Summer Outlook: Westwood Redhawks

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>BLYTHEWOOD | Robert O'Connell's first season as Westwood High School head football coach produced a playoff appearance.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Having had a full off-season to implement his system and get his young roster acclimated, he sees an improved Redhawks' team going into the fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We've had a really good off-season going into Year Two,” O'Connell said. “Last year, we didn't even really get a spring being a new staff and all that, so it's been good just to kind of see the full off-season really from November, that phase in the weight room to the spring ball and now to the summer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We're talented across the board. But the kind of thing that we're continuing to try to work with our guys on is that we're young. Even our older guys in a lot of stops haven't had to play for us on Friday nights, which is where you always have kind of ups and downs like that. That's the stuff that we're working through right now. You're inexperienced, you're going to make inexperienced mistakes. But our guys are doing a great job in coming to work every day and trying to get better.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Westwood will be especially young at quarterback with three sophomores competing for the starting job. Currently,<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='1734561' first='Carrington' last='Carter'] </strong>and <strong>Nate Caldwell</strong> are the front-runners with each player providing a contrast with the former being a dual threat with his feet and the latter a classic drop back passer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There will be no shortage of leadership for the rest of the team. Senior offensive tackle <strong>Zachario McNeil</strong> is a very vocal leader and brings energy which inspires even the head coach, while fellow guard <strong>Anthony Nigro</strong> provides a reserved type of leadership by example.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They are joined on the offensive line by junior <strong>Armond Scott</strong> and seniors <strong>Edwin Wilson</strong> and <strong>Jayvyn Canty</strong>, who will play tight end. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both the offensive and defensive lines are considered a strength in their ability to run and stop it. Junior defensive end <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='346188' first='Dekontee' last='Mack']</strong> received plenty of attention last year out of this group and O'Connell expects him to further mature into a player who will live up to those expectations.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Christian Rhoden</strong>, <strong>Matthew McCoy</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1734497' first='Darryl' last='Jones']</strong> round out the starting defensive line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Having experienced Region 5-4A play, O'Connell knows there is “no type of off week” and getting through it will make them a better team for the post-season. The Redhawks open the season Aug. 18 at home against Spring Valley. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":861940,"_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Ka-Shon 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