James Clemens reloading after playoff season

The James Clemens Jets are looking to return to the playoffs in 2015. (Photo by Nick Sellers)

By Nick Sellers

A milestone season in 2014 forced the rest of Class 7A and Region 4 to pay attention to the James Clemens Jets, as the team made the 16-team 7A playoffs in just its third season while featuring several college-bound players that contributed to a high-powered offense.

With Heath Burchfield under center for the third year in a row, the Jets averaged over 34 points per game en route to a 7-4 finish on the season and the first playoff berth in the program’s history.

Many of the key names are gone from that landmark season, including offensive tackle Logan Stenberg, who signed with Kentucky; center Ryan Parris, who walked on at Alabama as a long snapper; and linebacker/defensive end Dylan Hampton, who signed with Harding University in Arkansas.

Though the team also graduated its two leading receivers from 2014 – Miles Whitlow and Josh Garth – the Jets return senior quarterback Heath Burchfield and leading rusher Maceo Booker.

“It’s been a long journey, going from that first 0-10 season [in 2012] to now,” Burchfield said. In addition to the departure of Stenberg and Parris, offensive tackle Jordan Sogers also accepted an offer to play at the University of North Alabama in 2015.

Booker went down early in the first half of the team’s 60-43 loss to Oak Mountain with a serious leg injury. He will see the majority of his time in 2015 as a slot receiver, while rising sophomores Devon Atkinson and Brad Goan and senior Immanuel Wilder help pick up the slack in the backfield.

Helping out Booker out wide will be Torolla Walker, whom head coach Wade Waldrop praised as a big contributor on offense for Burchfield.

“Torolla Walker’s had some good camps this summer, and he’ll be big for us,” Waldrop said.

Walker will be joined by fellow senior wideouts Dylan Booker and Kyle Castelein.

The Jets return a good amount of starters on defense, including junior linebackers Monty Rice, John Jenkins and Kyriq McDonald. The defensive backfield gets back seniors Tarique Wade and Davis Bowman.

The defensive line, perhaps notably, returns junior LaBryan Ray, who’s begun receiving offers from colleges such as Louisville, Southern Miss and Western Kentucky.

“Obviously, I think LaBryan is going to have a big year,” Waldrop said of his five-technique defensive lineman. Also coming back on the defensive line is senior Jamaal Morris.

On special teams, the Jets will have to replace departing punter Zack Hancock, who also moonlighted as a receiver for Burchfield. James Clemens will return senior placekicker Will Grochowski, who booted a game winner as time expired over Mountain Brook in 2014 that proved to be a confidence booster in the team’s fifth game of the season.

The win in 2014 that was perhaps the most electrifying and pivotal was the Region win at Buckhorn in the fourth game of the season, 19-16, that propelled the Jets into the upper echelon of Region 4.

Waldrop singled out Buckhorn as one of the tough Region opponents in 2015, as the team brings back senior linebacker and running back Will Ignont, who has offers from Alabama and Auburn, and senior defensive tackle JaQuize Cross, who holds a Kentucky offer.

It’s hard to ignore the Regional opponent a little further south that boasts a formidable lineup of playmakers in 2015.

“I look at Gadsden City, and they’re loaded,” Waldrop said. “They’re going to be really good.”

The Jets fell to Gadsden City by one score – 42-35 – in 2014 at the Titans’ home stadium. The Titans went on to lose to eventual state champion Hoover in last season’s semifinals.

The good news is that the Jets get to face both Buckhorn and Gadsden City at home this season. Another home-type atmosphere will be against cross-town rival Bob Jones.

The showdown is set for Sept. 4. After playing the rival Patriots to a one-score game in 2014 – 28-21 – James Clemens will be chomping at the bit to take down the team with six straight Region titles.

“That’s definitely one of our goals this year is to beat Bob Jones,” Burchfield said. “It’s always a goal of ours.”

Another Region foe, Huntsville, will have an interesting dynamic in its matchup with the Jets this year as its new head coach, Clint Woodfin, served as the Jets’ offensive coordinator the previous two years.

Across the Region and state, though, it’s apparent that James Clemens has arrived as a program and has established itself as a team that can compete in the playoffs, using the playoffs loss to Oak Mountain as a source of motivation and education.

“Basically, we have to be disciplined and do our jobs,” Waldrop said.