With returners on its offensive line and defense, Ashbrook High aims for improvement
Ashbrook High knows it needs to improve and has the room to do so. Just ask junior offensive lineman Jonathan Moore.
“There’s definitely a difference from the previous year,” Moore said of the football team. “(We’re) just regaining a lot of the stuff that we need to do to win.”
After a 4-7 season in 2023, Moore and the Green Wave are hoping to learn from last year’s struggles and bounce back, record their first winning season since 2020 and make a push for the playoffs.
With Moore, who has made himself a key part of an offensive line that will return all but one of its starters from last season, and a large part of the defense back, Ashbrook will have the opportunity to do just that.
“John is the glue to that group,” coach Darius James said of Moore and the offensive line. “The work that he’s put into his body, let alone just his skill level, it has increased tenfold. If you watch his film, you immediately see what he’s about. He’s a mauler. He’s going to drive you 10, 15, yards downfield. He’s going to pounce on you. And that’s the mentality I think he’s trying to instill with the other guys.”
While Moore doesn’t have his first Division I offer yet, he’s gaining attention from local and Power Four schools and is aiming to continue his career at the next level.
The 6-foot-2 junior believes that his improvement athletically has been largely due to the fact that he participates in multiple sports. He wrestles in the winter and throws discus and shotput. Moore believes the conditioning he does for wrestling and maintains during the track and field season has helped prepare him for the fall.
“I’m more limber, I’m faster than I was, I’m stronger than I was each of these past years,” Moore said. “Even my mental strength. I feel like I’ve gotten stronger mentally, just being able to go into a game with the mentality of winning.”
Moore and some of his teammates on the offensive line like Jaylen Dickey and Keegan Davis have James excited to see how the group progresses over the course of the season.
“I’m really grateful to be able to have played with the same o-line for as long as I have, because we know how each other play. We know how we can help each other,” Moore said. “We know each other’s weaknesses, we know each other’s strengths. … It’s just a lot easier being able to communicate with them.”
That group and a defense that returns a lot of its key players will serve as Ashbrook’s foundation as it looks to improve in 2024.
“We’re still a work in progress. I think we got a lot of great talent,” James said. “We got a lot of guys back on defense that were with us last year, so they’re one more year into our scheme, and they understand a little bit more, so we’ll be able to do a little bit more defensively. So overall, I think we have a team that’s going to be competitive every game.”
One of those returning players on defense is junior linebacker Caleb Gordon, who recorded 162 tackles over the course of his first two seasons and has an offer from Charlotte.
“Gordon has taken a major step up,” James said. “He’s gotten bigger, he’s gotten stronger. He’s kind of gelled that defensive group together.”
On offense, James hopes the run-heavy program can have its first 1,000-yard passer under his guidance this year, with sophomore AJ McClain and junior Clee Phillips competing for that job.
Ashbrook also aims to finish the season with at least 2,000 rushing yards after recording 1,359 last year. The Green Wave have a couple different weapons and players that stepped up last year who could contribute to that total, including Martino Smith, who ran for 397 yards and a touchdown last year.
With plenty of returners on defense and an offensive line featuring Moore, Ashbrook hopes it can push past last year’s 4-7 record to a playoff berth.
“There’s a different motive to go about when you talk about Ashbrook,” Moore said. “We just have a lot more mental drive, a lot more strength, we lifted a little bit more this year. So I think we’re definitely taking the steps and doing what we need to do to win this year.”
