2021 Season Preview: West Ashley Wildcats

Ian Guerin August 6, 2021 @ 01:45 PM

Donnie Kiefer has some experience in running a team around a workhorse while keeping everyone else involved. He’s going to need to display that skill set again in his second year at West Ashley. Senior running back [player_tooltip player_id="89312" first="Jahleel" last="Porter"] has Mr. Football finalist written all over him. But he’s by no means the only breakout player on this roster. “More than just keeping everyone happy, it makes it hard to prepare for,” Kiefer said. “When you have one stud and everyone knows he’s going to get 90 percent of the carries, they only have to do one thing.” It was just three years ago took he a similar approach with [player_tooltip player_id="59324" first="JaQuan" last="Dixon"] en route to a Class A state championship with Green Sea Floyds. Dixon was an all-everything back (now at Georgia State), but Kiefer believed a diversified offense would carry it further. Now at West Ashley, Kiefer is taking the same approach with the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Porter. As a junior, he averaged 8.6 yards per carry and notched 1,219 yards and 14 touchdowns in just seven games. He also caught 107 yards worth of passes and threw for 69. The West Ashley standout will get a bulk of the team’s touches this fall, and Kiefer knows that opposing defenses will plan for that, too. What the teams on the Wildcats’ schedule may not know is how many other playmakers have developed in a short amount of time. Senior transfer Gabe Johnson will start at quarterback (with Porter pitching in some there, too), allowing Khalil Robertson to return to his more natural position, receiver. Back-up tailbacks Zayequan Smith, Antwain Chisholm and Kevin Brown would be a starters at many schools. Right tackle Dravian Blake and fellow linemen Max Beckstine, Ben Bessinger and Roman Hamilton - all sophomores - will open a ton of holes. Tight end Christian Cope, tight end/receiver Sakharis Smalls and receiver [player_tooltip player_id="91363" first="Langston" last="Bailey"] give Johnson and Porter two solid targets. Defensively, identifying some big names is similarly easy. It starts in the middle, where [player_tooltip player_id="59491" first="Caleb" last="Edwards"] averaged more than 10 tackles per game and sophomore Terry Grant has already been named a starter. Seniors Brandon Mungin (defensive back) and Lebron Anderson (defensive line) are back for a unit that allowed more than 14 points just one time all season. Sprinkle in a handful of new starters and a few two-way players mentioned above, and it’s hard to imagine West Ashley not near or at the top of the Region VIII-5A standings at the end of the regular season. If that happens, there could be some big production on both sides, for Porter and beyond. “We’re not stat seekers,” Kiefer said. “I’d rather have teams Ws than one person breaking all sorts of records. But we’re going to do what we need to do. If we need to give Jahleel the ball 30 times a game to win, that’s what we’ll do.”