Ramay embarks on season searching for offensive identity
Posted on Thursday, August 28, 2008
BROOKE McNEELY Northwest Arkansas Times Ramay head coach Craig Forienger runs through punt return plays with Ramay’s 9 th grade football team Wednesday at the school in Fayetteville.
Speed and quickness are the most conspicuous attributes accompanying the Ramay Junior High Indians into the 2008 season.
"We are lacking size at almost every position," said Craig Foringer, Ramay's head coach. "But we hope to utilize our speed and quickness on both sides of the ball."
The Indians finished the 2007 campaign with a 6-4 record, winning four of their last five league games to forge a fourth-place finish in the Northwest Arkansas Conference. Ramay capped the year with a 13-7 win over cross-town rival Woodland, spoiling the Cowboys'bid for a conference championship.
Ramay opens 2008 with a jamboree tonight at Fort Smith's Ramsey Junior High. A controlled scrimmage of 12 offensive plays and 12 defensive plays is scheduled against Van Buren Coleman, Ramsey and Fort Smith Kimmons. A full, quarter-length scrimmage against Fort Smith Darby will conclude the evening.
Foringer is counting on the jamboree to help his team find its identity on offense before the first regular season game next Friday against Woodland. Historically a run-first team who operates from the I formation, Foringer said a lack of size on the offensive line might force Ramay to reinvent itself.
Eric Simmons and Caymen Moore are vying to join an impressive lineage at tailback that includes former Ramay and Fayetteville High standouts Renardo Mahone, Gionni Harris and Cody Hammer. Dylan Hale assumed the mantle last year when he ran for more than 1, 100 yards in nine games. He rushed for 194 yards to spur Ramay to the season-ending win over Woodland.
Foringer said Simmons is the shiftier of the two backs, while Moore, at 170 pounds, has the body-type suited for downhill running.
"He's the more physical of the two," Foringer said. "Caymen has good speed for his size."
Foringer said the team's most visible leaders occupy the offensive line. Matt Allen, Matt Travis and Isiah Arnette anchor the undersized unit. They'll provide protection for quarterbacks Casey Perry and Devin Harvey. Unlike the tailback position, which features two distinct runners, Foringer said there are few dissimilarities between his two quarterbacks.
"They have about the same speed, the same height and they both throw the ball well," Foringer said. "They both understand the offense and control the huddle. It's like having the same kid in there."
Foringer said the quarterbacks will rotate tonight at the jamboree. The player not at quarterback will join a versatile receiving corps that features Joseph Kisor, Brad Culp and Troy King. Foringer said the Indians' stable of receivers are equally adept at blocking and pass catching.
Play-action passing has been a staple of Ramay's offense in recent years, however, Foringer said the two quarterbacks aren't dependent on sleight of hand to complete passes.
"If we need to throw it, I feel comfortable with us doing it out of the gun or from the I [formation ] with play action," he said.
Tackling has emerged as the strength of Ramay's defense. A better understanding of the Indians' base 4-4 defense will allow the players to react more instinctually, Foringer said.
"We are still searching for the 11 that know their assignment and will fly to the ball and make plays for us," he said. "We will know more about our defense and offensive front after the scrimmage in Fort Smith."
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