Statesboro’s receiving corps has just come out of the package — and Luke Connell and the SHS offense are ready to use them.
The Blue Devils have three new wideouts they’ll unveil Friday night, all of whom have little to no varsity experience.
While that may be a cause for concern for most teams, the Devils are actually pretty excited about Izaiah Jones, Graden Bozeman and Alex Brown. All three have made big plays in the preseason and are poised to carry that momentum into 2008.
“The three have done well over the summer and have really carried that over to the preseason,” said SHS coach Pennington. “We have pretty good confidence with our receiving corps going into the season.”
Jones, a junior, moved to Statesboro from Texas as a sophomore and saw action with the SHS junior varsity. Probably the most athletic of the bunch, he appears to be the No. 1 weapon for quarterback Luke Connell.
“Izaiah’s good,” said Connell. “He’s got explosion off the ball. He gets into his route real quick. When I tell him to run an out, or run an in — he’s there on time.”
Jones was not available for comment for this story.
As for Bozeman, the senior joined the Statesboro squad last fall, but only as a kicker, his first love being soccer. After teammate Matt Conner broke his foot, Bozeman was asked to join the team — but only on a voluntary basis.
How, then, did he become a wide receiver?
“I think they kind of got tired of me sitting around and kicking all day,” said Bozeman, thoughtfully. “They basically made me run around and were wanting me to do something.”
Bozeman showed he was worth the investment this summer at Georgia Southern’s 7-on-7 passing tournament. He made enough pivotal catches to be considered one of the go-to guys this fall.
“Graden’s got some height and he’s got some good quickness,” said Offensive Coordinator Kenny Tucker. “He just needs to concentrate on catching the ball — that’s what we’re focusing on right now. Just catch it and I’m not going to worry about anything after that.”
Perhaps the most overlooked of the bunch is Alex Brown. The Blue Devils’ second baseman in the spring, Brown cemented his place as part of the receivers with a breakout game against Bradwell Institute in a preseason scrimmage.
Brown hit .234 in the spring as a junior with the Diamond Devils, but his defense was impeccable. The hands he uses to turn two and field tricky tweeners are likely helping him hold onto the football.
Bozeman said he knows, along with Jones and Brown, that when SHS does decide to throw it — he better catch it. With such a powerful Wishbone attack, the Devils don’t throw it too often
“Tucker already told us — if we don’t catch it, we ain’t gonna pass,” said Bozeman.
Statesboro opens the season Friday against Josey at 7:30 p.m. The game will be vodcast live on statesboroherald.com
Chad Bishop can be reached at (912) 489-9408.
