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Wonders head into 2009 with talented, but inexperienced group

Photo by Marty Price

Quarterback Martel Campbell (#9) passes the ball.

By Steve Winzenread | Independent Tribune

Published: August 21, 2009

KANNAPOLIS - So what do you do the season after a state runner-up finish? If you're the Wonders, you try to add to the tradition.

At A.L. Brown High School, football teams have posted 31 winning seasons in a row.

Last year was one of the most memorable, with the Wonders reaching a state title game (3AA) for the first time since 1997. Following that success, the 2009 version of the Wonders starts with a lot of young people wanting to be involved.

"We have probably 120 to 130 kids out there," head coach Ron Massey said in early August. "With a small senior class, that's pretty good. Anytime you have success, you've got people who want to be part of it. I don't know that they'll stay out.

"We've probably got too many, to be honest. It's hard to get a whole lot done with that many kids. But if they're interested and want to be part of it, we want to give them the opportunity."

In nine seasons as the Kannapolis head coach, Massey's teams have won 78 percent of the time (97-27).

The winning is a combination of players' performance and coaches' instruction, and Massey praises his assistant coaches' contributions.

"They probably deserve more credit than they get," he said. "I got smart a long time ago and figured out to get good coaches who know what they're doing and how to relate to kids and who care about what they're doing. You're going to have success.

"Our administration has been real good to allow me to try to get people in there who I think will be outstanding in their impact on our program and make us competitive and be a good influence on our kids.

"That's big. Any coach will tell you that you're only as good as the people you surround yourself with.
We're just fortunate here that we've got some people who know about the game of football. They understand how to communicate on the field to the kids."

The most experience among returning players is on defense. On offense and in the kicking game, there are some big holes to fill.

"We've got one returning starter on the offensive line, Tavis Bailey," Massey said. "I'm looking for him to have a great year. We have some seniors that played some last year that I think will be pretty good.

"We have some juniors that played on the jayvee and we eight-quartered them a few times, but they're going to be kind of green there. They're going to have to mesh as a unit.

"We've got to find some wide receivers. You take a look at our offensive production last year and about 75 percent of it is no longer there.

"In the backfield, we've got two good running backs who got some varsity experience in Antwoine Jordan and Travis Riley. We've got some young kids who will also help us.

"Quarterback is going to be a question mark."

With the graduation of star Jamill Lott, Massey listed four candidates at quarterback: Senior Tyler Gillmore, junior Martel Campbell, sophomore Damien Washington and junior Michael Church.

"We're going to make a lot of mistakes early," Massey said. "I think the kids' effort will be good. We've got to plug in those pieces of the puzzle to make us a more complete offense.

"Defensively, we're a little more fortunate. We've got about four or five starters back on defense. We've got to build some depth on the defensive line. We have some kids at linebacker who had some time back there last year.

"In the secondary, we've got two corners that are back. We've got to find a couple of safeties."

Massey reiterated that the Wonders do not have as many seniors as they usually do.

"I've been around it long enough to understand our senior class isn't as strong as we've had the last couple of years," he said.

"I think we've got to understand it's going to take a little while. You can play all the jayvee games on Thursday nights you want, but until you get out there on a Friday night when the lights are on and the stands are full do you find out what the kids can handle mentally.

"Some kids are great practice players and they just can't pull it off in a game. Some kids are just the opposite. We've got to feel our way through that. We've got to be patient as coaches."

"Our job is to try to put ourselves in position to make the playoffs and get as high a seed as we can. We want to contend for the conference championship."

Massey has been a high school coach since 1980, long enough to ponder how long he wants to keep doing it.

"It's getting to the point where it will be a year-to-year type thing," Massey said. "I sit down and evaluate with my wife. I'm going to do what I think is best for the football program and Kannapolis City Schools and for my family also."

His son Zach is a freshman at Wake Forest University, trying to walk on to the football team.

"I've got to put a son through college," Massey said. "I don't have a whole lot of choice what I'm going to be doing. If you look at what's happening in our society, I'm just thankful that I do have a job."