By Randy Capps
Corinth Holders didn’t nail down its head coaching hire, Carl Smith, until late July 2024 — giving him about three weeks to prepare for the season.
No one expected much from a team coming off a 2-8 record with that kind of offseason chaos, so the 6-4 record that followed caught most observers by surprise.
“(We’re looking) to expand on a solid start from last year’s season,” Smith said.
While the Pirates are certainly more stable than they were a year ago, some of the numbers are working against them.
Seven is the number of returning starters with David Jarman, Carter Lawson, Ethan Doyle and Ayden Jones back on offense, while Jordan Ashworth, Rhett Stevens and Lamont Hunt return on defense.
Jarman completed 58 percent of his passes for 2,212 yards and 14 touchdowns last fall, and Lawson was his second-favorite target, racking up 32 catches for 369 yards and a pair of scores.
Doyle and Jones bring experience to the offensive line, but both top rushers and all 23 touchdowns on the ground must be replaced.
Ashworth and Stevens picked up 63 and 57 tackles last fall, respectively, from a unit hit hard by graduation.
Another figure that puts the Pirates behind the eight ball a bit is their average daily membership of 2.253. That figure places Corinth Holders in 8A as the fifth-smallest school in that class, and in a league with Athens Drive, Broughton, Enloe, Leesville Road, Millbrook, Rolesville and Wakefield.
The deck looks a little stacked against the Pirates, but not more so than it was just 12 months ago. We’ll start finding out how Corinth Holders navigates the new Cap 8A on Aug. 22 when it visits North Brunswick.
