High School Varsity Football Touchdown Preview: Lennard High School, 2024

The Longhorns haven’t made the playoffs since the 2019-20 season. Second-year head coach K.B. Belton and his players have high expectations going into the season, hoping to win a district championship and hosting the program’s first-ever home playoff game.

Lennard High School is off to a great start, beating Freedom 37-7 in the preseason. They got off to a 24-0 start entering halftime and were able to get some more of their inexperienced players some much-needed playing time. 

Belton was happy with his team’s offseason. It was his coaching staff’s first full offseason of implementation. Last year, they got off to a late start, after being hired in July late in the offseason. The players were able to get in the weight room and play in the seven-on-seven circuit. Belton said that his players and coaches are on the same page and the players are further ahead than they were last year. 

Belton thinks that his defensive backs are the strength of his team. He said that three players in particular have D-I potential. Second-year starting quarterback Jacob Mobley has taken a big step forward as the team leader and playmaker on the field. He only had one incompletion against Freedom. Belton said that Mobley is in command of the offense and his teammates believe in him, and that makes the team so much better. The junior signal caller hadn’t played much organized football until last season. With a year under his belt, the pocket passer is expected to take the next step as QB 1. 

The team has a good mix of seniors and inexperienced players. They are returning seven starters on offense and eight on defense. The roster has 30 overall returning players after graduating 17 seniors from last year’s team. The team motto is “all in.”

Key players include sophomore defensive back Mekhi Williams, who started all 10 games last year; sophomore outside linebacker Jaiden Jones, who had three and a half sacks against Freedom; and junior defensive back Devin Barnette. Senior kicker Adien Gibbons is a four-and-a-half-star player and is the third-best-rated kicker in the state of Florida. He connected on two 47-yard field goals in the preseason game. Junior Sumner transfer London Green had a 30-yard touchdown in preseason. Lennard has two outstanding tackles up front in sophomore Kordae Oleskewicz and junior Wayne Ingleton. 

“I’m already on the record saying that we’re going to win a district championship. Those are my expectations, and the kids know it,” said Belton. “We strongly feel that every game on our schedule is winnable, and we want to win out, and we expect to be there at the end when it’s time for playoffs. We have to get there first, so we’re going to take it one game at a time, but we’re expected to go undefeated and host a playoff game, and we’ll take it one game at a time once we reach the playoffs.” 

Schedule:

8/23 @ Pasco

11/1 vs. Chamberlain