Laurence Manning splits first two games under Jimmy Noonan

Manning – The Laurence Manning Academy football team picked up a 37-0 victory over John Paul II on August 22 at Billy Chitwood Field in its first game under the guidance of head coach Jimmy Noonan.

           So how did the veteran head coach rate the Swampcats’ performance?

           “We got off to a bit of a slow start, but we finally put some things together,” said Noonan, whose team only led 8-0 after one quarter before expanding the advantage to 30-0 at halftime. “Big plays were escaping us, but we continued to play good defense.

“The offense is far from fine-tuned. We had pretty good offensive numbers but we also had over 100 yards in penalties, some where we had points taken off the board. You can’t be having that.”

        LMA lost its second game, falling to Heathwood Hall 14-7 on the road. It was the SCISA AAAA opener for the Swampcats.

Against JPII, Laurence Manning had 465 yards of total offense, 309 coming via the passing game and 156 on the ground. However, there were 95 yards in penalties.

Junior quarterback Grainger Powell paced the Swampcat offense, completing 12 of 15 passes, three of them for touchdowns. He accounted for all of the passing yards.

Noonan only has one complaint in regards to Powell.

“He;s the leader of this team, but he’s a quiet leader. I wish he was a little more boisterous at times,” Noonan said of Powell, who completed 145 of 249 passes for 2,242 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. “He’s embraced the offensive philosophy and is showing a lot f consistency inn what we’re doing with terminology. His execution of the offense has been good.”

Powell spread the wealth, completing passes to five different receiver. Sophomore wide receiver Scoop Dennis was his favorite one, connecting with him four times for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He had 37 catches for 478 yards and six touchdowns last season.

Junior tight end Asher Sanders had three catches for 44 yards, sophomore wide receiver Rob Briggs had two catches for 92 yards and a touchdown, senior wide receiver Payton Brown had two catches for 41 yards and senior wide receiver Zy Dennis had one catch for 11 yards.

Zy Dennis was the leading rusher thanks to his one run going 50 yards for a score. Sophomore running back Eli Sandifer had nine carries for 39 yards while Powell had seven carries for 12 yards. Junior running back Bryce Grubbs had a 30-yard run, and junior running back Pierson Gamble had three carries for 23 yards.

Tackle numbers were obviously hard to come by with Laurence Manning shutting down John Paul II with regularity. A trio of linebackers led the way.

Gamble led the way with 6 ½ tackles on four solo stops and five assists. Briggs had five tackles, two tackles for loss and one quarterback sack. Sanders had four tackles, three of them for a loss.

Defensive back Scoop Dennis had an interception he returned for a touchdown, while junior defensive back Jordyn Hicks also had an interception. Grubbs had a tackle for loss at linebacker.

Powell is in his second full year as a starter behind center after doing it parttime as a freshman. The starting running backs are Sandifer and Gamble with Scoop Dennis and Brown listed as the wide receivers. Sanders is the regular tight end.

The offensive line has junior Tristan White (6-feet-2-inches, 270 pounds) at left tackle, junior Eli Gamble (6-1, 170) at right tackle, junior Bryson Pepper (5-6, 170) at right guard, sophomore Cody Taylor (6-0, 202) at left guard and senior Kib Newman (5-11, 207) at center.

The Swampcats obviously don’t have a lot of size up front and are a work in progress, according to Noonan.

“It’s headed in the right direction,” he said. “We've still got a little ways to go. They’ve got to get where they’re playing together better as a unit.”

The Swampcats are using a 3-man front on defense. White and Pepper are manning two of the spots with senior Ray Weston at the other. Briggs, Sanders and Pierson Gamble are the starting linebackers along with senior Peyton McGee.

The Dennis brothers are two of the starters in the secondary. The other two are senior Shawn Thomas Moore and junior Jackson Timmons.

“We are playing good defense,” Noonan said. “We’re going to see a lot of strong offenses down the road, so we’ve got to continue to improve. They’ve bought into the scheme. We’re not the biggest, but we're moving pretty well, running to the football. It feels good early in the season defensively.”

Sophomore Daniel Vargas will be handling both the placekicking and punting duties.

Laurence Manning dives into SCISA AAAA play by traveling to Columbia to face Heathwood Hall on August 29. Noonan said the Swampcats need to continue to put forth the same effort.

“We played with heart and we played with enthusiasm,” he said. “We played well together, and I was pleased with overall effort. Every coach preaches the same thing, getting off on the right foot. The early success justifies the work they did in the offseason, especially when there was so much change.

“You want the kids to maximize their potential,” Noonan added. “You still might have sone discord with who the new coach is, and the players are still acquainting themselves with me. I’m still acquainting myself with SCISA. We are able to hold our heads high with the effort that is being given. But there is still plenty for us to work on.”