Ragland Head Coach Michael Hathorne was hired this year to continue the Purple Devils’ tradition of being a football program to be reckoned with in their region and to guide the hard-working team to another playoff berth.

“We’ve had a lot of success here in the past, and we definitely want to build on that,” Hathorne said. “A lot of that is going to have to come from hard work and discipline from our guys, and I definitely see a team that will work together toward a common goal.”

Ragland’s new offensive coordinator Scott Clifton comes over from Cedar Bluff to continue the Purple Devils’ tradition of a run-heavy offense out of its base pistol formation, giving quarterback Stony Merritt Jr. the opportunity to execute a read-option attack that will be difficult to contain. Merritt not only can tuck and run or distribute the ball to his main back in junior Jadon Killings, he also has the ability to strike downfield with his favorite target, sophomore wideout Braxton Thomas, who started all of Ragland’s games last season as a freshman.

When discussing special teams, Hathorne pointed out that it was something they worked on every day at practice (unlike most programs) because the special teams part of the game is as important as offense or defense.

“At a small school, you have to train your athletes to do multiple things,” he said. “For example, our kicker this year is our starting left guard, so we need to set a significant amount of time to the side to improve on the skills necessary to compete in special teams.”

Key Game(s) of 2015: Ragland’s first regional opponent will be a home game on September 4 against Wadley, a top program in the region that went to the playoffs in 2014. Taking advantage of the home field and beating Wadley would be the perfect start to their regional schedule and would immediately put the Purple Devils in the driver’s seat for a run at a regional championship.

Preseason notes: When asked about how a player in his program should set priorities in his life, Hathorne pointed out to a lot of priorities that are not directly football related.

“God should come first, then family, then academics — the classroom,” he said. “We try to set the bar high so that they can reach high goals academically to help with their future. You can’t play sports forever, so you need that good education to fall back on; only after all of that is taken care of does athletics come into the picture.”

See more preseason coverage of eight local teams in this week’s issue of the St. Clair News-Aegis, available now in local newsstands. And visit us online at newsaegis.com.

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Players to Watch 

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Jadon Killings

RB/DB Junior

Killings returns in 2015 as Ragland’s best all-around athlete, having started in every game last season. Killings’ strong suit is his speed and agility, which gets him in and out of his breaks quickly and creates situations for himself to make defenders miss him as he gains yardage. “He’s the type of kid that when he gets into space he will break a tackle and take it all the way in for us,” Hathorne said. “He has that type of ability.”

Devin Turner

OL/DL Senior

“Turner is definitely our strongest and biggest kid (on the team),” Hathorne said, describing the leader of the Purple Devils’ offensive and defensive line leader. “He has great feet, great hands, and comes off the ball like a bull to play a very physical style of football, which is definitely something we are looking for.”

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Purple Devils Roster 

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2  Hollingsworth, Noah   10th

3  Thomas, Braxton    10th

4  Sanders, Adam    10th

5  Merritt, Stoney    11th

8  Jones, Joe     11th

9  Fuller, Coby     10th

10  Killings, Jadon    11th

12  Phillips, Jagger    12th

21  Buckner, Evan    10th

22  Isbell, Rodney    12th

25  Brewer, John     11th

33  Lively, Dylan     11th

55  Burnham, Christopher   11th

64  Thornton, Jonathan    12th

65  Phillips, Jacob    10th

72  Poe, Brandon    9th

74  Turner, Triston    12th

75  Thompson, Dylan    11th

76  Gaston, Todd     12th

79  Turner, Devin    12th

8/21 vs. Maplesville

8/28 @ Gaston

9/4 vs. Wadley*

9/11 @ Winterboro*

9/18 vs. Appalachian*

9/25 vs. Cedar Bluff

10/2 vs. Talladega County Central*

10/9 OPEN

10/16 @ Donoho*

10/23 vs. Victory Christian*

10/29 @ Ohatchee

* Region Games