Football preview: West Johnston hopes to turn corner in 2024

By Randy Capps

In this space last fall, West Johnston coach Jermaine Harper talked about the need for the Wildcats to take the next step as a program.

The same is true one year later after West Johnston finished 5-5 and just on the wrong side of the 3A playoff bubble.

“As a program, we're still trying to get over that hump,” he said. “So our goal this year is to win at least six or more games, and position ourselves towards the top of our conference. The last few years we've been 5-5 or 4-5. So we're trying to take that next step to … becoming a playoff football team.”

The Wildcats relied on their defense last season, but with heavy graduation losses, new leaders will need to emerge there.

“We did lose our top seven tacklers,” Harper said. “We do have a little bit of experience coming back in the secondary, so we’re going to lean on the secondary heavily. Defensive line-wise, we have a solid returner there in Nick Avery. We're just looking to get out there and play physical. Be fast, play fast. Play a little bit of sound defense out there.”

Josiah Wells, in addition to being a starter at corner, will handle the quarterback duties. He saw limited action at the position last season, but was the team’s fourth-leading rusher with 199 yards and a score.

Eighty of the team’s 84 receptions were recorded by seniors last season, so junior varsity reinforcements will need to contribute in that area.

“We do have some younger guys transitioning up from our JV team to fill those other roles,” Harper said. “We had a good offseason, and we've been having a good summer. We look to continue to improve, get better and go out there and compete a little bit.”

A few players have taken on leadership roles, which always makes a coach’s job easier in terms of building a culture.

“This offseason we had quite a few guys step up,” Harper said. “We started a new leadership council to help kind of develop those guys and transition them into leaders. Michael Gaetani (39 tackles) has done a good job for us. … Jaden Hines, he's a returning offensive/defensive line guy for us. They’ve kind of stepped up in that leadership role for us pretty well this offseason.”

“We are relatively younger than we have been in the past, but with that youth comes energy. So we're bringing a little bit different energy for us and I'm excited to see what this group of guys are going to do.”