Boyd Street August 2021

Luck was hard to come by for the Little Axe Indians during the 2020 season. Little Axe caught no breaks between Class 3A’s competitive District 2, a myriad of injuries, key transfers and COVID-19 canceled games that all led to an 0-9 record in Ethan Feuerborn’s first year as head coach.

“We even lost our two preseason scrimmages and first scheduled game of the season due to COVID protocol,” the head coach said reflecting on the 2020 season. “So really the first time we had a chance to see our kids play in a real football game was in week two of the season. Between contact tracing and injuries, we ended up starting 15 freshmen and sophomores over the course of the season.

“All in all though, we came out really ahead because we had a bunch of kids who can’t even drive yet get valuable experience and we expect a lot of those young guys to make strides over summer and into this season.”

Quarterback was a position Feuerborn expected to see some growing pains after the Indians saw their first two players on the depth chart transfer, but he says they were set back even further when Kody Dellinger (Sr, 6’1”, 195) was lost for the year prior to last season due to a season-ending knee injury.

“Kody was going to be our guy,” he said. “We had to start from square one after he went down because all of the sudden we didn’t have a guy on the team who had ever taken a snap. He’s someone who worked his butt off in rehab and, with us getting to do spring ball, team camp and seven-on-seven tournaments with him, he’s already gotten better. That’s a credit to him because he’s taken those steps, and now we are starting to see him be more vocal as a leader like he needs to be.”

Dellinger will get the reins of the offense with a new style of play and a new coordinator in 2021. Little Axe will move from the dive-option attack towards a balanced spread option attack as Bishop McGuinness offensive assistant, Stroad Lanham, takes over the play-calling duties.

“The new system is going to be more spread-oriented, but we’re still going to be concentrated on running the ball and play action,” Feuerborn said. “We will just be running everything out of the shotgun now as opposed to under-center.”

The 2020 leading rusher for the Indians and first-team, all-district back, Corey Shackleford, graduated. Now the Little Axe offense will look at a trio of backs in Robbie Hughes (Jr, 5’9”, 165) alongside Jesus Kirkes (So, 5’7”, 136) and Elijah Edwards (So, 6’1”, 205).

“We like all three of those guys and plan to use all of them this year,” Feuerborn said. “There will be times you might see all three of them on the field at once because they can all make plays for us.”

The offensive line was not immune to the injury bug Little Axe saw in 2020. Jake Lovins (Sr, 6’, 230) missed most of the season due to injury and Lane Gourley (So, 5’9”, 224) played most of the year injured. The group is led by Chadd Kriz (Jr, 5’9”, 230), who will move to center in 2021.

“He really put himself above and beyond everyone else (with what he has done the last year),” Feuerborn said. “He’s extremely strong and athletic. He made state in wrestling at his weight class. He’s just been a really great leader for the team as a whole and has shown he’s ready to move to center.”

As the team shifts to a spread look, the offense will look to pass catchers like Austin Marcon (Sr, 5’11”, 152), Hayden Leonard (Jr, 5’9”, 165) and Michael Carter (Jr, 6’4”, 200). The player who has undergone perhaps the biggest transformation in the offseason for Little Axe is Kameron Farris (Sr, 5’10, 210), who shifts from the line to the tight end position. His hard work has earned him results and high praise from his head coach.

“He had a fantastic offseason and really slimmed down for wrestling,” Feuerborn said. “He plays football, wrestling and baseball and now that he’s cut down his weight, he’s really let his athleticism shine through. He’s probably our best pure receiver now.”

As was the plan entering the 2020 season and is typically custom for smaller schools, Feuerborn will continue to play most of his kids both ways this year and points to leaders like Carter, Farris, Hughes and Kriz, but highlights corner Jacek Graymountain-Gross (So, 5’10”, 170) as someone he’s seen the most growth in and will primarily play defense.

“Because of injury he really had to play a lot as a freshman and take his lumps,” he said. “Credit to him and the type of kid he is, he never kept his head down, really improved himself by the end of the season and then even more throughout this offseason.”

The Indians are scheduled to open the season against Lexington Sept. 2 and begin district play Sept. 25 at home against Sulphur. –BSM