By Randy Capps
The nature of high school football is change. Players move up the ranks from middle school to JV, then to the varsity. They grow, gain experience, hopefully thrive and then move on, allowing space for the cycle to begin again.
This is as true at Cleveland as it is anywhere, and as a team that regularly sends its players to the college ranks, watching high profile talent move on is nothing new.
Twelve starters depart this season for the Rams, who were 13-1 last fall. The lone loss was to Rolesville in the fourth round of the playoffs, closing a season that saw coach Scott Reilly’s team run its regular-season winning streak to 52 games..
Despite this sustained success, which has featured plenty of roster churn in that time, some are wondering if the Rams’ era of dominance is ending.
And they’ve noticed on Polenta Road.
“A lot of people are writing our obituary and we are excited about that,” Reilly said. “We hope to remind people why you study history — it repeats itself.”
The main fuel for that notion is the fact that last year’s quarterback Jackson Byrd took a ton of offensive production with him to East Tennessee State. Byrd was 50-3 as a starter, threw for more than 10,000 yards and 114 touchdowns for the Rams while adding 1,800 yards and 39 touchdowns on the ground.
Enter junior Owen Hulbert, who appeared in mop-up duty for the Rams last fall. He’s been camping all over the place this summer (Virginia Tech, South Carolina and Duke, among others), and he’ll try to become the last in a long line of Cleveland quarterbacks to wind up playing college football.
“(He) takes the reins at quarterback for Jackson Byrd and will continue the legacy of Cleveland quarterbacks,” Reilly said. “‘This is the way.’”
He’ll have all the pieces a signal caller needs to be successful. Running back Kaleb Ferrell was all-conference as a sophomore, finishing with 992 yards and eight scores. He’ll run behind a talented offensive line, led by Donovan Hicks.
“(He’s) a three-year starter at left tackle,” Reilly said. “He brings athleticism to a massive frame and looks to build off an all-conference performance last year.”
Krisjon Clark is back at wide receiver after grabbing 52 passes for 662 yards and a couple of scores last fall.
The defense will be stout up front, with seniors Cam Melvin and Daniel Lugo drawing plenty of attention. Melvin had eight sacks and 41 tackles for loss last year while Lugo played through a high ankle sprain and still led the team with 10 sacks and 31 tackles for loss in his own right.
Senior linebacker Jaylen King posted 88 tackles last fall and has more than 10 offers and fellow senior Josh Booth had 77 tackles and a pair of interceptions at safety in 2024.
