this program back and involved. We want our guys to respect and play for those guys too.”
While Klein says he has some outstanding senior leaders on this year’s team, he said the team’s biggest strength is its speed.
“We may have more speed than we’ve ever had,” he added. “Clockwise, just off the top of my head, we have five guys that run a sub-4.5 (in the 40-yard dash) and one was clocked at 4.42 (seconds). When you get to running with that kind of speed, the (offensive) line doesn’t have to do as much. (That speed) makes us a bigger threat. We’ve always been a team that’s been able to run to the outside, but this year has just been that much better.”
Quarterback Nathan Carver, who took over at the position towards the end of last year, will take over the reins of the pro-style offense with Jeb Broome serving as the primary backup.
At running back, that aforementioned speed will be on display with Julian Brooks, Terrance Roberts and the returning Region 6-AAAA Offensive Player of the Year Jordan Blackwell (1,122 yards rushing, 130 yards receiving, 17 total touchdowns). Cade Mcgregor and King Mason will be two of the top targets when the Panthers take to the air.
However, it’s the big guys up front in the trenches that Klein believes will be the key to his offense.