“ I think another year in the offseason , the weight room and getting in there with the guys has helped him develop better leadership ,” Felton said of the young quarterback . “ He ’ s more calm and he ’ s earned the respect of the guys in the weight room . I think that ’ s helped him a lot .”
Another area of concern for the ‘ Cats will come on the defensive side of the ball . The 2021 Valdosta defense allowed its fewest points per game ( 16.0 ) since the 2014 season .
Having lost 11 seniors from that group , Felton has returning defensive end Eric Brantley and incoming senior and University of Georgia commit Gabriel Harris anchoring a young but talented defense .
Harris has impressed in the summer , having grown to 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds – up from the 6-foot-4 and 237 pounds he was listed at last season at Thomas County Central .
Harris is a disruptive force coming off the edge and combined with Brantley , the ‘ Cats boast one of the most fearsome pass rushes in the state . Among the seniors lost was cornerback Jadarian Rhym and safety Isaiah Holland , As preseason camp begins , a couple of players to watch are upcoming junior Jaylen Bentley and sophomore safety Khalil Mollay .
“ Last year , we lost a lot of great seniors on defense . We ’ re very young on defense , but we ’ re led by one of the best players in the state of Georgia in my opinion in Eric
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Brantley . Gabe Harris , who ’ s learning the system , he ’ s another good one . We ’ ve just got to rally around those two guys .
“ A surprise so far has been Jaylen Bentley . He ’ s a physical , nice sized safety . ( Khalil ) Mollay has been really good . We ’ ve got some good young guys . The biggest thing is to get them caught up on the plan and the schemes . Not having playing time is something different , but right now , we ’ re very young on defense but we ’ ve got a lot of energy and we ’ re playing with a lot of speed .”
In addition to the secondary , the ‘ Cats saw losses at the linebacker position with the departure of leading tacklers Jacquez McGowan , Jaylin Berrian and Edward Carter .
Felton likes what he ’ s seen from upcoming junior Amari Tomblin , whom he already touts as the leader of the linebacking corps , along with upcoming seniors Nehemiah Dennis and Jarius Curry at middle and outside linebacker .
“ We ’ re really thin at linebacker right now . We ’ ve just got to find a good fit ,” Felton said . “ We moved ( Jontavious ) McGriff to linebacker . He ’ s looking pretty good for the first week . We ’ ve still got to grow and get better at that position . That has to get a lot better .”
One area Felton has been high on is the running back position .
A workhorse unit for the ‘ Cats last season , Felton has touted this crop of running backs as the future of the team . The group of Ahmad Denson , Jordan Gatlin , Charles Wilwww . letsridesouthga . org
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28 2022 SOUTH GEORGIA FOOTBALL