Character test for James Clemens
James Clemens HIgh School quarterback Heath Burchfield in action
The questions entering the season for Madison’s newest football team were many. Number one was could the Jets compete without a full junior and senior class. Three games into the season athletic limitations are evident and beginning to take a toll on James Clemens (0-3, 0-2 in Region 8).
“Depth is critical. We don’t have any depth,” said Jets head Coach Bill Stewart.
“Right now we are thin everywhere,” Stewart said. “If someone gets a concussion we don’t have backups with experience to just plug in. We have had a couple of injuries that have set us back. Not only are we a small 6A but we are very young.”
One player the Jets could not afford to miss a game is defensive lineman Cameron Bowins. But he has missed the last two games with a concussion suffered in practice. He is expected back this week.
With Buckhorn (1-2, 0-2 in Region 8) coming to Madison City Schools Stadium for a game this Friday night, the Jets players are eyeing this week as a chance for that first team victory.
“I want to get a couple of wins this season,” said freshman quarterback Heath Burchfield. “It would be awesome just to get that first win.”
Burchfield said at times he feels his team is physically outmatched but “most of the time our inexperience is what other teams are taking advantage of.”
“We may be 0-3 but we’re still working to win games,” Stewart said. “We are still working to compete on Friday nights but we’re focusing on getting better as players to make sure we are not making the same mistakes week to week. We had huge improvements from week 2 to week 3.”
The Jets have already absorbed a 72-0 loss to Bob Jones and have games yet to come against #7 in class 6A Austin and a Florence team that features college prospects at quarterback, receiver, and linebacker.
“We had a great week of practice even after the debacle against Bob Jones,” Stewart said. “They are excited to get back in and get to work. That was a tough thing for any kid to go through but we came out and competed well against Sparkman.”
On defense, the undersized Jets used an aggressive, attacking defense to hold Sparkman to 14 points in the second half of a 37-26 loss last week.
The Jets offense has been hampered by poor blocking, no running game, and turnovers. They have yet to have a lead this season. Last week against Sparkman they fell behind 22-0 in the first half after quarterback Heath Burchfield’s interception was run back for a touchdown. The previous week, with no running game to speak of, Burchfield threw 66 passes and had four picked off by Bob Jones.
“We are making some mistakes that frustrate you as a coach,” Stewart said. “Mentally we got to step it up. The kids know they have to improve on things if they want to be successful on the football field.”
Yet, there have been signs of progress. In the second half against Sparkman’s backup players, the Jets scored three touchdowns as Burchfield hit Josh Garth and Jayce Hampton on scoring passes.
“The receivers played well and we didn’t have hardly any drops,” Burchfield said.
He added that the line played their best half of football all season. The offensive line has been solidified with the return of left tackle Logan Stenberg. Ryan Parris has been steady at center.
One receiver Burchfield looks to frequently is tight end Trevor Makarov. Makarov said he is looking to “win some games and show people we’re not as bad as the scoreboard says. We’ve been playing as a second half team so we need to put together a first half like that.”
Makarov added that it doesn’t matter who the opponent is “we are going to come out with the same intensity for the games as we do in practice and match it and exceed their intensity.”
“Our kids have great attitude,” Stewart said. “We are trying to speed up the learning curve for them and they are doing things they have never had to do before. The kids are maturing and they’ve got a lot of maturing to do but they are making progress.”
“The kids are still all in. The parents and community have been great. Nobody is sitting here thinking ‘woe is me’. We are excited about the next football game,” Stewart said.
