WAHS football team aims to build off last year’s success
by Lorne Chambers | Editor
Expectations are high at West Ashley High School for the 2021 football season. The energy is electric around this team for the first time in school history.
Last year marked the first winning season at West Ashley High School since 2013. In his first year as head coach of the Wildcats, Donnie Kiefer turned a team that went 2-9 the previous year into a conference contender, finishing with a 5-2 record in a pandemic-condensed season. What makes the turnaround that much more impressive is that Kiefer and his staff had a very brief time to change the culture at WAHS while also dealing with a global pandemic.
“I am very proud of what we were able to accomplish last season. We got shut down two weeks after I arrived, so we had no opportunity to train our players throughout the spring and summer. We also had no spring practice, no summer practice, no 7-on-7s, and no scrimmages,” says Kiefer. “All of our installation of the offense and defense was strictly by Zoom meetings as well as all coaching staff meetings. We went into the season without me really even knowing the majority of my team or my staff.”
Kiefer, who has won two state championships, defers the praise to those around him.
“To go 5-2 with that type of adversity speaks volumes about the character and determination of our players and coaches,” says Kiefer, a two-time South Carolina Coach of the Year.
With a full offseason to work on strength and conditioning, the Wildcats continue to make strides.
“Our biggest strength right now is our team strength and speed as well as good experience in many positions,” says Kiefer. “This offseason has been phenomenal. We have been training year-round and our guys have gotten tremendously stronger, faster, and more muscular. Beyond that, they have increased their football IQ and have become much smarter and more savvy regarding the sport. We spend a great amount of time on football classroom work and film study in addition to our physical training.”
After making such huge gains from 2019 to 2020 it’s understandable that expectations around West Ashley are high. Especially with the return of some standout players from last season, including speedy running back Jahleel Porter, who had 1,332 rushing yards in a shortened seven-game season last year.
Last season, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior posted games of 298 yards and three touchdowns against Ashley Ridge and 327 yards and six touchdowns against Stratford.
“He is a multi-dimensional threat to score every time he touches the football,” says Kiefer of the All-State athlete who is also a track and basketball standout at WAHS. He says Porter can and will likely play tailback, quarterback, wide receiver, and slot receiver at times this season. Porter also long-snaps for punts and PATs as well as starting at free safety on defense.
Porter will likely not be the only player having to pull double duty for the Wildcats in 2021. If there is any area of concern this year, Kiefer says it’s their lack of depth.
“Our weakness is in our total numbers of players. We only have around 40, which is very low for a 5A program,” he says. “Our greatest unknown is in our Offensive Line. We have a lot of youth in that unit and it may take getting a few games under their belt for them to really gel together and become efficient.”
While Porter will be running behind a less-experienced offensive line, you can bet his 4.45 speed will continue to give defenses headaches and continue to have college recruiters drooling.
Besides Porter, another person on the offensive side of the ball who will be drawing attention of opposing defensive coordinators is quarterback Gabe Johnson. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior signal caller has the ability to both throw and run the ball with success.
Defensively, the Wildcats should be improved from a year ago. Leading the charge is senior linebacker Caleb Edwards, whom Kiefer calls “the heart of our defense.” Like Porter, Edwards was also named All-State in 2020 and has already been offered a scholarship to play for The Citadel next season.
“He has made a major change in his body composition in the offseason and is one of the top linebackers in the state,” says Kiefer.
With all the success the Wildcats have had over the last season and a promising offseason, the beginning of the season has not been without it’s challenges as we continue to battle through a pandemic.
Because of COVID-19, team activity was shut down last month after only two days of official practice.
“Our players came back from 14 days of quarantine and didn’t miss a beat in regards to the mental aspects and effort. Obviously they did not come back in game shape and that is still a work in progress,” says Kiefer. The first-ever Lowcountry Jamboree was cancelled and the Wildcats had to cancel their opening week game against 3A defending state champions Daniel High School in Columbia. The season will now officially begin with three consecutive games on the road at Goose Creek on Friday, Sept. 3, at Beaufort on Friday, Sept. 10, and at Cane Bay on Friday, Sept. 17. WAHS will not play their home opener until week 4 when they host Stratford on Friday, Sept. 24.
“Our team goal is to be the best version of ‘us’ that we can be. As always, we are striving for a State Championship,” says Kiefer. “When I tell people that our goal is to go undefeated they are sometimes taken by surprise. As the leader of this program, I believe in our players and staff and I know what they are capable of. I have faith. If I were to say our goal is anything less than 10-0, then I am conceding that we don’t believe we are good enough to beat everyone we face.”
