Langston Hughes Football’s Big 2021 Season

While Langston Hughes lost to Buford High in heartbreaking fashion last weekend, as they fell to them 21-20 in the state championship, there is no denying that they are one of the most talented, and gifted teams in the entire state. Not only do we feel that they can eventually find themselves in place to make a run at another state championship opportunity, but we also believe that they had a very special, and big time 2021 season in which they, as well as their fans, should be very proud of. By the end of the year, they achieved a 13-2 record, in which they managed to total 572 points all season, while holding opposing teams to a mere 146 points over 15 games. If this isn’t impressive, the fact that they managed to achieve a 6-1 regional record in one of the most difficult regions in the state will. Their only regional loss came to Newton within the season opener, as they lost 7-6 in overtime. They would not suffer another loss until the end of the year. On the defensive side of the football this year, the Langston Hughes Panthers continued to shine all season long. Not only do they seem to be very deep on many parts of the field, but they had about 23 players with double digit tackles this season. Out of all of these players, the team was led by Michael Watson, Josh Horton, Michael Brock, and DaMarkus Brown. Within this group of ballers, Watson was the team leader in tackles, with 178 total tackles all year. This was followed by Brown with 92 total tackles. In addition to this high volume of tackles, the team also saw themselves achieve a total of 24 sacks, with Brown, Ahmad Howard, and Andrez Johnson all totaling 4 sacks. What was just as impressive as these sack numbers, was the total number of interceptions that the team also witnessed. In total, the Panthers accumulated 20 interceptions, with [player_tooltip player_id="133985" first="Rodney" last="Shelley"] leading the pack with 5. Other players such as [player_tooltip player_id="34023" first="Terrance" last="Love"] and Xavier Smith both totaled 3 interceptions, while plenty of others recorded just 1. Nevertheless, the defense proved to be lockdown on all levels of the field. Offensively, the Panthers were also very fun to watch, as they were led by So. QB, [player_tooltip player_id="137477" first="Prentiss" last="Noland"], who we predicted before the season would be a stellar piece to his team’s offense. He threw for a season total of 2,580 yards, with a total of 34 TD’s in the air, to only 7 interceptions. He also averaged 172 yards a game, with another average of 14 yards a pass. This success in the air was highly beneficial to his receivers, as multiple receivers put up great numbers this year. Players include Armani Tookes, Jelani Thurman, Shelley, and Love. Leading this group was Shelley with over 740 yards, and 10 TD’s. Next in line to him was Tookes with 626 yards, and 9 TD’s. In addition to the passing game, the running game was also a big factor for Hughes, as players such as [player_tooltip player_id="33872" first="Antonio" last="Martin"] continued to emerge as he should have. By the time the season concluded, he ran for over 1,100 yards, and 16 TD’s, only further proving that he is a big problem for opposing defenses. This fact alone made it hard for the teams they would face to shut their offense down, as they would have to remain honest to both the ground, and passing game all year long. Because of this, look for Hughes to find ways to do similar things in the 2022 season.