KIPP Academy can check one of its goals off the list: it officially has a football team. But now that it’s September, it’s time to move past the aura of being the new team and it’s time to start playing football.
KIPP coach James Rabbitt, in his first head coaching gig, has liked what he has seen from the Panthers in scrimmages and preseason practices. Although the Panthers have areas to improve on, Rabbitt feels the glass is half full more so than half empty.
“We’ve been working on our fundamentals, our conditioning and implementing offensive and defensive schemes,” Rabbitt, who previously served as the offensive coordinator at Arlington Catholic, said. “It’s a lot of classroom and filmwork, just trying to get ourselves caught up to the teams that have been established.”
“We look good,” Rabbitt added. “We’ve had some scrimmages against really good opponents. We scrimmaged against Bishop Fenwick, a well-coached team, so we know where need to get to.”
Players to watch for the Panthers this season include senior Kymani Morrison, who’ll quarterback the team on offense and see some action on defense at linebacker. Senior Olivier Pyram will anchor the team’s offensive and defensive lines. Seniors Dominic Jette and Jaeqhan McClain will both play wide receiver and defensive back, while bringing athleticism and speed to the team.
Although those four seniors will lead the way, Rabbitt feels the Panthers have leadership throughout the roster at every grade.
“Those guys are leading the way, but we have impact players from all four classes,” Rabbitt said. “We have a great freshman class. We have leaders taking care of their respective grades with the seniors leading the way. It has made for a solid team unity throughout the first few weeks.”
Rabbitt’s leaning on KIPP’s speed to be the team’s biggest strength this fall. KIPP’s plan is to use its speed on offense to wear down opponents and create red zone opportunities.
“Team speed is definitely a strength of ours,” Rabbitt said. “We have athletes at all positions. We’re going to move and we’ll move fast. Our overall work ethic has been phenomenal for kids that are new to high school football. Hopefully we’ll be able to wear down our opponents with our speed.”
On the flip side, the Panthers know they won’t have experience on their side this season. KIPP will be matched up against established programs each time the Panthers step on the field and the only way to solve that issue by learning from their games.
“We’ve tried to build that experience in practice and in scrimmages but we’re an inexperienced football team,” Rabbitt said. “We’ll have to learn from our early games very quickly.”
KIPP’s slated to compete in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference, meaning they’ll build a crosstown rivalry against Tech. The Tigers and Panthers will clash on October 6 at Manning.
“The CAC’s a tough conference,” Rabbitt said. “We know we have our work cut out for us in the division. We’re excited to have a crosstown rivalry with Tech. We know we have to prepare for all different types of offenses and playing styles.”
With Thursday’s season opener against Atlantis Charter at Manning quickly approaching, the Panthers have a mix of both excitement and nervousness to get their inaugural year kicked off.
“I’d say it’s a combination of excitement and anxiousness,” Rabbitt said. “They’re excited to play the first ever football game at KIPP. It’s an excited nervousness but that’s a very healthy reaction in football. They’re ready for it and I think it’ll be a great experience for our kids when they step on that field on September 7.”
