James Clemens players named All-State
James Clemens offensive linemen Ryan Parris (left) and Logan Stenberg football (Record photo/Lindsay Vaught)
MADISON- It is one of the most highly respected and coveted designations for high school football players. To be named All State means you are the best in the state. Two James Clemens Jets players were named to the Alabama All-State team on Oct. 14.
Ryan Parris and Logan Stenberg have been the anchors of an offensive line that has cleared the way for Maceo Booker to run for over 1,300 yards this season.
“He dominates his man,” Booker said of Stenberg. “It is unbelievable how much he has improved. The power runs go over his side, we still run to the left, mostly sweeps.”
Stenberg has been the starting right tackle for three years. He started making an impression on college coaches with his size and play as a junior. He is now 6-foot-6, 315 pounds and is committed to Kentucky.
“Logan is a phenomenal athlete. He’s a big time player and we run right on our team, right behind him,” said Jets Head Coach Wade Waldrop. “He has done a great job. He has got stronger, lot tougher, and moves a lot better. He does what we need him to do and he is the guy we run behind when we need yards.”
Parris made the All-State team as the long snapper but this season he was challenged by his coaches to play center every down.
“For our special teams he does an outstanding job on the deep snapping. He has done well at center. It is a good mix, we’ve stayed healthy,” Waldrop said.
Parris is 6 foot, 225 pounds and has been working on snapping since the seventh grade.
“It’s an honor for me to go as the long snapper, it’s what I want to do in college. I have been training with Chris Rubio and my dad since the ninth grade,” Parris said.
“Coming into this season I knew the team would need me at center. Coach Swearingen challenged me over the summer. I worked to get stronger and bigger and kept pushing.”
High center snaps dogged James Clemens in their two win season last year but are now a thing of the past.
“Heath (quarterback heath Burchfield) and I work on it every day in practice and if we have a bad snap or false start we work it out.”
Parris is hearing from South Alabama, Southern Miss, and UAB for a scholarship but he is holding out hope for a walk-on offer from Alabama.
“My dad walked on there and he was on the team for a year and I want to follow in his footsteps,” Parris said.
Parris is a third generation football player. His grandfather Bruce Parris played at Anniston High and his father Butch played at Huntsville.
The Jets made the playoffs for the first time in school history this season. They play their final region game at Huntsville Friday night.
Stenberg and Parris have been playing together since the sixth grade and now will get one more game together. The 28th annual Ala-Miss All Star football game will be played December 13 at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery.
