LCA hopes to build on 2018 success

FLOWERY BRANCH — Lanier Christian Academy enters the 2019 campaign riding high off last season's historic finish.

The Lightning are coming off their most successful season in just four short years of existence. They finished 6-5 with a GIACC playoff berth in 2018 under then first-year head coach Blake Anderson.

Much of that success Anderson attributed to the 2018 seniors, the largest in the young program’s history. Now, Anderson is hoping a repeat of that blueprint can propel them even further in 2019 with another big senior class, by LCA standards, leading the way.

“We are expecting our seniors to be leaders and build on our success from last year,” he said. “I’ve challenged our senior class to step up this season. Right at half of our roster are seniors and with that dynamic alone I’m anxious to see how they respond to the challenge.”

But despite the big senior class, numbers, in general, will continue to be the biggest issue facing Anderson and the Lightning.

“Just having enough players to even fill a team has been a big challenge, but we’ve managed to have enough to play the last four years,” Anderson said.

However, Anderson already has seen those numbers tick down over this summer. The Lightning began spring practice with 25 players and are currently down to 22 – just enough to play 11-man football.

The slack numbers will test player endurance, especially late in the game. But, in the offseason, LCA added a new weight room with new equipment to be able to train year-round and improve in that most crucial of areas.

“We don’t play both ways; we play all ways,” Anderson said. “We have kids that hardly ever come off the field. Being able to add a weight-training program has helped us a lot.”

The new weight-training program has really caught on and attendance has been high, according to Anderson.

“They are definitely seeing results from the new program,” he said. “They’re able to do more and sustain the maximum effort for a longer time. I think they’re seeing the tangible effects from that. When they put the pads on, they’ll see it more. That’s going to be the foundation of our team.”

Anderson, who coached under current Johnson coach Stan Luttrell at Chestatee, said he’s implementing much of the same weight-training exercises and programs he learned in his time mentoring under Luttrell.

“Even at Chestatee, we may not have had the best athletes in the world, but we were physical and that mentality came from the weight room,” he said. “We want to do that at LCA.”

In addition to the weight-training program, Anderson also has developed a recruiting initiative, though it’s not what you might think.

“When we started the spring program last year, I told the kids that they have got to recruit their buddies,” he said. “It’s a yearly challenge to get the numbers out. With the competitive nature of football, you’ve got to have enough bodies to be successful. 

“They have done that and exceeded our expectations to get their buddies to come out. It’s turning out to be nearly half of our team is going to be seniors because of these guys recruiting the school.”

As for the 2019 season, the Lightning will have two massive holes to fill on offense with the graduation of quarterback Tommy Wandrum and running back Alec Hughes.

“Those two were well over 60-65 percent of our offense last year,” Anderson said. “I knew when I got here last year that I was going to rely heavily on my senior class and those guys did a great job. We were very basic last year because we didn’t have a lot of time. We had to show kids how to line up and their reads. It was a challenge but they responded well.”

With the loss of Wandrum and Hughes, position changes have become necessary with Anderson moving Andrew Perry from wide receiver to quarterback to replace Wandrum and direct the Lightning’s multiple I offense.

“He’s got a great football mind and he understands the game,” Anderson said. “He’s also a great leader. He’s been a starter since his freshman year, so that’s been a better and easier transition than I anticipated because he’s a smart player. We can base on formation whether it is running the veer option or passing game or power game, we can be a little more flexible.”

Charlie Barrow will see the majority of time at tailback or fullback, depending on the formation. 

“(Charlie’s) a great competitor," Anderson said. "He’s a great kid that plays hard. He’s also very strong and runs low to the ground. We’re counting on him this year. We know we can count on him to move the ball get first downs when we need to. It’s something important that he brings to the table.”

Newcomers Kai Jorgenson, Tim Brent and Dawson Jones will join Micah Adams on the offensive line this season.

“The line is an area we’re trying to establish as well. We’re not going to out-athlete anybody, but I think we can out-physical some teams.”

With the addition of Jorgenson and Jones, Anderson has moved senior Spencer Sanderson from the interior line to the tight end position. First-year player and senior Johnny Louth also will see action at the tight end spot.

“He’s a special kid,” Anderson said of Sanderson. “He’s strong, fast, athletic and he plays hard and physical. He’s an impact player on both sides.”

Defensively, LCA will run a base 3-4 defense, which will help them make adjustments on the fly.

“In the 3-4, we can adjust without changing,” Anderson said. “For small numbers, that is critical for us. Being able to adjust based on formation, down and distance – things of that nature. So we’ve found in that regard that’s been really helpful for us to maximize our players.”

Last season’s leading tackler, Isaiah Williams, returns as well as Sanderson, last year’s third-best tackler, to the defensive line. Vera will be called on to play on the line and at linebacker. Louth also will play linebacker.

“Isaiah was huge for us last year,” Anderson said. “Sanderson is going to help us along the front. He’s aggressive and quick off the ball,” Anderson said. “Vera is aggressive and will help us. Louth has the opportunity to be a catalyst for us. He’s really taken ownership at linebacker.”

The secondary may be the biggest question mark. Anderson said it will be a completely new unit with the exception of Perry returning to the third level.

Another big change will be the Lightning moving to a new region in GAPPS in 2019 with mostly unfamiliar foes. However, Anderson said their opposition will not be the biggest concern.

“We’re going to focus on us and that’s all we can do,” he said. “We have to control what we can control, which is attitude, effort and toughness, If we do those three things, I believe we’ll be competitive regardless of who is in our region, regardless of the region and playoff structure.”