GREEN BAY, WIS. — In the famous words of the big homie Schoolly D back in 1985, “Looking at my Gucci it’s about that time.” You can smell it in the air and feel it in your bones!! It’s football season playboy and it’s kicks off in less than three weeks.
So you already know that we’re getting around the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference better known in these streets as simply the M.I.C. Our first stop on the tour was to the far westside to visit with the Ben Davis Giants.
Coming off of a 3-7 2018 season the Giants are looking to turn things around in 2019. Head coach Jason Simmons was excited about being able to have a full offseason. He’s got some new coaches on his staff and they’ve had time to get them embedded with their position groups to build the trust necessary to have the right relationships to win.
He goes on to say, “From there we just asked our guys to show up and outwork people every day. It wasn’t about slogans, it wasn’t about trying to incentivize stuff. If you want to be good and you want to be successful you’re gonna show up and try to out work people every day. Ultimately in life, you’re going to get what you earn and we’ve tried to embed that into our players this offseason.”
The Giants have 13 returning starters this year after playing a ton of young guys last season. After the 2017 Class 6A state championship team they lost 53 seniors. So now the current seniors, who were sophomores on that title team, are now experienced and ready to lead. Simmons says that “Our senior leadership have done a great job of bringing our young guys along, setting the pace, setting the example for our young guys. So we’re certainly excited about where we’re at. We’re less than three weeks from the opener. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get ready for that opening game but I feel good about where our offseason’s been. I feel really good about our kids and really good about the mindset of just showing up and working.”
Simmons has a lot of seniors, in his own words, that “have a lot of flight hours,” that are now speaking up and standing up setting the example for our team.”
I’m crazy excited about what BD can bring to the table in 2019 with leaders like Trent Gipson at quarterback who started last year after watching the great Reese Taylor lead the Giants to an undefeated 2017 state title. He complete 54 percent of his passes a year ago for 1,387 yards and scored 6 touchdowns. Gibson speaking with Indy Star’s Kyle Neddenreip last week called the upcoming 2019 season the “Revenge Tour.”
He’s got some soldiers riding with him as they saddle up for the tour as well. Senior running back Alijawon “AJ” Hassel who rushed for 400 yards last season will be called upon to play a bigger role in the offense now that Delbert Mimms has graduated and is now at North Carolina State.
Then there’s the Young Bull that plays on both sides of the ball Daylan Carnell!!! He had 20 catches for 394 yards last season as a wide receiver. He plays the corner like a monster and he’s been offered by everybody and their Uncle LeRoy and Cousin Man-Man. Straight Stud!!! He’s got offers from cats like Notre Dame, Purdue, Indiana, Boston College, Iowa, Nebraska, Louisville, Mizzou and more. He’s the most athletic kid walking right now. In my Coming to America voice, “That boy good!”
On the defensive side of the ball you’ve got some horses that can get down with him. Their secondary is probably their strongest group and they will rely heavily on their ability to make plays. Along with Carnell there are seniors Capone Powell and Jaylen Dobson in the secondary. Then there is senior defensive lineman Malik Temple along with Mynais Collins and Alfred Moore.
Winning only 3 games in 2018 in a program that hasn’t experienced a losing season since 1985 has to sting and when Jason Simmons says that he’s excited about what they’ve done this offseason I can certainly feel it in the building. The Giants look to do all they can to reclaim their place at the top of the M.I.C. in 2019. Good luck fellas and stop me when I start lyin’!
