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Cleveland looks to reload with experienced core
from August 2023
by Johnston Now
By RANDY CAPPS
CLAYTON — The Cleveland Rams have won almost everything a team can win in the past three seasons, piling up a 32-3 record in that time.
Each one of those seasons ended with a loss in the playoffs, and each saw several key contributors move on to play college football on Saturdays.
Still, Cleveland coach Scott Riley believes that depth will be a key to the Rams’ continued success this fall.
“We return a lot of players on both offense and defense,” he said. “Because of injuries and changing lineups, we have 15 players that started at least two games (on defense) for us coming back. (We also have) a lot of talented freshmen and sophomores coming up from one of our best defensive JV teams we have had. This will allow us to match up with a wide variety of offenses and survive injuries if they occur.”
One of the seven returning offensive starters is junior quarterback Jackson Byrd, who’s vying to be the third-consecutive Rams starter at the position to earn a football scholarship, following Darius Ocean and Skyler Locklear.
Byrd completed 62.8 percent of his passes for 2,831 yards and 36 touchdowns last fall, and is also the leading returning rusher after tallying 549 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Camden Inscoe (40 catches, 551 yards, 6 TD) is the leading returning receiver, and senior Cameron Goins will look to bounce back from injuries to contribute at receiver, running back and the secondary. Senior linebacker Gage Tremaine is the reigning Greater Neuse River 4A Defensive Player of the Year after racking up 102 tackles, three sacks and 19 tackles for loss. The team’s other three tacklers also return in Landon Inscoe (89), Markice Rawls (79) and Karson Cook (72, 9 sacks).
“This team so far has demonstrated they are player led and very motivated,” Riley said. “I am excited to coach this group.” With senior Kedar Mangum anchoring an experienced offensive line, all the pieces seem to be in place for another run.
“We hope the level of competitiveness that will exist just to get on the field for us this year will help us raise our overall level of play,” Riley said.
If recent history is any indication, the Rams figure to do just that.
