By Joanna Chadwick
The football season opens on Friday across the state, and the difference in the Derby football team from June til now is huge.
Still, more growth is expected.
“We’re a work in progress,” Derby coach Brandon Clark said. “We return three guys on defense, 6-7 guys on offense. In June I was worried. July, I was a little more confident. And now, a week in, they’ve improved so much.
“They want it. It’s learning what they have to do, making it so it’s second nature and they don’t have to think about it — just react.”
One of Derby’s strengths will be on the line, both offense and defense.
“We have a lot of returning guys on the line; it’s where our most experience is coming back,” Clark said.
“Combined with (junior running back) Arieus (Finley) — he’s an experienced runner, he played a little as a freshman, he started every game last year and he’s had a great offseason — I think those guys get each other. He knows how to look for their blocks and he knows the o-line’s strengths, so that’s great.”
Finley’s speed is one of his biggest attributes. Finley, who ran a 4.48 40-yard dash, got his first Division I offer in June from South Dakota. He also cuts well, while also understanding what the offensive line and defense will try to do.
“We’re an option team, so (defenses) have to game plan on how to take him away. But we have (quarterbacks) Krys (Dorsey) and Blade (Clark) as backups, and they’re really good runners.
“So it’s ‘pick your poison.’ Either take Arieus from us then you have a quarterback running the ball with a really good offensive line.”
What shouldn’t be overlooked is Finley’s physicality.
“Watching him pass protect, he’s hitting guys who are 220 (pounds), and he’s stopping them in their tracks. Last year it was more — ‘I’m not taking it head on’ — now he does. He’s using strength and leverage.”
There’s speed elsewhere on the field, including at wide receiver with Davon Morrison.
“He’s been very explosive,” Clark said. “There’s not too many guys who are as fast as he is. He’s taken a lot of short passes to the house. He knows how to run with the ball. Now with the experience of being a receiver, he’s become a top-notch receiver.”
Defensively, the Panthers will be strong in the secondary with Braesyn Williams, Issac Nicholas and Braylon Reed.
“Braesyn is really good,” Clark said. “He was really good last year as a sophomore, and he’s really physical. Issac is a safety of ours that has a lot of experience; he played a lot last year…. Braylon Reed is only a sophomore. He’s explosive.”
Derby is all new at linebacker, but there’s size.
“In June, we were really green,” Clark said. “But they’re learning the system, making their reads and inside and outside, they have really stepped up.”
