Here’s how trash talk and Manatee High’s pick-your-poison defense led to a revival
Out of all the trash talk lines they heard in the offseason, one stuck out the most.
“Two and seven,” sophomore Ean Johnson-Kelley said.
That phrase references Manatee High’s football record in 2021.
How often was it uttered in the offseason?
“Enough to fill that stadium over there,” Hurricanes sophomore defensive lineman Alvoid Kennon said, pointing to the roughly 7,000-seat Hawkins Stadium after a practice this week.
It’s served as a motivator for the 2022 season, and alongside a rebuilt strength and conditioning program, the Hurricanes are off to an unbeaten start.
The Hurricanes (4-0) play host to Port Charlotte at Joe Kinnan Field at Hawkins Stadium on Friday. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
2 standouts on D-line
At the crux of Manatee’s revival is the play in the trenches. Two sophomore defensive linemen, Johnson-Kelley and Kennon, have delivered.
The pair lead the Canes in tackles for loss and sacks. They each have seven tackles for loss, while Johnson-Kelley has three sacks and Kennon has two. And both players have caused one fumble this season.
“Both of them in together, it’s just havoc,” Manatee head coach Jacquez Green said. “You can’t block both of them. One of them gets loose eventually.”
Johnson-Kelley, at 6-foot-1 and 260 pounds, and Kennon, at 6-foot and 250 pounds, have gotten loose plenty of times. Johnson-Kelley picked up an injury early in the Canes’ victory over Sarasota High on Sept. 2 that kept him out the following week against Punta Gorda Charlotte.
His return against Braden River helped the Canes defense limit Trayvon Pinder. The talented bruising Braden River tailback gained 55 of his 121 rushing yards on one attempt. Manatee’s defense held him to 3.14 yards per carry the rest of the game.
“It’s rare when you get guys that can look the part and can play the part,” Green said of Johnson-Kelley and Kennon. “Those guys can play the part. They’re tough kids, they’re mean, they’re smart, they know football. They’re only sophomores. ... We’re young up front, but they can go.”
Trash talk as motivation
It’s a brotherhood bond on the football field this season for the Canes, the results coming from getting bigger, stronger and faster in the offseason after a horrendous 2021 that led to trash talking poking fun at the team.
“Two and seven, that we don’t have anyone on our team and our coaches suck,” Johnson-Kelley said about the trask talk he heard.
Kennon said: “We were all sick and tired and fed up with what they were saying about us going two and seven. And we used that as motivation.”
Between COVID-19 protocols and staffing changes, the strength and conditioning program fell in disarray over the past couple seasons. Rich Lansky’s return to Manatee as well as the hiring of Josh Phillips, whose background involves working with Pac-12 program Cal’s strength program, meant the Canes could refocus getting stronger this past offseason.
“It’s the first time in a while, in about three years we had continuously been able to lift weights every other day,” Green said.
Kennon and Johnson-Kelley said linebacker Demontez McDowell is a big leader for the team. And the team rallied around each other during weightlifitng season, which bled into the work put in during the hot, grueling summer heat with practices before the year started.
“You can ask anybody on the team, nobody was satisfied, nobody would ever want to go 2 and 7 again,” Kennon said. “Especially being here at Manatee High School ... we did not live up to that expectation last year.”
Kennon said going through the defeat helped them become young men.
“We’re satisfied in the moment, but right when Monday comes ... we know we have to get back into that grind,” Kennon said. “We know another team is coming to our field this week and want to kick our butts and break that 4-0 win streak. And nobody on this team, and I repeat nobody, wants to lose. And especially in a home game.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2022 at 3:39 PM.
