Anson seeking to improve on last season’s 2-3 mark

WADESBORO — After finishing 2-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play last season, Anson football head coach Ralph Jackson wants to improve on that mark this season.

“Our goals will never change — I want to be above .500 at the end of the season and give the team a chance to make the playoffs,” Jackson said.

The Bearcats open their season Friday at home against Mountain Island Charter. To evaluate their progress before the start of the season, the team scrimmaged against Salisbury on Aug. 11 after officially beginning practice at the beginning of the month.

But, Jackson said the scrimmage didn’t really show them anything they didn’t already know since they were only able to run 12 plays.

Last season, the Bearcats were heavily geared towards the running game, with eight different players getting carries during the season and two finishing with more than 200 rushing yards.

Anson finished with 1,036 total rushing yards compared to just 296 total passing yards. But this season, Jackson said he wants to try to mix it up a little more.

After graduating seniors at a number of key positions, Jackson acknowledged the team’s youth coming into this season

“It’s going to be hard to replace some of those guys,” Jackson said.

He added that he’s hoping to see some of the returning players step up to fill those voids, including Decorian Gainey, Dimitri Clark, Toney Gainey and Contavious Little.

Clark finished with three total tackles on defense last season, while Little had five to go with 2.5 tackles-for-loss. Little also had 100 all-purpose yards last season that included 86 rushing yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

Returning senior Deondre Crowder was the heart of the defense last season at linebacker and played some snaps at running back, as well.

He led the team with 30 total tackles and 8.0 tackles-for-loss in five games. He also added a sack and three fumble recoveries. On the offensive side of the ball, he tallied 90 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

“We are going to need him to play big this year in order for us to have some success,” Jackson said.

One of the biggest changes this season is Anson’s new conference after another round of realignment last year. The conference is still named the Rocky River Conference and familiar conference foes remain, including Forest Hills, West Stanly and Central Academy, but new teams include Monroe and Parkwood.

Anson, Forest Hills, Monroe and West Stanly are all 2A classification, while Central Academy and Parkwood are 3A.

“I really like the conference that we are in,” Jackson said. “If we can be successful with the new additions, we should be able to make a run in the playoffs.”