ST. PAULS — Senior running back Marqueise Coleman has a message for St. Pauls’ opponents on the football field this season.
“They said that we’ve got nobody but me, but I want to show them that it’s not just me on the field that’s working. The rest of my team is working too,” the most improved player in Robeson County from a year ago said.
Coleman was a vital part of the Bulldogs’ offense in 2018 with more than 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns, but he said that there are others on the offensive side of the ball for teams to worry about as well.
“With the wide receiver corps we got and the lineman we got, we should be straight,” Coleman said. “They’ve gotten bigger and stronger. We didn’t lose no lineman, except for one. We’ve got somebody bigger and a little better playing his spot.”
St. Pauls comes off an 8-4 season and a first-round overtime playoff loss at Cummings, and welcomes back a host of receivers and offensive linemen on the offensive side with game experience to go around a sophomore quarterback Mikail Breeden, who has flashed his arm accuracy in the offseason.
St. Pauls’ receivers boast size and speed with the likes of 6-foot-4 target William Ford, Waltay Jackson with his three years of varsity experience and senior Jadakyss Glover-Graham.
The Bulldogs’ offensive front remains mostly intact from last year, with a focus on the weight room adding size and strength to the group that includes Caleb Oxendine, Bradley Gooden and Quamaree Smith.
With a youngster starting in such a big spot at quarterback surrounded by upperclassmen, coach Mike Setzer has seen the group pick him up, but it has been Coleman’s leadership that stands out the most.
“I see him in his ear all the time, patting him on the back. Mikail made a bad throw the other day and I saw him pick him up,” said Setzer now in his second year of his current stint in St. Pauls. “He’s been a good leader. It really helps a young quarterback to have that pressure taken off him with a running back like ‘Queise right beside him.”
On the other side of the ball, St. Pauls has a larger defensive front, something that Setzer said on occasion the team lacked last year as it hindered the Bulldogs from stopping opposing rushing attacks. The likes of Ethan Roberts and Erick Washington will be key pieces up front for the Bulldogs and Setzer said that Roberts also will be a big piece on offense serving as Coleman’s lead blocker.
“He was just the type of athlete that doesn’t need to come off the field,” Setzer said of Roberts. “It takes a special kind of human being to run iso and then turn around and play a three-technique inside the tackle. He can do it though.”
St. Pauls lost its top two tacklers at linebacker due to graduation in Keraun McCormick and Darone Rozier. With their combined 317 tackles, Setzer said now other players will step up to handle the load. He expects Jerrod Battle, Zarron Glover and Tayshaun Murphy to be those players at the second level.
“We didn’t replace them, they were out here. We just put them in a different number,” Setzer said. “Even though we replace those guys, we replace them with experience. That’s a big thing. They have a chip on their shoulder.”
Battle leads the team with 100 tackles and six tackles for loss as the best among the returners. Senior defensive back Anthony Campbell had 81 tackles a year ago and will be a leader in the defensive backfield.
Last season Setzer said it helped his team see the results of the expectations that are levied to them. Now with what he called a “decent season” validated, Setzer said the staff have continued to push for more heading into the campaign. That starts with a week-by-week approach to help give the team more belief in itself and to stay humble in the process.
“Sometimes we had some teams that we didn’t believe we could beat them,” Setzer said. “It’s about finding ways to up the ante.”
“The goals this year is to keep the kids feet on the ground. We keep their feet on the ground, but also shoot for the stars at the same time. We have to be careful about being cocky. We need to have a more confident group, help them stay humble and let them know that we haven’t arrived yet.”
