By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.–With a team full of seniors last season, Sprague’s Carter Lovell made a name for himself where he can as a junior.
Defensive Back, where he was 6A Special District 3 Honorable Mention at, as well as Wide Reciever was where Lovell made a name for himself as part of an Olympian squad that reach the 6A Second Round of the Championship Bracket last Fall. Developing a little bit of a leadership role, something that he hopes to build upon now entering his senior year this Fall.
“Last year, we had a really heavy senior class, so coming in as one of the few juniors on defense, I really had to step up my role,” starts Lovell. “I came into a leadership role towards the end of the year, and I’m going to work towards leading our defense this year with a lot of freshman guys. Playing both sides of the ball and getting time at the slot, it helped me with how I’m going to develop. Keeping my body fresh during the game and not over-exhaust myself.”
With the recent graduation of Dukatti Witherspoon, the void of starting Quarterback is evident for the Sprague squad. Lovell is one of those QB’s looking to fill the void left by Witherspoon entering this Fall.
Wednesday’s 7-on-7 session with Dallas gave Lovell an opportunity to get some more reps in with the aspirations of the Starting Quarterback position looking to be filled with the July schedule of their Summer Schedule gets underway.
“To be able to work behind (Witherspoon), I definitely learned a lot. He played for many, many years, and he had a ton of experience. Just being able to pick his brain and see how he worked through his reads and saw defense’s, it definitely helped me develop a lot,” said Lovell. “Working off of Dukatti put together last year, bringing this program back into relevance.
“I’m definitely not the same Quarterback as he was, I’m obviously a little shorter, a little quicker, so things are going to be a little different, but I’m definitely going to be taking the same mentality as he had in the game. Ripping the ball as hard as I can and completing the ball when I can.”
The Olys will have three more 7-on’s before the end of the month, and the real fun starts in August when the season gets underway. Sprague kicks off the season on August 29 at Summit before hosting West Salem as their home opener on September 5.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
