Northeast FL- The Englewood Rams improved to 2-0 on the season after defeating previously unbeaten Menendez 7-0 on Friday night. Both Englewood(2-0) and Menendez (1-1) are led by new head coaches this year. Kevin Johnson Jr of Englewood and Anthony Rivers of Menendez, two african american coaches that are changing the face of high school football in Northeast Florida.
Both are former collegiate football players, who were hired as head coaches at schools that are either predominately white or predominately hispanic. The signifigance of this achievement goes beyond their experience on the field as players.
Their experience as players has allowed them to mold student athletes on the field. For Coach Rivers, the chance to lead Menendez came late in the hiring season after Ben White resigned as Menendez High’s football coach less than two months after his hiring due to “personal reasons”.
This created an opportunity for Rivers to make his mark on a program desperately in need of a difference-maker at head coach. The first clear difference was that Rivers is african american, leading the football team of a school that is 76% white (U.S News). However, this fact isn’t foreign for Rivers as he played professional football in Germany for the Cologne Crocodiles.
That professional experience in a foreign country aided Rivers readiness for the challenge of preparing a high school football program with only a month of preparation . Foreign faces in foreign places as both he and the players were forced to adjust quickly.
So when Rivers got his first win as Menendez Head Coach 34-8 over Ridgevew, it spoke as a testament to the ability of his coaches and players to work together to achieve victory. Cash Downey tossed a TD to Aden Brubaker, while Marquis Sams (2) and Mason Lynch (1) ran for a combined three scores. Jason Watson and Liam Molloy both caught interceptions, as the defense stuffed Ridgeview aided with sacks by Tyshaun Thames and Joseph Holliman
Although they fell short against a tough Englewood team, the Falcons are flying high, confident that change is occurring by a simple hire.
For Englewood, Johnson’s exprience at the University of Missouri has helped his high school players understand the concept of team. This showed in their first game of the season when the Rams defeated Paxon 16-6.
Touchdowns by Tayshaun Solomon and Malik Neely made the difference on offense, while Neely led the team in tackles on defense with nine. Anthony Brown and Jody Rojas had interceptions in that game, and Emmanuel Niyibaho registered a sack. A diverse set of players from all back grounds coming together to achieve a goal. Coach Johnson knows the significance of that.
Johnson played quarterback on Englewood’s only playoff win team. He was also a member on the only state championship baseball team in the school’s history. That experience playing two different sports, made up of mostly two different demographics of players, is one major reason Johnson has achieved success in relating to his diverse player makup.
Engewood has not enjoyed that type of success in quite some time. However, Johnson looks to birng back the winning ways of the black and gold. By changing the culture, which started with the simplicity of giving him the chance.
