The Greer Yellow Jackets struggled through the non-region portion of their schedule going 1-5 last year. When region play game along the Jackets really took off and went 3-1 with the lone loss coming to Laurens by three points in the opening game of region play.
When you looked at Greer’s roster from last year the reason for the slow start is evident, the Greer Yellow Jackets were very young. Most of the Yellow Jacket’s starters were underclassman and Greer definitely took their lumps last season.
“Post Covid we made the decision to go with a bunch of young guys. We struggled through it and took our lumps but we hope it is going to pay off in the long run”, said Coach Will Young.
Ladainnian Martin, a sophomore, was the bright spot for the Yellow Jackets last year rushing for over 1200 yards in a season that saw him miss some games with injuries. Martin rushed for just over 158 yards per game last year for the Jackets.
This year the Jackets will return the majority of their starters on offense, including Martin, and will be one of the more experienced teams from top to bottom in high school football in our area. Greer returns nearly every receiver from last year, a quarterback that played in 7 games, and the part that makes Coach Young the happiest, all five offensive lineman.
With all this returning on the offensive side of the ball look for the Yellow Jackets to have one of the more potent offenses in the area. Led of course by Martin, who is could have an even bigger season in 2023 behind a bigger, stronger, now experienced offensive line.
On the defensive side of the ball, the story is very similar especially in the secondary. The only place were Greer isn’t overly experienced is along the defensive front, but look for that unit to progress quickly with some good size and speed present all they need is some experience.
Greer will be tested early in 2023 with a preseason date with the Gaffney Indians and then a tough non-region slate that includes Daniel, Hillcrest, Byrnes, and what should be a much improved Boiling Springs team. Once we get to region play look for this battle tested Greer to be ready to claim a region title.
