Jacksonville standout running back Amari Pearson didn’t hold back when asked what motivates the Cardinals this season.
“We are always the underdogs,” the senior said. “They always count us out just like they did in the last two years because we lost a lot of players. But we always come out good, and I expect good things here.”
The Cardinals graduated 26 seniors from last year’s squad that went 12-1 overall, 5-0 in the Big Carolina Conference and advanced to the NCHSAA 6-A East Regional final — Jacksonville’s second consecutive state semifinal appearance.
Those graduations include quarterback, two 600-yard running backs and 10 of the team’s top 10 tacklers. The Cardinals, however, will not fret.
“It only gives us more drive to prove everyone wrong,” senior linebacker Zach Patterson said. “We are still going to play our game and play to the best of our ability.”
Like 17th year coach Beau Williams stresses, the program is built around the “next man up” mentality.
“For a bunch of them, it’s their turn to play, and we will see what they’re going to do,” he said. “They know what the expectations are, they saw what everyone else went through and they want to continue the progress.”
That mindset has paid off as the Cardinals have recorded 11 straight winning seasons. Jacksonville is 126-67 since Williams took over as coach before the 2011 season.
One of those defeats, however, was last year’s 31-21 home loss to Middle Creek in the regional final.
“We were one step away from the state final … and that’s not a very good feeling,” Williams said. “I’m hoping that motivates them like it did for the group last year.”
While Jacksonville looks to rebuild in several areas, the Cardinals still feature plenty of talent.
The defense features senior Sammie Rogers and junior Domonic Williams in the secondary, seniors Judah Bloomfield and Demarri June and junior Kenneth Jones on the line and Patterson.
Williams is being recruited by several Division I programs.
“We will rise to our potential and best the best we can be,” Patterson said. “Even without the seniors who graduated, we are still going to push. We had a great season last year, and we are motivated to come back and try harder this year.”
Pearson returns after he rushed for 1,935 yards and 30 touchdowns last season. He averaged 11.2 yards per carry. He will be complemented in the backfield by White Oak transfer Montez Jimenez (1,196 yards, 7 touchdowns) and junior CJ Jordan.
Senior SaRonn Thompson (32 catches, 632 yards, 7 TD) also provides big-play capabilities while senior Tanner Jones spearheads the offensive line. Senior athlete Josiah Benton looks to play a larger offensive role while he also returns as the punter while senior Brody Weston returns as kicker.
Thompson and Pearson were first-team all-area players last year. Jones and Williams were second-team along with Benton at punter. Rogers was third team.
“The offensive line could be a strength,” Williams said. “But we will find out.”
That’s just one of the questions the Cardinals look to answer if they are to compete for another conference title after they shared it in 2024 and won its first outright league crown since 1990 last year.
“We have a lot of unknowns right now,” Williams said. “We have a lot of good athletes, but we are not as deep as we’ve been. So, we have to get better.”
Chris Miller can be contacted via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on X @jdnsports.