Four downs with Lloyd Memorial

Lloyd Memorial has built themselves into a program.

Despite losing 17 seniors from a season ago, the Juggernauts have a ton of optimism headed into the 2024 season. Lloyd is coming off back-to-back 10-win seasons and despite losing nearly everything in the trenches, they do return a wide array of skill players.

Kyle Niederman enters his sixth season with the team and they’ve certainly built themselves up to get to this point, posting a 33-21 record in that timeframe.

“We’re in a good situation,” Niederman said. “There’s been a lot of hard work and it took some time to get the program here. We don’t win games on Friday, we win on Monday and the kids work hard to do that.”

FIRST DOWN — RECAP

The Juggernauts were well…a Juggernaut during the regular season in 2023, going 9-1 and outscoring teams 387-117. The lone blemish however was a 41-0 thumping at the hands of Lexington Catholic, a team they’re going to have to beat to be the top seed in the Class 3A, 5th District. The two will once again be predicted to be at the top of the district with Bourbon County and Pendleton County well behind them.

“That game got away from us. I don’t like to make excuses, but we were competitive early and were unable to get off the field,” Niederman said. “We have to become more two-dimensional, have to be able to run and pass and have to play better up front. Just have to be able to be a little bit more dynamic on offense.”

Lloyd’s second round exit at East Carter in the playoffs last year was a bit underwhelming after the start they got off to and coming off a state semifinal appearance in 2022.

SECOND DOWN — OFFENSE

Two-dimensional shouldn’t be a problem for the Juggernauts with junior quarterback Kaleb Evans taking the snaps. Projected to be a starter as a freshman, Evans has dealt with injuries his first two years in high school, limiting him to 11 games played in those seasons.

“I’ve learned that even when things go bad, you can still turn it into a positive. I can still be a leader from the sideline,” Evans said. “It was exciting to get back out there towards the end of last season and just started gaining more confidence game by game.”

Their skill players will be arguably the most dynamic in Class 3A. Yuri Collins-Comer is coming off a near 1,000-yard season in 2023 with 958 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. Isaiah “Petey” Sebastian was thrust into the quarterback role the past two seasons when Evans went down and produced at a high level with 1,659 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns and threw for 1,211 more yards and 12 passing touchdowns. Now he shifts back to his natural position at wide receiver where he’s combined to catch 31 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns. Expect the receiving numbers to take a meteoric rise if he gets a full season at the position.

“Playing QB helped me a lot,” Sebastian said. “It let me know where the QB wants his receivers. I have a lot of trust in Kaleb and that he makes the right decision at all times.”

Tyler Copeland is the returning leading receiver, snagging 21 balls for 376 yards and six touchdowns. Elijah Collins is another one to watch for the Juggernauts. He may not have the stats like Collins-Comer , Copeland and Sebastian, but Niederman calls him the “unsung hero” of the group.

Despite being mostly one-dimensional for the majority of last season, the Juggernauts still put up at least 45 points in eight of 12 games.

The biggest question mark, offensively and defensively, is what’s in the trenches. They lost four of five starters with the offensive line unit, KyRon Carter the lone returning starter of the bunch.

THIRD DOWN — DEFENSE

Not only were they nasty up front with 41 sacks, but the Juggernauts were an opportunistic defense, forcing 29 turnovers and added six special teams touchdowns. While they return pretty much their entire secondary led by Copeland, Sebastian and Collins, they’ll need to get an inexperienced front line up to speed.

“We’ll continue to be as aggressive as we can,” Niederman said. “

Much like the offensive line, the defensive line will have a lot of new, younger faces. Niederman expects Brandon Carter, Ethan Sears, Aiden Dolan and Stone Eickoff to step up in those roles.

In 2023, the defense allowed 20 points or less in all but one game. It will be a tougher task to emulate those performances, but with an experienced secondary, the opponent will have to have success in the ground game.

FOURTH DOWN — GOALS/OUTLOOK

Every team wants to be at Kroger Field and win a state title. But Sebastian feels the focus is going further than the season before which means they’d need to reach the third round and play for a region championship.

Niederman definitely wants to see his team ahead on the scoreboard on Friday night’s, but he’s also focused on the long game with the kids in the program.

“We’re trying to make better people every day,” Niederman said. “Clearly we want to win every game, a district title, a state title. But when these kids leave this program, I want them to come away with a great experience and learn how to become better human beings. That’s my goal.”

The Juggernauts open the season on Aug. 23 against Newport Central Catholic.

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