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Rowell plans little changes as Lake City’s new coach
By David Shelton
Staff Writer
Lake City – If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. At Lake City High School, new head football coach Jim Rowell plans very few changes as he takes over the program for departed Justin Gentry.
Gentry left Lake City for the head coaching position at Chapin High School and Lake City moved quickly to promote Rowell from his position as offensive coordinator to head coach.
Rowell served two different stints as offensive coordinator at Lake City, sandwiched in between two years as head coach at C.E. Murray.
“He was the obvious choice for the job,” said Lake City athletic director Willie Thomas. “He’s a hard-working guy and he’s familiar with the program. The players know him and respect him and we know he can build upon what coach Gentry established during his time here.”
Rowell, a 1988 graduate of Williamsburg Academy and later from Francis Marion, has coached at several schools and has a background on offense. He coordinated the Panthers offense for the last two years and the Panthers rolled up big numbers. Lake City was one of the top rushing teams in the state last year and averaged 39 points per game.
“We run the flex-bone and we’ll continue to do that,” said Rowell. “The main thing about offense is utilizing the talents of your personnel and the flex really allows us to get the ball in the hands of our best players. We return some talent in the backfield but we’ll be younger up front. It will take some time and patience to get it all together but I’ve been very pleased and impressed with the work ethic of the young linemen.”
Rowell says Ed Brogdon, the former head coach at East Clarendon High School, will coordinate the offense this season. The team’s defensive coordinator will be Chris Napert, who was the defensive coordinator last season.
Lake City moves down from class AAA to AA this fall. Most would assume the Panthers will become a dominant team at the lower level but Rowell says his program must work even harder to be a contender.
“We feel like the program made a lot of strides over the last few years but I can tell you, moving to AA will be a tremendous challenge for us,” said the new coach. “They region we’re in, with the likes of Timberland and Manning, will be a very physical region with some great coaches and athletes. I’m really excited about the new region. It’s going to be a smash-mouth type region and we are looking forward to that type of play.”
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