HIGH SCHOOL

Prep Football Preview: BCC looks fast, improved

With a lot of speed and experience on the field, Bearcats are hoping to make playoffs

Bill Broderick
Battle Creek Enquirer
Battle Creek Central senior leaders, from left, Dennis Watson, Dallas Gillum, Cyntell Williams, Julieon Cooper, Brandon Randle, Dyzmen Robinson.
  • Season Opener: Stevensville-Lakeshore at BCC, Friday
  • 2015 Prep Football Special Section in Enquirer print editions on Thursday

Too many weapons, too much speed.

Those facets of the Bearcats' game are what Battle Creek Central is hoping will drive the football team's success in 2015.

With several players gaining the attention of college scouts and several more with 40 times among the best in the area, Battle Creek Central expects to win this season based on the fact that the Bearcats think they will simply have the best players on the field.

"We just have too many threats on the field for the other team to guard. We just have too many weapons," said BCC senior quarterback Julieon Cooper.

BCC senior Brandon Randle has already accepted a scholarship offer to go to Michigan State University and is one of the more athletic linebackers in the state. Bearcat senior running back Cyntell Williams started to get recruited heavily late in the summer, has some interest from Western Michigan University and has been offered by Division I Hampton University.

And with scouts coming in to look at those players, several more Bearcats are getting attention also.

"We just have a lot of talent on this team. We have a 9-0 JV team coming up to the varsity and the seniors on this team were 9-0 on JV also. We have a lot of weapons and threats all over the field. We will be really hard to guard," Williams said.

A lot of times, when you think of team speed at the high school level, you are talking about the offense. And the Bearcats have it on that side of the ball, also. But where BCC hopes to control games is with its team speed on the defensive side of the ball.

"We want a defense that can move. We feel like we can out-speed people on the defensive side of the ball," said BCC coach Lorin Granger. "We pride ourselves on playing fast defense. We challenge our guys that every time the ball carrier is on the ground that they are in the frame of the camera. We want all 11 defenders in that frame."

BCC features eight returning starters on defense.

Randle anchors that defense from a linebacker spot as a returning All-City player. Also back with some experience at linebacker is Dallas Gillum, with new faces Jackie Hampton and Carlos Parks, who is a transfer from Lakeview.

Online Poll: Which team will win the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East Division? Go to this story and vote.

The Bearcats return all four starters at defensive back, led by seniors D.J. Watson, Brett White, Williams and Greg Westry.

BCC loses some size on the defensive line, but still have some athletic bodies with Malik Bozell as a returning starter and Dyzmen Robinson, while the team is excited also about the potential of Wisdom Morris.

BCC only allowed 14 points per game last year and is looking to improve on that this season.

"It's really important to keep the level of defense we had last year and do even better," Randle said. "We have a lot of playmakers on defense and they need to step up. I think we have a standout defense, one of the best defenses in the state."

The Bearcats return seven more starters on offense, led by a three-year starter at quarterback in Cooper.

"It's great to have a three-year starter at quarterback. He is much-improved, his decision making is better, he is showing a strong arm and that gives us good leadership at that position," Granger said.

Williams returns at running back for BCC and the Bearcats could use Randle in that role also as he will be a multi-purpose player on offense. BCC also likes the look of Austin McKinney, up from the junior varsity.

BCC's use of the fullback in its offense will get a boost from the addition to Parks to the roster with Hampton and Daireo Brown also seeing time back there.

At the skill positions on the outside, BCC can feature White, Westry and Randle, who all saw time at receiver last year.

BCC does look to fill some holes on the offensive line, but features returners Bozell, Gillum and Robinson.

The excitement about the players on the field is matched by the excitement based on the kind of success the program has had recently.

After a three-year stretch of going 1-26, BCC had a winning record last year and went 5-4. Three of those losses came by a touchdown or less. So the Bearcats are hoping to add to that this season.

"One of our primary goals is to win more games than last year," Granger said. "These kids are focused on doing that. They realize it is a game of inches. If they push themselves a little bit more, they can get over the top. They look at those games we lost, three by less than seven points, and it was frustrating. But at the same time, they see how close they are to being something special."

Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com or 269-966-0678. Follow him on Twitter:@billbroderick

Battle Creek Central

8/28

Stev-Lakeshore

9/3

at Benton Harbor

9/11

Lakeview

9/18

Kal. Central

9/25

St. Joseph

10/2

at Gull Lake

10/9

Mattawan

10/16

at Portage Northern

10/23

at Loy Norrix

Roster

No.

Name

Pos.

Yr.

1

Austin McKinney

RB/DB

11

2

Cytell Williams

RB/DB

12

3

Greg Westry

WR/DB

12

4

Julieon Cooper

QB/DB

12

5

Brandon Randle

RB/LB

12

6

Jahmiel Wade

QB/DB

11

7

Jackie Hampton

RB/LB

11

8

Dennis Watson

RB/DB

12

9

Brett White

WR/DB

12

10

Peter Harris

RB/DB

12

11

Juan Warren

WR/DE

11

12

Kyler Cox

RB/DB

12

17

Craig Demetrius

WR/DB

11

20

Marquis Davis

RB/DB

11

22

Carlos Parks

RB/LB

11

23

Kevin Adams

RB/DB

11

31

Marquis Monroe

RB/DB

12

32

Daireo Brown

RB/LB

11

33

Deonte Hickman

RB/LB

12

34

Domonic Carson

WR/DB

12

40

Ruben Ramon

OL/DL

11

42

Lorenzo Armstrong

RB/LB

12

51

Malik Bozell

OL/DL

12

52

Dallas Gillum

OL/DL

12

53

Dyzmen Robinson

OL/DE

12

54

Vincent Kincy

OL/DL

11

55

Wisdom Morris

OL/DL

11

58

Tyshod Barnes

OL/DL

12

66

Jaylen Walker

OL/DL

11

76

Chris Capers

OL/DL

11

81

Latrell Jackson

WR/DB

12

84

Brishaun Hampton

WR/DE

11

86

Brenton Collins

WR/DB

12

50

Blake Gibson

OL/LB

12

56

Japri O'Donnel

OL/DL

11

Head Coach

Lorin Granger

Online Poll

Which team will win the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East Division?Go to this story and vote at www.battlecreekenquirer.com/sports