PREP FOOTBALL: Ellis key for Trinity; QB Club names POW
Trinity’s Coleman Ellis with a tackle in a recent game against Catholic. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Coleman Ellis was part of a group of talented receivers at Trinity and had never really considered defense before new coach Granger Shook approached him with an offer to play safety.
“I practiced it during the summer workouts,” Ellis said. “I guess they just took a shot and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Ellis is the epitome of the Wildcats, that grind-it-out attitude that doesn’t particularly stand out on offense or defense, but is the heart and soul of a team that wins every Friday night.
“He has been second in tackles in a couple of games,” Shook said. “He’s been able to play safety and he’s been able to line up and play our nickel back, so he’s playing two positions. And on offense, he’s able to line up at receiver and line up at H-back. He’s such a good leader for us. That’s really what sets him apart, him playing such a big role on both sides of the ball.”
Offensively, Ellis was part of a talented group of receivers that is the strength of the offense, but moved inside to H-back to help with run-blocking support and to serve as an outlet for short passes.
“When we started out he was playing a lot of receiver,” Shook said. “So we asked him, ‘Coleman, can you do this?’ He said, ‘Yeah, Coach, I can.’ Against a lot of linebackers we play, he’s not going to go bury them, but he’s a tough, hard-nosed kid.
“He is at the point of attack a lot of times, but we can also split him out (at receiver), stay in the same personnel and run so many different formations, so it makes defenses be vanilla so they can adjust.”
Ellis never complained, although the position isn’t quite as flashy as playing wideout in the spread.
“I played a little last year, but not a lot,” he said. “You’ve just got to put your trust in him. He knows what he’s doing, he knows what he’s talking about. He’s a great coach.”
Defensively, it was a little more of an adjustment as he had to learn Jon Shamburger’s complicated scheme.
“It was hard at first, I’m not going to lie,” Ellis said. “But Coach ‘Sham’ does a great job. He always has a great game plan going into games so once you figure it out, all you have to do is execute. What we did is I shifted around from strong safety to free safety to rover. Once you figure out one, you know it, so I really know all three of them at this point.”
The Wildcats had toyed with the idea over the summer of putting Ellis on defense and after an early-season loss to Montgomery Academy, inserted him at safety. He responded with seven tackles the first week and seven the second.
“He is an athletic kid,” Shook said. “He does a great job for coach (Ken) Whittle in baseball so we know he’s got athletic ability, but he’s very smart so he helps get everybody lined up back there (in the secondary) and he takes charge. And he’s a really good tackler.
“He made an immediate impact. Then, against Beulah, he had a scoop and score on defense.”
Ellis, once the guy who would pull in touchdown passes on Friday night, is now making more of an impact on defense. But don’t ask him to choose which side of the ball is his favorite.
“I can’t choose,” he said. “I don’t want to make Coach mad. But I have gotten a lot more comfortable playing defense. I feel like I know my responsibility and know my job.”
With his help, the Wildcats are 7-2, losing a pair of hard-fought Capital City Conference games to Montgomery Academy and Catholic. Now, they’ll face another one this week with a Friday night matchup against St. James at Ragsdale-Boykin Field.
“I’d probably say it’s the biggest rivalry, for us,” Ellis said. “You never know what to expect. But you can expect two teams to fight until the end.”
QB Club announces Players of the Week
The Montgomery Quarterback Club has announced its Players of the Week for games of October 22-23. Jamerion Lamar from Valiant Cross Academy is the Private School Player of the Week and William Whitlow, Jr. from Stanhope Elmore High School is the Public School Player of the Week.
Lamar, a junior linebacker, had 10 tackles, two quarterback sacks, and caused two fumbles in the Valiant Cross 14-7 win over Hooper Academy. One of the fumbles he caused was returned by teammate Isaac Harris for 54 yards and a touchdown.
Whitlow, a senior defensive end, had four sacks and another tackle for a loss in Stanhope Elmore’s 23-13 win over Wetumpka. Whitlow has committed to play for the University of Memphis next year.